Wouldn't this be a fabulous gift for the upcoming holidays? Imagine the look on their faces when they bite into one of these? Priceless. They'd say "oh my gosh there's cake inside my peanut butter cup!" That's reason enough to make them.
I mean who doesn't love a little cake with their peanut butter? And why not throw them into a nice cute little milk chocolate cup?
Ever since I made my first homemade peanut butter cup way back in 2009 I've always had it in the back of my mind to kick them up a notch, somehow, someway. Finally I thought of putting cake inside when all this cake ball madness came about from Bakerella.
I hope some of you make these, they are a lot of fun. Enjoy!
cake filled peanut butter cups
recipe by vanillasugarblog.com
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Cook notes:
I only made 12 (regular size muffin tins) with this. You could go ahead and make a lot more, but I only wanted 12. The rest of the cake batter I used them for cake pops.
One could make these cups smaller, like mini’s, but it might be hard as you have to put a layer of cake batter in there and a layer of pb filling—you need the room that a regular sized muffin tin has.
I used milk chocolate for this, you could try dark; I don’t know how that would taste.
I used devils food cake for this as I wanted something that would go nice with peanut butter. But feel free to experiment and use any type of cake filling you desire.
Cake filling:
1 box devil food cake mix
1 can cream cheese frosting
Peanut butter filling:
1 cup of plain or crunchy peanut butter (use a pb that is not runny or too oily)
2 TB confectioners sugar
3 TB of crushed graham crackers, finely crushed
Milk chocolate cups:
About 2-3 cups of melted milk chocolate
Pastry brush
Bake cake according to directions on box. Let cool, then crumble cake into large bowl or use a food processor to crumble. Then mix the cake crumbles with the can of cream cheese frosting. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and let chill for an hour.
Line a regular muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Melt the milk chocolate over a double boiler. It’s best to use this so this way we can go back and reheat what we need in steps. Take pastry brush and gently line the bottoms and sides of the cupcake liners with melted milk chocolate; do this a couple times as we want a nice thick bottom and sides to hold all the stuffing inside. Let the chocolate harden in the fridge or on the counter.
Make the peanut butter filling by combining the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar and crushed graham crackers. Mix well, cover and store in fridge.
Take your chilled cake batter and scoop out “almost golf ball” size and place into hardened chocolate cups; flatten just a bit. Make sure to leave room around the edges for pouring chocolate. Then take your chilled peanut butter filling and make a smaller ball than that of the cake batter and place on top of the cake batter. Once you’ve done all the cups, let this sit in the fridge to harden up a bit.
Go back to your chocolate over the double boiler and melt chocolate again. With a spoon, take the melted chocolate and filled the sides and tops of the peanut butter making sure to cover everything in chocolate and giving the cup an overall good seal.
You can either let these harden on the counter or if you can’t wait the fridge.
10/10/11
cake filled peanut butter cups
10/6/11
teriyaki beef tacos w/ ginger-miso slaw & sriracha
Ohhh these were good. I marinated the beef strips for about 3 days and they turned into little pieces of sweet candy after grilling them.
Incredibly easy to throw together. The sauce for the slaw I got from whole foods. As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what to do with it--make a nice crunchy slaw for a beef teriyaki taco. Don't you love how you find one special food item and instantly you figure out a fabulous meal from it? Love when that happens.
Can you do this with chicken, fish, tofu? Yes! Please do. I bet the fish would be amazing tasting, just make sure you grill it. Teriyaki anything is better grilled don't you think?
Please make sure to top off the tacos with sriracha sauce. OK?
These cook fast; 3 minutes per side for medium.
I know the outside looks burnt, it's not, just the grilling turns the teryaki marinade dark and sweet. The inside is nice and juicy and tender.
That ginger-miso dressing I found at Whole Foods in the refrigerated section over by the lettuce. It's really good. Great on plain salads too. Any bottled ginger-miso dressing will do. If you can't find one, here is a good homemade ginger-miso dressing recipe from Chow. I marinated the filet strips for 3 days; they were like candy after I grilled them, so good. The marinade will turn the beef a dark color, don't be alarmed.
teriyaki beef tacos w/ ginger-miso slaw
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2-3 filet mignons sliced medium-thin thickness (or use whatever protein you desire)
¾- 1 cup of soy sauce
1 & ½ TB of chopped garlic
3 TB of fresh ginger root, chopped
¼ cup plus 2 TB packed dark brown sugar
2-3 TB honey
Couple dashes of ground black pepper
Flour tortillas or plain naan bread, warmed
Sriracha sauce
Fresh limes, optional
ginger-miso slaw:
A couple cups of your favorite chopped slaw or broccoli slaw
About ¾ - 1 cup of ginger-miso salad dressing (found at whole foods)
Note: any bottled ginger-miso dressing will do. If you can't find any, you can make your own using this recipe from Chow.
Cook notes: If you want it spicy, just add a few pinches of red chili pepper flakes to the marinade. That ginger-miso dressing I found at Whole Foods in the refrigerated section over by the lettuce. It's really good. Great on plain salads too. I marinated the filet strips for 3 days; they were like candy after I grilled them, so good. The marinade will turn the beef a dark color, don't be alarmed.
For the beef:
Mix all ingredients in a glass or ceramic dish. Mix well until sugar is dissolved. Then add in beef strips. Cover and place in fridge. Every 3 hours turn beef over. Marinade at least 5 hours or longer.
When ready to eat just grill until done, about 3-4 minutes each side for med-rare.
For the slaw:
Mix all ingredients, Taste-test, then let chill in fridge.
Assemble:
Warm up tortillas, fill with slaw, then grilled beef, then drizzle with sriracha sauce.
Makes about 4-6 good size tacos.
9/30/11
buckwheat-oat waffles
Do you like buckwheat pancakes? Waffles? Me, not so much. But then I had them this way and I liked them.
I don't know, maybe it's the over-grainy taste that's in there? I feel as though buckwheat belongs in a bread: a honey-molasses bread. That sounds good doesn't it? I'll have to work on that one.
I found a good mix for buckwheat waffles. I added in some light brown sugar, butter, oil, cinnamon and buttermilk. Tasted good. But it really was the blueberries that tasted well with the buckwheat.
So the next time I make these, I am using a blueberry sauce, not maple syrup. If you make these, try it with a warm blueberry compote or sauce. I bet it's just fabulous.
buckwheat-oat waffles (from pre-made mix)
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There is no recipe. I did not write it down--made it on the fly. Sorry. But you're all smart bakers, so you should be able to figure this out if you taste as you go along and see how the batter comes together as you add in what I did (in the above photo). If you buy this buckwheat mix, remember to:
- this is based on use for 1/2 the bag, about 8-10 giant waffles.
- sub out the liquids it has on the directions with buttermilk and some oil.
- I added in the quick cook oats (about 1/2 cup) to give it a nice crunch, you don't have too.
- it did not say to add in the oil, but I did (about 2-3 TB) as the batter was very dry
- it does say to add in melted butter, I did plus a little extra
- I added in about 2-3 TB of light brown sugar to the batter
- I added in about 1 TB of cinnamon to the batter
- always always always taste- test before cooking to see what it needs.
- this batter is very lumpy and thick, that is good. Watery thin is bad.
- as I said before the maple syrup was OK, a nice warm blueberry compote would be awesome with hot waffles or even warmed up blueberry jam.
9/27/11
cookbook giveaway (it has doughnuts in there!)
My love for homemade doughnuts runs deep and long. There are so many ways to make them and so many ways to dress them up.
So with a fabulous cookbook as this I just had to get an extra one to give away. Just leave me a comment here and what is your favorite doughnut to eat or bake, make sure you're a fan of Vanilla Sugar Blog on Facebook, and thats it. I'll do the drawing on October 6, 2011.
*Anonymous comments do not count.
*Please have a valid name and email.
*If you enter more than once you will be voted off the island!
*One comment only!
If you are a doughnut lover as I am, then you'll just love this book. They help you make better donuts and make better glazes; excellent step by step instructions.
This is a great way to show off your doughnut making skills to your friends and family. Oh yeah baby.
If you want to buy one now (don't blame you) at a discounted price then check this out:
9/23/11
the infamous tomato pie now with panko
That title sounds like an infomercial. "New improved, now with panko!" And it is just that, improved. Improved for those that want a little "crunch".
This summer I was shocked how many of you loved, downloaded, raved about my tomato pie. So glad you all loved it. I got so many emails on this pie, thanking me for posting it, sharing it, how easy it is to throw together, etc.... Thank you!
I love it too, my favorite way to eat it is cold. So good with a glass of white (dry) wine. When I used up the last of my summer tomatoes, just as I was about to put the last pie in the oven to bake, it hit me, "why not add panko to the top?" So glad I did, it gives it that nice little crunch. Stays crunchy for a couple days, then gets a little soggy. But my pies don't really last longer than two days in this house.
So if you still have tomatoes leftover and can't quite let go of summer (like me), then give this new version a whirl.
(note: I used sliced cheese here in the photo. You can use sliced or shredded cheese. Just don't make your slices too thick or use too much.)
tomato pie with panko
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1 (9") deep dish pie shell, frozen (or use your own pie crust dough, whatever you like)
4-5 large tomatoes, thickly cut
Freshly cracked black pepper
A light sprinkling of sugar
1 c. good quality mayonnaise (Hellmans)
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup cooked real bacon (not the fake stuff please)
½ - ¾ cup of panko crumbs
I like to keep my deep dish pie crust cold/sitting in the freezer till I’m ready to use; it cooks up better when it start with a cold crust.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, 350 for convection. Slice up the tomatoes in rather thick slices and place them on paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture.
Also place paper towels on the top.
Get out pie crust from freezer, place sliced tomatoes over crust; do a double layer of sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with a very light layer of sugar then freshly cracker black pepper.
In a bowl combine mayonnaise with shredded cheddar cheese, and the chopped up bacon. Spoon over tomatoes; try to get it spread evenly over the tomatoes, but don’t push down.
If you want a crunch, then sprinkle on the panko crumbs just before baking, push them down a bit into the topping.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Mine was done at the 25 minute mark, so best to keep an eye on it at the 20 minute mark.
I let my pie cool down about an hour before slicing into it. It really does taste best when it’s refrigerated and served cold. Serve with a nice glass of white wine.
Note: I love my crust nice and dark brown, if you don’t like it that way then cook it less. This is a really rich pie, so cut the slices smaller than you would an apple or other fruit pie.
