Candy -and- Cake: Reese's Cupcakes.

I've never really liked peanut butter. I've never hated it. I think it's OK. If there's something else around to eat, I wouldn't first go for peanut butter. Even when paired with chocolate as in Reese's candy, I'd still usually rather have a different candy or dessert.

I think these cupcakes might have changed my mind.

While I have a few recipes for vanilla or birthday cakes that I honestly think taste just as good using a doctored-up cake mix, I've never found the same to be true for chocolate cake. Even from-scratch ones can easily turn out dry and crumbly or simply... somehow not chocolate-y. I don't know if I've mentioned it on this blog before, but the first time I made this chocolate cake/cupcake recipe from Foodess, I knew it would become my go-to. I don't even bother looking for other recipes anymore. Although the recipe has a lot of ingredients, it's also an easy recipe to follow. I used Hershey special dark cocoa powder this time, but it does work just as well with regular cocoa powder. For these cupcakes, I used this peanut butter frosting which uses the same basic formula as a regular buttercream. The most tedious part of the whole process was unwrapping the Reese's candy to go inside the cupcakes and to top them, and even that doesn't take too long. (Of course, if you're making more than one batch, it might get old... )

What I did that worked well/would do differently:
1) Next time I would fill the cupcake tins with more batter before putting the candy pieces inside and cover with less batter. Having the candy so close to the bottoms caused some of them to melt in the oven and then harden on the liners after baking, making it difficult to remove them without tearing off the bottom of the cupcakes.
2) I used unsalted butter for the frosting. In a previous cupcake post, I mentioned that this does make a substantial difference with buttercream in both taste and texture. So if at all possible, use unsalted butter.
3) I used Jif creamy peanut butter. I don't have sponsored posts, so I'm not advertising either Jif or Reese's in this post, but I will say that it turned out exactly as I wanted. I'd at least use a smooth and not a crunchy peanut butter. I think while the latter might taste good for those of you who like their peanut butter crunchier, it might be difficult to gauge the ending point of your frosting and make it harder to pipe.

For the cupcakes...

 

I first mixed together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. I did use a spatula to stir from the bottom a few times to thoroughly mix the ingredients together.

Then, I mixed in the eggs (having the eggs at room temperature makes them blend better without overmixing), buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla. At this point, the batter became quite thick. 

I took the bowl off the mixer and stirred in the cup of hot coffee. At this point, the cake batter was much thinner. 

I filled lined cupcake tins about 1/4 way full with batter, placed a Reese's miniature in the center of each, and covered with more batter, until the tins were roughly 2/3 full. Next time, I would fill each more like halfway or even slightly more and then top with just a little batter. 

I baked at 375F for about 22 minutes, until the tops sprang back and the tines of a fork came out with just a few crumbs. I then immediately placed them in the freezer while I made the frosting (freezing right after baking holds in moisture). 

For the frosting, I beat the butter and peanut butter together until thoroughly combined and smooth, about a minute. 

I then added most of the confectioner's sugar, beat on medium speed for about two minutes, then added one tablespoon of milk, beat for about thirty seconds, then added the rest of the sugar and milk and beat for roughly another minute, until thick and smooth. If you want to test for consistency, put a scoop in the tip of a piping bag and see if you can squeeze it out onto a piece of parchment paper. If it comes out without applying too much pressure but still holds its shape, then go on and fill the piping bag more and decorate your cupcakes. If it's too thin or comes out of the tip almost on its own, scrape it from the parchment paper back into the bowl and beat in a little more confectioner's sugar (about a tablespoon at a time; there's probably no need to just dump another half cup in!). If you find you have to squeeze hard, do the same but add milk instead of sugar.

I piped the frosting onto the tops of the cupcakes and topped each with half of a Reese's miniature candy.

DEEMS THIS RECIPE:
... Much, much easier than pie. 

Sugar, Sugar (Cookie Cheesecake).

In the last post, I told a bit of a half-truth. There won't exactly be cookies... but there will be sugar cookie cheesecake! I've probably mentioned before that I have a major sweet tooth. Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts, so when I saw this recipe on Cookies and Cups for sugar cookie cheesecake, I knew I had to try it. For some reason, when I make cheesecake for blog purposes, I almost always end up under- or over-baking. Of course, things usually turn out just fine whenever I'm not documenting the process! So unfortunately I didn't get the right cheesecake texture this time to really properly analyze the end result; I can tell you that the flavor, overall, was good, and I will definitely be trying it again and suspect it will be delicious.

Also, and this will likely be one of the only times I will say this in reference to generic vs. brand name ingredients: the recipe calls for good cream cheese, and you should heed the recipe. I had previously purchased a big block of it and used that because I didn't want to make another grocery run, but its texture, in comparison to the brand name, turned out to be like the difference between under-whipped whipped cream and just-right whipped cream.  I'm convinced that it contributed to the cheesecake cooking a lot longer than the stated cooking time and still being under-done.

With all of that in mind, here are three things I would do differently next time:
1) Use brand name cream cheese, because I do think a good starting texture makes a difference in final taste and cooking time.
2) Use less salt in the cookie crust. I think the purpose of a whole teaspoon of salt and a whole teaspoon of baking soda in what would be the equivalent of about 1/2 batch of cookie dough--I would normally use that much in a full batch of sugar cookies--was to offset the overall sweetness, but I found that I could really taste the salt in the end result and would probably use 1/2, maybe even a 1/4, teaspoon of salt next time.
3) Trust my instincts on when to take the cheesecake out of the oven instead of trying to fit it to the instructions. First, some ovens run hotter, other cooler. As soon as you have chilled a cheesecake, it becomes a lot harder to correct under-baking. You can use a warm water bath, but even that is a hit-or-miss fix. I checked the cheesecake a few times and ended up leaving it in the oven for a good twenty minutes longer than instructed. I finally decided to take it out even while it was still much more jiggly than other cheesecakes, because I thought perhaps that was how this particular cheesecake was meant to be served (I don't think it was...).


Now with the preliminaries out of the way, here is the cheesecake. First, the crust...

First, I beat the sugar and butter for about 2 minutes until fluffy.

Then I added the egg and vanilla, beating until smooth.

I added the salt and baking soda and mixed, then added the flour--note: I  didn't get a picture of pouring the flour in--and mixed until the dough just came together. I would suggest adding the baking soda and a 1/4 teaspoon of salt, then tasting the dough after mixing; if it tastes like usual sugar cookie dough to you, then keep going without adding the rest of the salt. If you think it could use more, then add another 1/4 and continue adding to taste (always make sure to wash your hands/have clean utensils on hand!). Finally, I stirred in the sprinkles and pressed the finished dough into the bottom of a greased springform pan.

I set that aside, cleaned out the mixing bowl, and got to work on the cheesecake itself. 

First, I beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Then, I added the vanilla and added eggs one at a time, beating after each until just blended (no visible streaks of egg). With cheesecake, the goal is a pudding-like consistency. I only showed doing one egg in the pictures; I think you can imagine the process with the other three!

I poured the cheesecake into the springform pan, smoothed it over the crust, and baked. Normally, cheesecakes baked at 325°F will follow the recipe's guidelines: 55-60 minutes. However, mine took about 80 and even then wasn't done for reasons described above. The best way to tell if a cheesecake is done is that the edges should be raised and slightly browned, and the middle should be almost, but not quite set (a bit jiggly still). Definitely go by that more than by the timer on the oven. 

I got it out of the oven and let it cool. Always let your cheesecake cool completely before unmolding, or you run the risk of it falling apart. It will "fall" a bit during cooling (i.e. lose the puffiness and become flat on top) and will do so a bit more while chilling. You might be able to tell that although the edges were raised and a bit brown here, the cheesecake was still much more jiggly than it ought to have been when taken out of the oven.

I put it in the fridge to chill for about 6 hours, then took it out and topped it with whipped cream and sprinkles. It might not have been a 100% success, but it definitely looked pretty:

DEEMS THIS RECIPE:

... Easier than pie, if you keep an eye on the cheesecake throughout baking.