The Perfect Pair

... besides me and B anyway... is obviously Chocolate and Peanut Butter. If you disagree, than this post is not for you. If you're on the same page, then read on - believe me, you'll thank me later!

One thing that B and I have in common, is our love of Chocolate and Peanut Butter... together! Mainly peanut butter cups. It thrills me that my man can appreciate such a genius combination. Therefore, as his birthday was approaching, I began my search for the perfect Chocolate Peanut Butter birthday cake. As I searched, I began to think, since we have no big celebration planned with other people, a cake would probably be a bit too much. So, I switched things up and decided to search for a cupcake recipe instead. I figured, this way we could enjoy them, and whatever we don't eat we could share with co-workers, neighbours and/or friends.

When I stumbled across this recipe, I knew it was the one. You can NEVER go wrong with a Barefoot Contessa recipe (am I right?). So, even though you could click right here, to get the recipe, I thought that I would go ahead and share it right on my blog. I must say, the icing is most definitely the best part of the whole thing - absolutely to die for. I also made two small adjustments that I'll share in my post as well.

Yeah.... I made that!!!

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee (I opted out of this ingredient! I'm not a coffee drinker, so I figured even brewing one cup of coffe for 2 tbsp would be a huge waste...)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows
Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate, optional (Instead, I used mini peanut butter cups that we had in the freezer, chopped them up and sprinkled them on top!)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (though the instructions call for using the paddle attachment, I used my trusty old handheld mixer and it worked just fine) cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee (I opted out of the coffee, it doesn't make much of a difference... thinking back, I wish I had substituted it with chocolate syrup - yum!). In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

NOW, for the best part... the icing!

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.


Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts (OR chopped up peanut butter cups - freezing them beforehand makes this easier to do), if desired.

Okay... I lied - this is the best part.... EAT AND ENJOY! :)