Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from Birdonacake.blogspot.com

I was given an assignment to bring cupcakes to an event. One problem there:  I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I have made cupcakes. I'm just really not much of a cake person. Therefore, I had a bit of searching to do before the event. I stumbled upon this great blog with yummy cake recipes and decided to use them to make cupcakes. They were a huge crowd-pleaser! And after trying them myself, I think I might be a cake fan after all :)

Chocolate Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

1 cup boiling water

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk (OR 1 cup milk mixed with 1 Tbsp. vinegar)

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tin with paper cups. Bring a small pan of water to a boil and keep it simmering while you mix the other ingredients. 

In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Beat with mixer until combined. 

Add 1 cup of the boiling water and carefully stir until it is mixed in. Beat for 1 1/2 minutes with mixer. Pour the batter into cupcake tins. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Allow to cool before frosting cupcakes. Frost as desired. Top with crumbled Reese's Peanut Butter cups. 

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting:

Ingredients:  

1 cup salted butter, softened

2 cups creamy peanut butter

4 cups powdered sugar

approximately 1/3 cup milk

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar. When it starts to get thick, add a little milk at a time until frosting is spreadable. (The amount of milk you use depends on the thickness of the peanut butter). Beat for 3 minutes or until fluffy. 

Source: http://birdonacake.blogspot.com/2012/01/reeses-chocolate-peanut-butter-cake.html