Friday, March 28, 2008

Happy Easter Peep Cupcakes

This month I'm entering my first Cupcake Hero contest, and like the procrastinator I am, I'm sending in my entry the day it's due. The theme is marshmallows, so I made Chocolate Peep cupcakes for Easter dinner.

I was originally going to go with fluffernutter cupcakes, but then my mom suggested baking a peep into a cupcake. That got me thinking of the chocolate covered marshmallow candies out for Christmas (the ones shaped like Santa, I'm sure they have Easter Bunny ones too), and how some are strawberry flavored. And so came the chocolate cupcake with strawberry Peep filling, and a Peep buttercream frosting.

First, the attempt to bake a Peep. Poor pink chick. Luckily there wasn't a lot of splatter in the oven.

For the cupcakes, I use the Magnolia's Chocolate Cupcake Recipe. I don't think I used enough chocolate chips, but I liked the recipe otherwise.

Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes (depending on the size of your cupcake papers and muffin tins)

CUPCAKES:
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
-4 large eggs, at room temperature
-6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (see Note)
-1 cup buttermilk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-Peep mixture*

* I melted 4 peeps with 2tbsp of butter and a couple handfuls of big marshmallows. I used too much butter, especially since I added strawberry syrup (to taste), so I added marshmallows until I got the consistency I wanted

Note: To melt the chocolate, place in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat for approximately 5–10 minutes. Stir occasionally until completely smooth and no pieces of chocolate remain. Remove from the heat and let cool to lukewarm 5–10 minutes. (I melted in the microwave :30 second, stir, repeat until melted)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Set aside.

-In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.

-In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

-Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, just to cover bottom. Add spoonful of Peep mix, then cover with batter until three-fourths full.

-Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

-Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

For the icing, I used
Wilton's Caramel Buttercream icing recipe as a base

2 sticks butter
2/3 cup (approx) melted peeps *

2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
Yield: 3 cups icing.


* I melted 5 peeps with 1tbsp of butter and a handfuls of big marshmallows.

Directions
-Cream butter with electric mixer.


-Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often.

-Add water and vanilla (I would use less water next time, though it worked well for spreading)

-Fold in Peep mixture. I added a little more pink food coloring to even out the color from the Peep sugar.


I was really proud because it was the first time my decorating techniques turned out how I wanted



1 comment:

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Thanks for participating in the Yummr contest! The winner will be announced on my blog soon!