Buckeye Cupcakes

Okay, so perhaps not exactly Buckeye Cupcakes, but Buckeye inspired cupcakes. These are delicious!  I’ve decided to call them buckeye cupcakes, because they taste just like a buckeye plopped on top of an incredibly moist chocolate cake. If you don’t know what a buckeye candy is, feel free to check out my blog about and recipe for them here. They’re super easy and delicious to make.

But I guess that before I wax poetic about these cupcakes I should explain my latest absence from the blogosphere.  Back in July, just over 1 month ago, I got married! Yup…after swearing that I’d never date a co-worker or get married again, I’ve managed to do both. It was a fun, fabulous and small event with our closest family and friends on the beach. So far married life is brilliant (and very similar to life before being married) and quiet. We went on an amazing 9 day honeymoon to the Baja coast of Mexico and really  didn’t want to return, but we’ve been back for a couple of weeks now and already have another show about to open at work.

This all goes to show that life never really slows down much, which gives us all the more reason to sit back and enjoy a cupcake every now and then! So… for all my chocolate and peanut butter loving friends and family out there, here’s the absolute perfect send up for these two flavors! Enjoy!

Buckeye  Cupcakes

1½ cups hot brewed coffee
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners. 

In a heat safe bowl, whisk together the hot brewed coffee and cocoa powder until the cocoa has dissolved completely.  Set aside. 

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Add the eggs in one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the vanilla.

With the mixer running on the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the coffee-cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. (Flour, Cocoa, Flour, Cocoa, Flour). Mix each addition just until incorporated, being careful not to over mix the batter. 

Divide the batter between the prepared liners, with ¼ cup in each.  Bake 17-19 minutes or until the top of the cupcake springs back when touched or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. 

Let cool in the pans briefly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache

6 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped*
½ cup heavy cream

Place the semi-sweet  chocolate in a small bowl.  Bring the cream to a simmer, pour over the chocolate, and let stand about 2 minutes. 

Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms.  Let cool at room temperature to thicken slightly before using.

* To save a little bit of time I actually used semi-sweet chocolate chips, which worked just fine.

Buckeye Filling Icing

2 sticks (16 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
5 cups confectioners’ sugar

Combine the peanut butter and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high for 1 minute. 

With the mixer on the lowest setting, add the confectioners’ sugar in a quarter cup at a time until all sugar is fully incorporated.  Increase the speed to medium and mix until smooth, about 2 minutes. 

Scoop approximately 1 rounded tablespoon of the peanut butter mixture (about the same amount as a good sized PB cookie) and using clean, dry hands to form it into a patty.  Use the tines of a fork dipped in additional confectioners’ sugar to make the classic crisscross pattern on top of the “cookie”.  Repeat with the remaining peanut butter mixture, laying them all out on a piece of parchment paper that’s been dusted with more confectioners’ sugar. The extra confectioners’ sugar here (on the parchment and the fork) will prevent the icing cookies from sticking to everything you don’t want it to.

Assembly: Using a teaspoon (the kind of silverware, not a measuring one) to drop the ganache onto the top of the cooled cupcake and the back of the spoon to spread it over the top of the cupcake. Then carefully place a peanut butter “cookie” on top of each cupcake. Now just sit back and enjoy!

The idea for making the icing look like a peanut butter cookie and the recipe (although I did tweak it a bit) for these was borrowed from Annie’s Eats.

And.... buckeyes!