The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection

Tag: peanut butter

• JaCiva’s Portland

  Posted at 8:55 pm by MLea

  Feb 24th

  On our recent Portland trip, we made a stop at JaCiva’s Bakery.  We tried the first of their cupcakes when we stumbled upon them at a Portland grocery store last year.

  We made it to the bakery just seconds before a bus from an assisted living center unloaded into the building, so I didn’t get to spend as much time inside as I would have liked.  It got very crowded very quickly.   They had some amazing looking chocolates I wish I had been able to photograph: a chocolate toothbrush, a big chocolate cupcake that you could fill with cookies, and chocolate tennis rackets.

  There were only 2 cupcakes available: The 7th Heaven cupcake, which we tried before, and a peanut butter chocolate cupcake.

  

  Peanut Butter cupcake posing on faux fur blanket at our hotel.

  

  Cupcake posing by the pillows

  I apologize to the Hotel Modera for dropping chocolate bits all over the floor when I unpeeled this monstrous cupcake.  It was very similar to the 7th Heaven cupcake: chocolate cake topped with peanut butter mousse then dipped into melted chocolate.   The mousse was wonderful: fluffy and nutty.  The cake was a little dry, but it had a nice texture otherwise.  The cupcake was WAY too big and I grazed on it for the rest of the evening.  The hard chocolate coating was very messy since it came down over the edge of the liner.  (No, I did not get any chocolate on the white comforter on the bed….just all over the floor… and on the bottom of my socks… and on my jeans…)

  I would love to try some chocolates from JaCiva’s.  Hopefully we will have better timing the next time we’re in Portland.

   

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged chocolate, Jacivas, peanut butter

• Back to Eden, Portland OR

  Posted at 7:31 pm by MLea

  Nov 1st

  So, day 2 of our Portland trip started on NE Alberta at the Vita Cafe.  After an extremely filling and mostly delicious breakfast of free range eggs, vegetarian sausage, potatoes and a biscuit (sadly served a little rare), we walked down a few blocks to Back to Eden Bakery.   The shop was very homey and welcoming, with folk art and rustic furniture and displays.  Everything was vegan and they had a nice selection of gluten free items.

  Besides cupcakes, there were some other delights that I would have sampled….

  

  Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

  

  German Chocolate Mini Cakes

  I ended up choosing a hazelnut mocha cupcake and a gluten free chocolate peanut butter cupcake.

  I had higher hopes for the hazelnut mocha cupcake.  It was pretty in a simple way.  I love coffee.  I love hazelnuts (well, I love Nutella, I don’t normally eat a handful of hazelnuts).  Unfortunately, this cupcake tasted like neither.  In fact, the most dominant flavor I sensed was “banana”, but maybe there is something wrong with my taste buds.  Apart from the lack of distinct flavor, the cake was fine.  It wasn’t bone dry.  It was okay.  The icing was a little grainy, but not overly sweet.  There was a nice crunch from the crushed nuts on top.  I’ve thrown away cupcakes that were worse.  I ate my half of it.  Mr Shuck thought it was fine, just a little dry.

  I wasn’t expecting much from the chocolate peanut butter cupcake.  After all, it was vegan AND gluten free!  I was pleasantly surprised though.  I’m not saying that it was an incredible cupcake; it was a decent cupcake.  The icing was peanut buttery and smooth.  The cake was rich and fairly moist.  I liked it overall.  If I decided to give up all animal products, I’d give it another whirl.  Until I go completely vegan, I’d rather have my icing made with  butter or egg whites from some blissfully happy and well treated cows and chickens.  I don’t think that my palate is sophisticated enough that I could detect oil rather than butter in a cake batter.

  My sample size is fairly small, but so far Back to Eden has the best vegan and the best gluten free cupcakes that I’ve tried so far.  Since it’s only 8 blocks away from my favorite breakfast in Portland, I’m likely to return.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged back to eden, chocolate, hazelnut, mocha, peanut butter, portland

• Divine Bites revisited

  Posted at 5:11 pm by MLea

  Oct 27th

  

  Back in May, we made a little side trip to Divine Bites on the way to Portland.  When we went  south again last month for VegFest, we stopped back in.

  I loaded up with a five pack of minis:  Butterfinger, The King’s Favorite, Nestle Crunch, Peanut Butter Dream, and Orange Cream.

  

  Butterfinger

  The Butterfinger was my favorite: a moist vanilla cake with a tiny bit of chocolate filling topped with vanilla icing coated in crushed up Butterfinger bars.  YUM!

  

  Nestle Crunch

  The other candy bar themed cupcake, the Nestle Crunch, wasn’t as delightful.  The chocolate cake was a little dry and crumbly.

  

  The King's Favorite

  The King’s Favorite is a banana cake with peanut butter icing and a tiny chocolate center.   The peanut butter icing was a little sweet, but the cake was moist and flavorful.

  

  Peanut Butter Dream

  The Peanut Butter dream consisted of a peanut butter cake filled with a bit of chocolate pudding and topped with peanut butter icing.  This one was a little too sweet for me.  It was moist and filled with peanut butter goodness, but also a bit too much sugar.  I’m not exactly sure what the chocolate ball on top was, but it didn’t add anything.

  

  Orange Cream

  The Orange Cream was not good.  The orange flavor in the cake seemed very strong and artificial.  The icing had flecks of vanilla bean in it and was probably good on its own, but I couldn’t get past the overly orange-ness of it all.  This did inspire me for a potential for “O” however.  If I decide on Orange Creamsicle, I’m hoping I can make it seem a little more light and natural.

  If I lived closer to Vancouver, I’d probably be in Divine Consign frequently, looking for household goods and having a little cupcake treat.    For now, I’ll be happy stopping in every now and then on my way to Portland.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged banana, butterfinger, chocolate, Elvis, Nestle Crunch, orange, peanut butter

• M= Moosetracks

  Posted at 7:59 pm by MLea

  Aug 11th

  For those of you that don’t know, Moose Tracks® is an ice cream by Denali® Flavors.   It is made into various store brand ice creams and other small dairies like Mayfield and Turkey Hill.  Moose Tracks® has a vanilla ice cream base and is accented with peanut butter cups and Moose Tracks® fudge.

  

  Trader Joe's Mini Peanut Butter Cups

  I started off my cup cake interpretation with a standard vanilla cupcake batter.  I creamed together 2 sticks room temperature butter and 2 cups sugar.  I then added 4 eggs and 2 teaspoonfuls of vanilla and mixed well.  In a separate bowl, I mixed 3 cups flour, 3 teaspoonfuls baking powder and a bit of salt.  I added it in thirds to the butter mixture, alternating with 2/3 cup warmed milk.   When the flour was incorporated, I stirred in a box of Trader Joe’s Mini Peanut Butter cups.  I scooped into 24 cupcake liners and baked for around 20 minutes at 350.

  

  Baked up Moosetracks

  While the cakes were cooling, I started the icing.  I thought about using the Drumsticks fudge as an icing, but its too thick to pipe when cool and too thin to pipe when warm… I also thought about using my grandmother’s boiled chocolate icing which I remember as being “fudgy”… but she always poured it onto a sheet cake still in the pan.  I didn’t know how that would pipe either… I ended up using a recipe that I found on Chowhound.  I don’t know who to credit….

  I heated 1 cup of cream with a couple of tablespoonfuls of corn syrup and a pinch of salt.  When it was simmering, I poured it over 20 ounces of chopped chocolate.  (I used a bag of Ghiardelli semi sweet chips that I had on hand and 8 ounces of Callebaut bittersweet).  I mixed this until the chocolate was melted, then added 1 cup of powdered sugar, then 1 and 1/2 sticks of butter a little at a time and blended until smooth.  After it cooled completely in the frig (I was short on time!) I whipped it a bit to make it fluffy.

  

  I ended up with 2 pans in the oven when I baked the cupcakes.  Both pans were the same TYPE of pan (non-stick), but not the same BRAND (one was Wilton and one was CakeMate, I think).  When I initially took the cakes out of the oven, one of the pans seemed to be a little underdone.  When I touched the top to see if it bounced back, it was still wet, so I put that pan back in the oven for an extra 2 minutes.   When Mr Shuck and I ate a cupcake later on that night, mine was still a little raw in the middle.  Mr Shuck’s was fine.  We both thought the cupcakes were good, but the icing was a little sweeter than I like.   The next day at work, I got mixed reviews:  some people thought the cupcakes were “a little dense” and “dry” and others thought they were good.  I think it probably depended on which pan they had come out of.  There is also the possibility that some of my friends are honest and some don’t want to complain about a free cupcake!  I think I might try to get another Wilton pan for consistency.  I also think I need to spend an entire weekend testing vanilla cake recipes.   If anyone out there wants to share…..

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged chocolate, Moosetracks, peanut butter, vanilla

• I loves me some Cupcake Luv

  Posted at 11:00 am by MLea

  Jul 1st

  Over the weekend, we went out to eat lunch at the Georgetown Liquor Company.  Afterward, we headed over to the Georgetown Saturday Market.  My goal: Cupcake Luv.  These cupcakes are sold only at 7 lucky farmer’s markets throughout the Seattle area.   I should have made a note of the flavors available that day.  I chose The Eternal Luv,  described on Cupcake Luv’s website as “our darkest chocolate cake, rich peanut butter ganache center, finished with swirls of creamy peanut butter butter cream and fresh roasted peanuts”.

  

  Cupcake Luv's Eternal Luv: click to enlarge

  This cupcake was not cheap at $5.  However, it was worth it!  The cake was moist and rich and the ganache inside was smooth and silky.  The icing wasn’t overly sweet and had strong peanut flavor.  The chopped nuts on top added crunch and a little salt.  My rating: ♥♥♥♥.  I’d go out of my way to purchase this cupcake again.  I look forward to finding Cupcake Luv again at a farmer’s market near or far.

  
  
  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged chocolate, Cupcake Luv, peanut butter

• Elvis has entered the building

  Posted at 9:34 pm by MLea

  Feb 23rd

  So, there appears to be lots of debate on the internet about what constitutes an Elvis Sandwich.  In my mind, it’s a banana, peanut butter and bacon sandwich that’s been fried like a grilled cheese, so that’s what I based this cupcake on.  I know! I know!  Bacon on a cupcake?

  

  Mise en place: click to enlarge

  I originally got the banana baby food because there were no ripe bananas.  After Mr Shuck tasted the baby food, it was decided that we would use almost ripe bananas.  I didn’t want to just dump the bacon on top, so I made little rings of bacon and put them in the oven to cook while it was preheating.  Some of them turned out to look like little pork roses.

  

  Bacon curls: click to enlarge

  I used Martha Stewart’s Banana cupake recipe.  Found here. I liked the recipe because it was pretty plain…sometimes banana cake turns into spice cake.   I replaced 1 ounce of the butter with rendered bacon fat and baked the minis for about 16 minutes.

  

  Banana Cupcakes: click to enlarge

  I imagined that Elvis probably fried his sandwiches, so I browned the tops just a little bit.

  

  Frying cupcakes: click to enlarge

  I don’t know if it really added anything beyond another step and more photos, but you could see the little ring peeking out from below the frosting.

  

  Fried Banana Cupcakes: click to enlarge

  I used another Martha Stewart recipe for the peanut butter frosting.  The recipe specified to not use “natural” peanut butter, but that’s all I had on hand.  I imagine this is because it’s not very sweet.  I ended up adding a bit of corn syrup to sweeten the icing up a bit.

  

  Banana Peanut Butter cupcakes: click to enlarge

  The frosting was piped on and topped with a bacon rosette.

  

  Elvis Cupcakes: click to enlarge

  It think these cupcakes were a success.  I took around 40 mini cupcakes to work and came home with an empty container.  If I were to make them over again, I’d incorporate more bacon and use Skippy or Jif instead of Whole Foods’ peanut butter.

  Photo credits to Mr Shuck

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged bacon, banana, Elvis, peanut butter

• Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes by Mrs Shuck

  Posted at 8:03 pm by MLea

  Oct 18th
  

  Chocolate peanut butter- click to enlarge

  Mr Shuck has eaten 3 already and has given them ♥♥♥ 1/2.

  I used a chocolate cake recipe found on Allrecipes.   I was led to this recipe by The Red Deer and I attempted her recipe for Swiss Meringue butter cream, replacing 4 tablespoons of the butter with 4 tablespoons of peanut butter and using meringue powder instead of the egg whites.  I realize that I shouldn’t be changing recipes that I have never attempted.

  Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • Reece’s miniature peanut butter cups (the ones wrapped in foil)

  

  Unwrapped Reece's cups- click to enlarge

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare cupcake liners in pans.
  2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until smooth. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients, alternately with the milk. Once all of the ingredients have been incorporated, mix on high speed of an electric mixer for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins then drop a Reece’s miniature into each one..
  3. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

  I probably used only 1 cup of milk, instead of 1 1/2 cups.  The batter seemed really runny at that point.  I was afraid the Reece’s cups would sink if the batter was too thin.   It ultimately didn’t matter as they did sink.  The 1st problem that I’ve experienced with these cupcakes is that the Reece’s cups have sunk to the bottom and when you try to peel off the cupcake liner, the peanut butter cup comes with it, resulting in a bottom-less cupcake.  Maybe I should have chopped up the peanut butter cups.  Maybe I should have used foil liners, since they don’t seem to stick as much.

  The 2nd problem I had is that the Swiss Meringue butter-cream was too runny.  I attempted to use meringue powder instead of egg whites because I never like the taste of meringue I’ve made myself.  I put it in the frig for a bit and was able to pipe it after it chilled some.  Hopefully, I won’t wake up to icing dripping all over the cupcakes.

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged chocolate, peanut butter

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