How Good Do These Look?

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ¼ cups lightly packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 heaping TBSP cocoa powder
2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
¾ cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease cupcake pans and set aside.
Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often , until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder. Mix until combined. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, on at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing well after each addition. Continue to beat for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer, add the melted chocolate, and mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add about ½ the ingredients followed by about ½ of the sour cream and beat well. Add the remaining dry ingredients followed by the remaining sour cream, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition. Add the boiling water and beat until smooth.
Scoop(ice cream scoop works best) batter into prepared pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center. Let cool for about 10 minutes and remove from pan. Let cupcakes cool completely.

Peanut Butter Filling

4 ounces or 1/2 package of Philly cream cheese
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
milk to thin out filling

Beat cream cheese and peanut butter until combined.
Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the milk and beat until combined. Add milk until your reach desired consistency.

Chocolate Ganache

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
5 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Chop chocolates and transfer into a heat proof bowl.
Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream over the chocolate.
Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.
Add butter and vanilla and stir until combined.
Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixture and let cool for 10 minutes.
Sift powdered sugar into the mixture and beat until combined. Add more sugar if needed.
Continue to beat with an electric mixer until lighter in color and creamy.

Assemble
Using a small pairing knife, cut off the top of the cupcake in the shape of a cone. Flip the top over and cut off the cone.
Fill the cavity with a teaspoon or so of peanut butter filling. I used a piping bag, this makes it much easier.
Replace top.
Frost with ganache.

via Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Nutella Brownies

Nutella Brownies
6 tbsp butter
3 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/4 C nutella
1/2 C sugar (I used 6 Tbsp)
2 eggs
1/2 C flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C hazelnut, chopped

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a square baking pan with 2 sheets of aluminum foil perpendicular to each other. This makes the brownies really easy to lift out. You can also grease the foil but I didn't.

Roughly chop chocolate and cut butter into small pats. Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler or on low power in the microwave. I used the microwave at 30% power and stirred every minute; it took about 3 minutes.

Whisk in nutella, eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add flour and mix until just incorporated (do not over mix).

Spread into baking pan and scatter chopped hazelnuts on top of the brownies. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.**

Start checking the brownies at 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies should come out with moist crumbs (if it comes out clean then the brownies have overbaked). It is better to underbake than overbake.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Yum, yum, yum

Chocolate Pudding Cake
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided in half
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups water, boiling
2 tsp instant coffee/espresso powder

Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine flour, sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder and salt in an 8 inch square baking pan, stirring with a fork to combine. Pour in the milk and oil, and stir again with the fork until batter is uniform.
Sprinkle brown sugar and the remaining 1/4 cup cocoa evenly over batter. Stir vanilla extract and instant coffee powder into the hot water, then pour the mixture over everything. Do not mix. Place pan in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until surface of the cake looks dry. The pudding will be bubbling around the edges of the pan. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.
Serves 8.

*Note: You can use regular coffee in place of the water+instant coffee combination.

via Slashfood

Creme Brulee Cocktail

This sure looks mighty good!Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
1 T casters sugar, plus more for garnish
1 part vanilla vodka
1 part Frangelico

To create the burnt sugar rim, lightly wet the rim of a glass, and dip it in a plate of sugar. Then, using a kitchen torch, carefully blast the sugar until it browns. If you don’t have a torch, you can try the broiler. Either way, make sure that you are using glass that can stand the heat… and allow the glass to cool at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before touching it! It’s best to start out caramelizing the glasses before you make the cocktail. Don’t worry… if you choose to forgo the burnt sugar, the drink itself is plenty tasty without it… just increase the sugar stirred into the cream a bit.

To make the drink, heat the cream, vanilla bean and sugar over medium high heat until it just begins to boil, stirring continuously. Remove from heat and add the vodka and Frangelico. Allow to cool slightly.

Shake with ice and strain into your caramelized glass. Also great served warm in a mug!

Also published on Well Fed Network’s The Spirit World.

via Cook & Eat