Peanut Butter Frosting

As soon as I decided to make the vanilla cupcakes mentioned here, I knew I wanted to make a chocolate version, but not with chocolate frosting. I'm a big fan of chocolate and peanut butter, so decided to create a small-batch peanut butter frosting.

2 tsp peanut butter
1/2 Tbsp shortening
1/4 C powdered sugar
1/2 Tbsp milk

In a small bowl, cream the peanut butter, shortening and powdered sugar until well combined. Gradually beat in enough milk to achieve spreading consistency.

Robyn's notes: the peanut butter flavour in this frosting is light, not overwhelming. I had exactly enough frosting for two of my chocolate cupcakes.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Chocolate Cupcake Duo

This is my adaptation of this recipe by How Sweet It Is.

• 1 egg white
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp cocoa
• 1/4 heaping tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 2 liners.
2. In medium bowl, add egg white and sugar and beat until combined. Add vanilla and melted butter and stir until mixed. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt and stir until smooth. Stir in milk. Divide batter equally between the 2 cupcake liners.
3. Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes, or until cake is set. Let cool completely, then frost as desired.

Robyn's notes: this version of the recipe still seems very much like muffins to me, but still yummy. I frosted these with my peanut butter frosting.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Chocolate Frosting for Cupcake Pairs

I wanted to try this recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes by How Sweet It Is, but I don't keep frosting in the house and I didn't want to have a bunch of frosting left over. So I looked at what was in the cupboard, and wrote this recipe for small-batch chocolate frosting. I have also included notes below on my experience with the cupcake recipe.

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 C + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 1/2 Tbsp milk

1. Cream butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, add vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar with the mixer on low speed. Pour in melted chocolate and beat until incorporated. Add milk 1 teaspoon at a time with mixer on low speed, until desired consistency is reached.

Robyn's notes on the frosting: I used 62% cacao bittersweet chocolate. Note, bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate are not the same. Be sure you have the right ingredient. I ended up not using the entire 1/2 Tbsp of milk, but you may want the frosting thinner, so use as much of the milk as you need. If it gets too thin by mistake, add additional powdered sugar. The recipe made a bit more than needed, probably enough to frost three cupcakes, but definitely better than having an entire canister of frosting in the fridge.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Robyn's notes on the cupcakes: I find these cupcakes more like muffins, they're denser than I usually consider cupcakes to be, and several people in the comments on the linked blog post complained that their cupcakes were very "eggy". After 12 minutes of baking, my cupcakes were still liquid inside, I had to cook them for 17 minutes, and many comments over there mentioned cooking for up to 20 minutes. Be sure to fill the empty muffin tin cups with water, to keep your tin from warping. GF: cupcakes are not gluten-free! My gluten-free version will be posted soon. The frosting recipe is gluten-free.