cupcake heaven

Alright guys, so if you know anything about me, you know of my love for cupcakes. Yes, I absolutely love to eat them, but more so, I love to make them! To me, baking is an art. Although I would not consider myself an artist, I do think that I can make and decorate a darn good dessert! I am a cupcake queen and have spent many a days dreaming of owning my own cupcake shop. (One day... one day...)

 panda cupcakes for the twin's 1st birthday

guitar cake for raymond's surprise 35th birthday party

Not too shabby, eh?

I recently mentioned some cupcakes that I made, and promised that I'd share them with you! I extracted this recipe from a blog I read, Sweet Tooth Sweet Life (you should definitely check it out!) I didn't have a box cake mix lying around, so I whipped up a little something from scratch! ;-) I used a standard chocolate cake recipe from Betty Crocker, and used the PB frosting (with a few changes) from the blog. The recipes are listed below.

mix together dry ingredients

add the wet ingredients

blended dry and wet together

divvy 'em up

add PB chips to the warm center.. drool

mmm.. frosting

viola!

purdy pretty

hello, my love

yes, i'm going to eat you

ooey-gooey center

Betty Crocket Chocolate Cake (makes 12 large cupcakes)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flower

1 2/3 cups sugar

3/4 cup softened butter

2/3 cup baking cocoa

1 1/4 cups water

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 large eggs

**bake for about 25-35 min.

STSL PB Frosting 

**I followed this recipe to a T-- and ran into quite a few issues. It was too dry, too sweet (tasted like pure powdered sugar), and there was enough "icing" for about 3 cupcakes. I added more of each ingredient until I got the desired consistency/taste/amount that I wanted. (Probably tripled the PB, and added just enough of the others to get a good consistency.)

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup of milk

All in all, these babies were just fantastic, and I will definitely be making them again, with a few more modifications.

Enjoy!

PS: NEVER forget to lick the bowl!