When I was preparing to cook a batch of these cupcakes, I found out that my oven was broken. Luckily I found out that the thermostat was kaput and the oven was reaching horrendously high temperatures when I popped in some garlic bread rather than these beauties. I think these might be the first child friendly cupcakes on the blog, as they’re not based on alcohol, and I like to think they look quite appealing to adults and children. Doug was very taken with these and as he’s not a fan of sweets and cakes in general I took that as a huge endorsement. These should be nice and easy to make with small children in tow. In fact I made them while watching television so that should give you an idea as to how little concentration they require.
From Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery, a thank you present from my lovely friend Sarah for doing nothing at all. More presents like this please!
Ingredients
- 75g butter
- 190g dark soft brown sugar
- 130g smooth peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 1tsp good quality vanilla extract
- 120g plain flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 60ml semi-skimmed milk
Icing – I made a quarter of the amount stated here and had more than enough to ice half the cupcakes. This was my half, because Doug didn’t want any icing. On the plus side this makes him less likely to steal my cakes when he’s eaten his own.
- 175g dark chocolate
- 225g butter
- 1tbsp milk
- 1tsp good quality vanilla extract
- 250g icing sugar
Cream the room temperature butter, peanut butter and sugar until well blended.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between additions, and then add the vanilla extract.
Sift the flour into a different bowl and add the salt and baking powder. Add a third of this mixture into the bowl of creamed butter and sugar. Beat well to combine and repeat until all the flour is absorbed.
Share the mixture out into the cases and bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade in a fan oven, 200 degrees in a non-fan oven or 350 degrees fahrenheit. Once they are done leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack still in the tin. Once they are completely cool they can be iced and decorated.
To make the icing, first melt the chocolate either slowly in the microwave or in a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.
Leave this to cool and while you are waiting beat the butter (room temperature if possible), milk, vanilla and icing sugar together. The book says to use an electric mixer but I tend to do this by hand. Beat until smooth and then add the melted chocolate and beat until thick and creamy.
Ice the cupcakes with your chocolate icing and top with Reese’s pieces! Try and find a pack of sweets that don’t look a little worse for wear because they’ve been beaten up by a trans-atlantic journey if possible!
Find this recipe on SpringPad: http://sprng.me/9mft3
