Double-Dark-Double-Dip Peanut Butter Cuppies

Hi all you cupcake eating/football watching friends out there,

Thanks to this weekend being a bye week for our Sooners, I caught up on some much needed sleep. And bought some nifty cupcake gadgets! Like a new piping bag and new muffin pans! I know, exciting, right!?

Anyways, on to the good stuff. Last week’s treat for the office… The Double-Dark-Double-Dip Peanut Butter filled Cupcakes! Yum. They took some time in the kitchen, but worth it. Make sure you bring milk next time, ‘cause these were over the top chocolate. Some might say “too much, too much” (including me), but I got more positive feedback on these little cuppers than any before!

Let’s take a look at some testimonials..

“It was pretty fantastic.” – Adam

“omg! Freaking awesome job on the cupcakes!!!” – Steven

“This is the best cupcake I’ve ever had. In my life.” – Chaun

“Double-Dark Peanut butter filled cupcakes = Awesomeness in a paper wrapper!” – Crystal

And my fav… “those cupcakes are the dope bomb diggity! THX!” – Tribble

Excellent! Thanks guys!

DOUBLE DARK DOUBLE DIP PEANUT BUTTER FILLED CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES!

Ingredients

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and position 2 racks in the lower and middle third of the oven. Line 24 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.

2. Put the cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl. Add the boiling water and whisk until a smooth paste forms. Whisk in the buttermilk until combined. In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 sticks of the butter with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then beat in the dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with the cocoa mixture. Carefully spoon the cupcake batter into the lined muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are springy. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

3. In a medium bowl, beat the peanut butter with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter until creamy. Sift the confectioners' sugar into the bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spoon all but 3 tablespoons of the peanut butter filling into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch star tip. Holding a cupcake in your hand, plunge the tip into the top of the cake, pushing it about 3/4 inch deep. Gently squeeze the pastry bag to fill the cupcake, withdrawing it slowly as you squeeze; you will feel the cupcake expand slightly as you fill it. Scrape any filling from the top of the cupcake and repeat until all of the cupcakes are filled.

4. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Off the heat, add the semisweet chocolate to the cream and let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk the melted chocolate into the cream until smooth. Let the chocolate icing stand until slightly cooled and thickened, about 15 minutes. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the icing, letting the excess drip back into the pan. Transfer the cupcakes to racks and let stand for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the cupcakes again and transfer them to racks. Spoon the remaining 3 tablespoons of peanut butter filling into the pastry bag and pipe tiny rosettes on the tops of the cupcakes.

Picture Time!!

Lookin good!

peaceloveandcupcakes.

katie

Coming soon: German Chocolate Cupcakes!! nomnomnom...

GameDay Fashion

We have a new contributor!! Introducing, the poem writing, blog inspiring.... Christine. She'll be keeping us all up to date with the best and worst in GameDay Fashion. So get ready!


One can go pretty much anywhere in Norman and find some sort of OU paraphernalia. Campus corner is like the Holy Grail for OU anything, for this post we’ll be focusing on the different attire available for Sooner GameDay.

All of the t-shirt stores on campus corner have the same boring options. Don’t get me wrong a t-shirt is perfectly acceptable if you’re a guy. But if you’re a girl like me, I prefer dresses and skirt options. A t-shirt will be fine if accessorized correctly, you can’t show up in a t-shirt looking like you just rolled out of bed. A t-shirt is cute if paired with a cute American Apparel skirt and adorable flats from Shoetopia. This girl, Krista White, got the t-shirt look right at the OU vs. BYU game in Dallas.


A t-shirt is also acceptable when it’s fitted and paired with a great pair of jeans, like Patti Zumwalt did in Seattle last year for the OU vs. Washington.

The first few games have much more options for apparel since the weather is warm. One can wear a dress, tank top, shorts, skirt, and sandals there are plenty of options. Here are a few of the best warm gameday outfits I have seen.




I unfortunately forgot to take pictures of bad gameday outfits. I saw so many, but felt bad taking the picture. I wasn’t sure I could lie and tell the person I liked their outfit and wanted a pic of it for the blog. So I’ll just describe to you what merits a bad gameday outfit. Shorts that are too short, a baggy t-shirt, a red that’s a little more orange than red, cowboy boots that are too tight around the calf (causing a calf muffin top), and sometimes jerseys. A jersey has to fit right and must be paired with something girly so as not to confuse the girl wearing it with a dyke. I’m sorry but you know if you saw a girl in a jersey, ponytail, jeans and tennis shoes you’d think the same thing!

Next time I promise to take pics of the BAD.

xoxo
Tine.

Tomorrow on cup/foot: Double-dark-double-dip peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes! mmmmmmm...yumyumyum!

Cupcake Recap - Tulsa

Hello cupcakers,

Here is a recap of this last weekend in college football! As always, we start with the Sooners:

Landry Jones looked pretty good against a Tulsa defense that wasn’t stellar, but wasn’t that bad either. Landry racked up 6 touchdown passes as defenses across the Big XII gave a collective sigh. I’m sure they thought was OU would be crippled when Bradford went down, now they have seen the guy on the bench has the potential to have a statue on the east side of Memorial Stadium. 5 cupcakes Landry….5 cupcakes and Big XII player of the week.

Mr. Tennell, I know you don’t read this, but I feel for you. The coaches have seen something in you that we have not seen. The only thing you have treated the Sooner Nation to are dropped passes that could haunt you the rest of your career. Please pull out of your funk…or sit on the sidelines. You are frustrating all of us. ½ cupcake

Defense, oh defense…nicely done! You have recorded a nice little shut out for the second week in a row! A few things went your way (dropped passes), but you still held together. A shutout is a shutout, so let’s go ahead and award 4 cupcakes!

Now to the national level: First off…what a game for Nebraska! They did great and couldn’t stop a late minute drive to preserve the win on the road. Anyone nervous for the Sooner trip to Lincoln yet? What about going to Lubbock? Tech looked really good against a crowd of 100K shorthorn fans and a texas team that had not been tested all season. By the way...nice job texas, you jump out of the nobodies, play tech (get officiating help for the win), then jump right back in to stealing from the bakery (this week vs UTEP --the mighty miners), you get a doughnut, zero, zilch, nada.

Game with most hype that will not even be a game -- texas tech versus houston, in Houston. After grasping defeat from the jaws of victory in Austin, the Red Raiders will not be surprised by the Cougars (like maybe a team just north of Norman was). The crowd is smaller than it was in Austin and houston just does not have the athletes....this game gets the "Cupcake Mirage" award.

Best game of the week to watch will be the Miami vs Virginia Tech game. Virginia Tech is coming off a narrow and draining victory over the Cornhuskers just to welcome a Miami team (who has had longer than usual to prepare) to Blacksburg. I just don't think that Va. Tech will have enough in the tank and this one will go to Miami...which leaves the 'Canes undefeated heading in to their home matchup with the Sooners (and a 7 o'clock kickoff time that hasn't been announced yet). This one gets the "Last Bite of Cupcake" award (the last win for the 'Canes before losing to the Sooners).

Finally, I couldn't end the blog without a tip of the hat to the Huskies up north. Knocking off an SC team that god fielded himself was no easy feat (disclaimer: the view that "god" fielded the team in no way represents a deity at work, it is merely a reference to the fanatical love that ESPN gives to the beloved men of Troy anytime they beat a mediocre team). This game earns the "Gallagher Award" (for smashing the big ole' cupcake).


Until next week...
~Steven

Mint Chocolate Chip!

Mmmm. Mint Chocolate Chip!

I kinda made this recipe up after getting a request for Mint Chocolate Chip. At first I thought they were awful, the cake was weird.. the icing wasn't setting up properly.. FAIL. But in the end, they really grew on me, and everyone in the office seemed to like them. :)

Chocolate Mint Chip Cupcakes

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped, melted

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/2 cup chocolate milk

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup (6 ounces) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

last minute addition: 1 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.

2. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat the melted chocolate into the butter mixture. Add the eggs, peppermint extract, and chocolate milk. Beat until creamy.

3. In a separate medium-sized bowl combine the flour and baking soda.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and beat until well blended (DO NOT OVER BEAT).

**It was here that the batter was goopy and not right. I decided to thin it out by adding some milk, 1/4 cup at a time. Approx 1 cup, until the consistency looked right.

5. With a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan.

Mint Swiss Meringue Buttercream

3 egg whites (I used 5..)

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Last minute additions: 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup confectionary sugar

1. Put egg whites and sugar in a double boiler over simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees).

2. Pour heated egg mixture into a clean bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes

3. Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears soupy or separated after all butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.)

*Right about here, it was too buttery. Added more sugar, 1/2 cup granulated. Then decided it still wasn't taking right...moving on..

4. Beat in extracts. Reduce speed to low; beat 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. *And it was here that I decided to put confectionary sugar in. a cup, in two 1/2 cup servings.. Now it was YUMMY!

Frost, enjoy! Oh, and don't forget to get Andes mints to crush up and put on top of the cupcake. Everyone loves Andes Mints!

CUPCAKE RECAP!

From our newest cake/ball contributor, Steven! (who will be recapping the best and worst of the weekend's football)

Hello,

After a rocky start to the college football season, I have decided that games, players, and coaches need to be graded from time to time. What better way to grade than on a cupcake scale?!? The more cupcakes, the better, with the scale going from one to five. The Sooners will always get a cupcake grade, but other teams will also be graded. So, without further ado, let’s go over the first ever CUPCAKE RECAP!

Let’s start with OU’s offensive line. The big eaters did a decent job this week of protecting Jones against a very weak defensive line. Let’s face it, the Idaho State Bengals are not fielding NFL caliber talent on their defense. When the OU offensive line needed a push from the one yard line (reminiscent of the stops made at BYU and Florida), they were unsuccessful. This weekend’s performance earned the offensive line ½ cupcake. As big as those guys are, that amount of cupcake isn’t going to go far…so pick up the slack!

Staying in the offense, we will move to the man of the hour, Landry Jones! Filling in for an injured Bradford and on his first collegiate start, he managed to amass 286 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. This pales in comparison to the national recognition he is receiving for his ‘stache! He has been contacted by the American Mustache Institute, which I believe is a first for any OU football player. For this achievement alone he earns 5 cupcakes!

Our defense has also stepped up this year, doing a decent job of shutting down mediocre teams. We still look weak in the middle, something our coaches need to figure out…and fast. For now, our defense gets 3 cupcakes.

Finally, the OU fans get awarded 5 cupcakes for showing up. The weather was miserable but Sooner spirit was alive and well!


Now, for some national awards!

Biggest bakery thieves of the week: the university of texas football team. Where is your pride? Seriously, beating up on teams that don’t belong on the field for division I? Not only that, but for the first half of the Wyoming game you were tied…seriously, stop stealing from the kitchen and start doing something with your season. -5 cupcakes…that’s right, you owe the entire college football community 5 cupcakes. The worst rating possible.
Biggest cupcake versus the smallest sprinkles: the university of florida gators. You are not doing any better than the shorthorns, only difference is you didn’t let the sprinkles hang around for a half of football. You too, get a rating of -5 cupcakes…this means we will have an abundance of cupcakes this week!

Best cupcake game of last week: This honor has to go to the Ohio State and USC game. What a game! Too bad Ohio State’s defense couldn’t stop a last minute drive, still it’s worth 4 cupcakes.
This week’s cupcake matchup: Although the Texas Tech versus Texas game would look to be intriguing after last season, it will not amount to anything, so the award goes to the Nebraska versus Virginia Tech game. This is the time for Bo Pelini to step up and show that Nebraska is ready for the national spotlight on the road. I personally don’t think they are there yet and will more than likely lose in Blacksburg, but you never know!

~Steven

Jerry loves Key Lime Pie

So I skipped a post or two, because noone likes to read about a loss. So moving on to better things...

The Key Lime Pie Cupcakes from long ago were a hit! Even on the drive down to Dallas!!

The stadium was cool, because it had the A/C on, and the huge jumbotron was amazing.. But other than tailgating and good friends, the day was a major bummer.

But that was a long time ago! This past weekend was much better. Norman, a win, some rain...

Tailgating was awesome as usual, minus a few weirdos. Landry Jones looked good. Our O-line still has issues. But, still a win is a win. Lucky for you there are no pictures to look at and be jealous of the awesomeness that is the "Evatt Family Tailgate". But it was fun, and rainy, and there was great food!!

*Next on cup/foot: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes.

Kickoff!

Hello cupcake lovers!

My newest hobby.. cupcakes, has become a new project/obsession. In just 2 days, I'll be watching the Sooners kick off the 2009 season by crushing BYU in the new Dallas stadium. And what is better then putting two obsessions together in one place? Well a lot, but Christine told me to start a blog, so ok!

Here is a lovely poem Christine wrote for me and my new blog, please enjoy. And get ready for a great season of cupcakes and football!

Let me introduce myself to you

My Name is Katie and I like to bake various kinds of cupcake
Even though I am girl I appreciate a good pump fake
It’s college football season for heavens sake

Football and Chocolate seem to go hand in hand
And everyone knows at half time you get to see the marching band

Let the tail gating begin
With various Kegs and Gin
Let’s all pray that the Sooners win
Otherwise eating all these sweets would be nothing other than a glorified sin

Cupcakes and Football
That’s what Oklahoma Does!