“The most important influence in my childhood was my father.” –Deforest Kelley

I was sixteen when my father died suddenly, and when I reflect on all the happy times I had with him there are a few things that stand out; treats, softball and baking. There are a few things that you should know to understand this next recipe. One, I have nine brothers and sisters, so there was very little just mommy and me or daddy and me time, and two, I spent a lot of time having surgeries as a child, and going to doctor’s appointments. There was one winter when I had an appointment that had a gap in it. We had to go to the eye doctor, I had a procedure and then we had to come back in 2 hours. To kill the time, my dad got us a treat and we went to the lake to walk on the ice and watch the snow roll in. I remember how quiet it was in the middle of the day in the winter. The air was crisp and cold, but it felt wonderful when it blew in your face. The ice was thick, except for the shallow part where it met the shore. My father lifted me over this and he walked beside me, holding my arm so I didn’t slip and fall. We had our treat and walked on the ice. Dad hated the cold, but he loved the ice. This was a perfect memory of just Dad and me. For this recipe I chose to make something that reminded me of that moment. Peanut butter and chocolate were always something that my father loved, and Reese’s were something that I loved and he would get as treats, so I chose to make:

Dad’s PB Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcake:

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1.75 cups flour (add extra .25 cup if batter too thin)

.75 cups dark coco powder

1.5 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup milk

.5 cup butter

2 eggs

1 cup boiling water

*add dark chocolate chips if desired

I prefer Ghirardelli but any are fine!

Mix cream, milk and butter until smooth

Add in eggs until mixed

In separate bowl mix together sugar, flour, baking powder and soda, coco powder and mix together

Slowly add in dry mix into wet mix, until fully mixed

Slowly add in boiling water

If batter is too thin add in .25 cups of flour to thicken.

*Note that you can always use a boxed mix if you want, no judgement, as from scratch is time consuming and we don’t all have an abundance of time on our hands (plus a box is cheaper than individual ingredients!). But replace the water with milk/cream and the oil with butter. This will help to give it that from scratch taste!

Whipped PB frosting:

Ingredients:

25 Tbsps. of Heavy cream

2tsps. Vanilla

.75 cup confectioners’ sugar

8 oz cream cheese

*use Philadelphia whipped, it works the best

14 oz peanut butter (creamy)

Whip the cream and vanilla together until soft peaks form

Use medium to high speed on the mixer

• Add in confectioners’ sugar

• Use low/medium speed

• Add in the cream cheese

• Use low/medium speed

• Fold in peanut butter by hand or use low speed on mixer

• Whip the cream and vanilla together until soft peaks form

• Use medium to high speed on the mixer

• Add in confectioners’ sugar

• Use low/medium speed

• Add in the cream cheese

• Use low/medium speed

• Fold in peanut butter by hand or use low speed on mixer

Now when it’s time to decorate here is my process:

• Let cupcakes cool for 30 minutes to an hour

• Use a large open frosting tip, this way it’s easier to get the frosting through the end.

• To get the swirl, make a small mound in the middle of the cup cake, and then swirl around and up it. This will give the perfect cupcake swirl.

• Use a chocolate drizzle (melt ¼ cup chocolate chips and 1/8 cup milk/cream in a pot and put in a squeeze bottle)

• Top with your favorite candy bar (I obviously chose Reese’s).

Eat up and enjoy!

*Baker’s notes:

I like to add in chocolate chips to my chocolate cakes/cupcakes, just because. When I bake, I find that those just because are the best reasons to do anything. You will discover that I like to use whipped fillings and topping, just because they are my favorite, and for no other reason than this. So when you are baking and get the feeling that you want to add something, just because, go ahead and do it. You may also discover that I use a little heavy cream in most of my cakes/cupcakes, this was a just because moment. I knew that using milk would make the cakes taste better, and I wanted to see if cream made them even better. What I discovered is that if you whip the cream a little and then add it in the cake has a better texture and I think a better flavor. People say Baking is a science, which, when it comes to the dry stuff (flour, sugar, baking powder and soda), this is true, but the extras are free to experiment with. Don’t be afraid of those just because moments, because like life they can turn in to the best parts. My perfect memory with my father was a just because moment. We could have remained at the doctors for those two hours, instead, he thought lets go to the lake, just because I have this time with my daughter.

For the actual baking process of this particular recipe, the PB part went great. I love making this frosting, and it always turns out perfectly. Maybe this is because it reminds me so much of my father, and maybe it’s because it is something I really love to make. Either way, I hope you have an easy time with it and love it just as much as I do. Also, I made the PB frosting the night before, covered and let sit in the fridge!

Now the chocolate cupcakes usually turn out amazing, but for some reason, my oven continues to hate me and doesn’t want to cook chocolate the way it should! Again, my convection microwave that wishes it were an oven has a hard time regulating the temperature, and needless to say the 36 cupcakes I should have been able to make turned in to 22. In the end these 22 cupcakes were perfect, but they were preceded by a lot of duds! To get the perfect size cupcakes, there are actual measurements of how much batter to add to each well. Some suggestions (that I don’t always follow):

• Let the batter sit for about 30 minutes before baking

• Use foil cupcake liners, they separate better from the cooked cupcakes.

• I didn’t have foil liners this time, and I regret this!

• For large cupcakes, use 1/8 cup batter per liner- or fill about half way.

• For mini cupcakes, use 2 Tbsps. Batter per liner- or fill half way.

• Chocolate chips fall to the bottom, add a few to the batter after it is in the cupcake liner

#baking #recipes