Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

 

These cupcakes are exceptional.  The combination of the peanut butter icing with the dark chocolate cupcakes….wow!  Whoever invented the marriage of peanut butter and chocolate should go straight to heaven.  Genius.  It’s a favorite of mine.  I love how the inside of these cupcakes are jet black, decadent!  Although the cupcakes are moist and delicious, the star is truly the peanut butter icing.   This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.  I made alot of people at work VERY happy.

Before you dig into one of these you might want to grab yourself a glass of cold milk.

Here we go…

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 oz bittersweet chocolate bar

8 tbsp butter

**Melt these over a double boiler, wisk until combined

3/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

**Wisk together in a bowl

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

**Wisk together in a bowl

sour cream – keep on hand for a last minute addition

Now…add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and wisk together.  Sift 1/2 of the flour mixture into the egg mixture slowly.  Stop and add 1/2 cup of sour cream and mix into the batter.  Once incorporated, add the remaining flour mixture until combined.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes.

 

Peanut Butter Icing – by Ina Garten

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tbsp unsalted butter (room temperature)

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Place confectioners sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachement.  Mix on medium speed until creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

As you can see I couldn’t wait to bite into one…

Roasted Shrimp with Basil Mint Pesto

 

 

These gorgeous little guys are delicious.  I’ve made them as an appetizer on several occassions and everyone loved them.  This recipe is adapted from Giada, I’ve made a few changes.  Her recipe can be found here…

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_32423,00.html

Here we go…

1/2 cup basil

1/2 cup mint

1/4 cup toasted pignoli nuts

1 small clove garlic

1 pound large shrimp

1/3 cup olive oil

2-3 tablespoons parmeseano-reggiano

Place cleaned shrimp on a roasting pan.  Sprinkle with a touch of olive oil, salt & pepper.  I encourage you to use really good salt here – I use coarse sea salt.  Mix with your hands to coat all the shrimp.  Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 7 minutes.  It all happens very quickly, so don’t get distracted.  You don’t want to overcook the shrimp.  They are done when they turn all nice and pink colored.  Remove from the oven and place in a bowl, juice and all. 

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor add basil, mint, garlic and toasted pine nuts.  Pulse until finely chopped.  With motor running, slowly add olive oil until incorporated.  Pour pesto into a different bowl and stir in the parmeseano-reggiano with a spoon. 

Add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of the pesto to the shrimp and mix until all the shrimp are nicely coated.  Add more pesto if necessary.  This makes more pesto than you will need for one pound of shrimp – the pesto stays nicely in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Warning**  It will be very easy to eat 47 of these babies, no joke.  They are that good.  Make extra.