Tishon's birthday cupcakes
April 2, 2008
My friend Tishon likes milk chocolate. I like dark chocolate. But it was his birthday, so his opinion trumped mine. And I can’t help but admit, milk chocolate ganache complimented the peanut butter and tasted quite good with these cupcakes. Don’t tell him he was right!
Finding an amazing yellow cake recipe has proven pretty difficult for me… you think it’d be easy, but no. Until I find it, I’ll continue to use Betty Crocker’s Super Moist Cake Mix as I did with this recipe. They really are super moist and don’t at all taste like they’re out of the box.
Using a box mix helps these cupcakes assemble much quicker. This cupcake has a yellow cake base, a smooth peanut butter filling and is topped with a milk chocolate ganache.
Special friends deserve special cupcakes!
Yields 18 cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix
1. Prepare the mix according to package directions. Pour it into lined muffin tins and bake in a 375 oven for 16-18 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. Chop the tops off of each cupcake and set aside. Prepare the Peanut Butter Filling.
Peanut Butter Filling*
1 1/4 cups peanut butter
3/8 cup butter, softened
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2. In a large bowl combine peanut butter, the softened butter, and the vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in as much of the powdered sugar as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining powdered sugar.
3. Slice the tops off the cupcakes and set aside. Roll the filling into 1-2 tablespoon size balls and flatten into disks. Place a disk on top of each cupcake and cover with cupcake tops. Prepare the milk chocolate ganache.
*You might have extra peanut butter filling, depending on how generously you use it on the cupcakes, but it works wonderfully as a filling for cookies or rolled and coated in chocolate to make buckeye balls. This stuff never goes to waste in my house, and it shouldn't in yours either!
Milk Chocolate Ganache
3/8 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
4. Heat the cream and butter over low heat until it's hot and bubbles a little, but doesn't boil. Add the chocolate, remove from heat and let sit for a couple of minutes until the chips soften. Add the vanilla and whisk until the glaze is smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. If it is too runny, let it sit until it thickens up a bit. It should be able to hold it's shape on the cupcakes.
5. Spread 1 Tbsp of the glaze on each cupcake.