Thursday 22 September 2011

Dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting

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It was Ro's turn to select a cake and he selected the boring chocolate cake (well no surprises there). I tried to convince him to change his decision saying he needed to have variety in life and too much chocolate is bad for character building (inside joke btw!) and things like that, but he said he'll live with it. So chocolate cake it was.

To be honest I don't even know why I made up this system where we alternate our preferences when it comes to dessert because unlike me, Ro is not fussy at all. he will eat anything I make and even say wow. The occasional once or twice he said something vaguely dissatisfying and I was almost in tears. Now you know why I panic when I have people over, simple..its because Ro keeps saying everything is nice and I honestly cant figure if he's just saying it to make me feel great or its ACTUALLY nice. 

Anyhoo, I made a passion fruit and poppy seed cake the last time and so this time Ro selected the chocolate one. All he asked was a simple choc cake, but I cant leave it at that can I? So I searched (yet again) and decided on a recipe from Bakers Royale. I also had a tub of cream cheese which I had to use up and since the peanut butter was also sitting in the fridge untouched, I decided to pair the two together. I am not a big fan of heavy cakes and chocolate is not my thing, so I only took a bite and from that it was not that bad. The cake is not that sweet and the frosting imparts the sweetness that the cake lacks. It blends pretty well. But that's all I'm gonna have of the cake. It's all for Ro to devour. The things you do for love, I say! :)
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Cupcake recipe has been adapted from here
Dark chocolates- 1 oz (more than 70 percent cocoa), roughly chopped
Unsalted butter- 4 tbsp
Cocoa powder- 1/4 cup
Plain flour- 45 gms
Baking powder- 1/4 tsp
Baking soda- 1/4 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Egg- 1
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 75 gms
Yoghurt- 1/4 cup

Peanut butter cream cheese frosting from here
Cream cheese- 3 oz
Icing sugar- 17 gms
Creamy peanut butter- 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp
Whipped cream- 1/4 cup
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Into a saucepan throw in the chocolate, cocoa powder and butter and stir until melted and combined. Keep aside to cool.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Keep aside.
Into a mixing bowl break the egg and whisk well with the sugar and vanilla until pale yellow.
Pour in the cooled chocolate mix and stir well to combine.
Add about 2 tbsp of the flour mix and fold it in till well combined.
Add the yoghurt, whisk well and throw in the remaining flour. Fold it in together till they all come together.
Pour into 6 muffin liners till 2/3rd full and bake in an oven pre heated at 176C for 20 minutes.
Cool on a rack completely and only then frost.
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Into a clean mixing bowl add the cream cheese and sugar and whisk on medium speed for about a minute or so.
Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and continue whisking for a couple more minutes, till everything is mixed well and its light and creamy.
Fold in the whipped cream gently until you get a smooth mix.
Either pipe it on to the cake or dab a couple of spoons onto the cupcake and make a mess out of it like i did :)
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Notes: The original recipe for the cake asked for sour cream which i substitutes with Greek yoghurt
Don't bring the cream cheese to room temperature. Keeps the consistency thick
place the cakes in air tight containers and it stays in the fridge for a couple of days.

26 comments:

divya said...

Cake looks delicious and super tempting.

Chitra said...

love the cupcake and the icing looks so creamy and yummy...

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Deliciously inviting and tempting cupcakes. I wish I was there to have a couple of those.

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Reshmi Mahesh said...

Cake looks scrumptious with the frosting..yum..

Unknown said...

The cupcakes look absolutely tempting!! Yum Yum!!

Hari Chandana P said...

Interesting recipe.. beautiful pictures too.. thanks for sharing :)
Indian Cuisine

Sarah said...

simply awesome! peanut butter and chocolate are my favs too! Ro is so sweet to eat everything that you serve him and with a compliment too... At my house unfortunately, all 3 of us are fussy eaters (my husband J, my son and me :P ) oh well, since I cook, I try to find dishes that all of us like... but then we end up with a very narrow choice... In case there are leftovers of dishes we dont like, they are usually served the next day, hidden in sandwiches or noodles or pies... even cutlets! (he he)

Poornima Nair said...

Bad for character building?? :)...no way, at our home we assume chocolate is good for everything. The cupcakes look awesome, love ur place here.

Pointblank said...

Di, Iam tempted to build a statue in Roshan's name :D

Unknown said...

Cupcakes looks so so tempting and the peanut butter frosting sounds interesting

Tina said...

sooo tempting and delicious...

schmetterlingwords said...

The cupcakes look really nice. I wonder how you get such things perfectly baked even though you don't like choco cakes. I mean, if I dont like something, yet have to do it, it wouldn't come out great. :(

Anyways, keep up the good work girl :)

Prema said...

wow gargeous cup cake,luks so cute and yum...

Nithya said...

This will surely turn out to be my favorite :) I love dark chocolate and peanut butter as well :)Bookmarking and will try it asap :)

Alpana said...

Chocolate & peanut butter --- deadly combo.
I am craving for some of these muffins now.

Priya Suresh said...

Gorgeous cupcakes, seriously cant take my eyes from ur clicks, love that yummy frosting..

Neha said...

Awesome cupcakes....Nice clicks too...

Reflections said...

Cupcakes look gorgeous:-)!!!!

Anonymous said...

looks like A and Ro are of the similar type. A is not fussy and likes everything i make .. and i really don't know if he is trying to make me happy or it's really nice :)
I see that the cream cheese didn;t expire after all and you made something delicious out of it !

KrithisKitchen said...

Pretty in pink!! Fabulous cupcakes...
Krithi's Kitchen
Event: Serve It - Steamed

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

love them, urs looks absolutely amazing..:)
gorgeous cliks..
Tasty Appetite

Bharathy said...

This is one amazingly beautiful space I am falling love all over again!

Exotic recipes! Fantastic Clicks.. are understated!

Jehanne said...

Ironically my other half detests chocolate with a passion-which forces me to diversify to non-choc baking:-(..your cuppies with peanut butter and cheese is just tempting, so I shall make them and devour all on my own!

the Junkie book said...

chocolate is a funny thing...versatile would be more politically correct.

you've brought an interesting comb here...they look really good.

and when are you featuring Mr. Ro in your space on whom many ladies am sure are already having a crush ;P...the non fussy, all-forgiving Ro!
you know, you give him constant credit this way and that's so so good.

Unknown said...

Hi Nisha, wanted to know whether the tin in which the cup paper liners are placed should be greased ? Moahini - GOA

My Kitchen Antics said...

Hi Moahini... thats not required because the cupcake liners will anyway prevent it from sticking to the tin.
But make sure the cupcake liners you use are of good quality, else the cake might stick to it.
Have fun baking :)