seriously, what better swoon & gym inducing combination is there other than peanut butter and chocolate? tell me. i will gladly be a follower!

however there’s something about this combination that saddens me. something so richly evil that i love it and loathe it at the same time. on an empty stomach, or a great 1 week of healthy eating the smooth and seductive thoughts of peanut butter and chocolate are amazing. the honeymoon spell lasts until you’ve had your second helping. then its off to the gym and another week of healthy eating for you!

see peanut butter & chocolate are dense things in itself, best eaten in moderation. that is my key and my saving grace whenever i bake. just a bite so that if anyone is hospitalised, they can’t accuse you of intentional malice! no, just kidding. :)

we move on to this cupcake. oh, the joy of scooping a hole in the middle of the soft peanut butter cupcake and spooning in swirls of melted dark chocolate. some prefer milk chocolate, but that is half an hour more on the treadmill for you. you may pick your own evil, but they are equally good. but why are we talking about morbid things like that in a great moment? (ps: this post is better to read in the morning light, when the air is fresh, your bed is soft and your clothes are crisp…magic! even the birds chirp for you!). so moving on, we talk about the texture. ooh, soft. when it’s cooled it tastes like pudding pie, eyes in the sky. really good! so soft and tender, and light. but the next day, it feels a little dense and rich. like a treat you indulge in, not a yummy substance you can’t stop eating. that, is what it is on the first day. without topping.

but oh, the topping.

the topping is melted chocolate all over again, but this time softened up with cream, nuttied up with ground peanuts and some white chocolate shavings.

it was my first time trying my own cupcake. mainly because i loved the texture of it yesterday. and because i had to take these pictures without my sisters to eat it. it’s GREAT on your first bite, and a few more after. then suddenly, mounds of guilt just pile up on your head and no, it doesn’t feel like rain drops are falling on your head anymore. it was great while it lasted ;-) a nice fling. haha.

recipe from How To Eat A Cupcake

Peanut Butter Cupcakes (from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans)
Makes 12-14 (Recipe says 12, I got 16)

Cupcake Base
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup milk (any fat content)

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Mix in the egg. Add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute, or until the batter is smooth. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing just until the flour is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

4. Fill each paper liner with a generous ¼ cup of batter, to about 1/3 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.

5. Carefully place the wire rack on top of the cupcakes in their pan. Protecting your hands with pot holders and holding the pan and rack together, invert them to release the cupcakes onto the wire rack. Turn the cupcakes top side up to cool completely.

Chocolate Filling
80g chocolate, melted
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Mix both together
2. Dig a hole in the cupcake, fill it with the melted chocolate and close back the hole with the cake lid you have.

Chocolate Frosting
100g chocolate, melted
100g butter
100g icing sugar

1. Whip all together on medium or high speed until creamy.
2. Spread over cupcake and decorate however you fancy :)

photography notes: i shoot on a nikon d40, and am very guilty of shooting on auto in the mornings. its too easy to resist! however today i fought with the camera to take these shots. they was taken at 430 or 5 in the afternoon with window light. instead of the glaring light the sun cast,