Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Frosting
Intense and silky, with peanut butter in the crumb and again in the frosting.
The frosting is beaten for a full 5 minutes at medium-high speed. That is not impatience talking: peanut butter is dense, and it takes that long to aerate into something pipeable instead of a heavy paste.
The butter is split between the two — 55 g in the cake and 55 g unsalted in the frosting — so check the quantities before you start creaming.
Ingredients
- 110 g butter: 55 g for the cake, 55 g unsalted for the frosting
- 150 g white sugar
- 150 g powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 3 eggs
- 150 g all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 190 g peanut butter: 60 g for the cake, 130 g for the frosting
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 60 ml reduced-fat milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 45 ml heavy cream (double cream)
Method
- 1
Preheat the oven and line the tray with paper cases. Sift the flour with the baking powder.
- 2
Beat 55 g of butter with 150 g of white sugar until the mixture lightens. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well.
- 3
Add 60 g of peanut butter and beat until smooth. Add the sifted flour, alternating with the 60 ml of milk and the vanilla.
- 4
Divide between the cases and bake for 22-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then move to a rack until they reach room temperature.
- 5
Frosting: beat the remaining 55 g of unsalted butter with the 130 g of peanut butter and the cream. Add the sifted 150 g of powdered sugar and beat for at least 5 minutes at medium-high speed to aerate it.
- 6
Pipe the frosting only onto completely cooled cupcakes: on warm cake it melts and slides off the sides.
Homemade Cupcakes: Light Bites for Any Moment
Is there anything more comforting than the smell of cupcakes just out of the oven? This collection gathers our best recipes for breakfast, afternoon tea or a small treat: irresistible combinations, a properly moist crumb, and all the tricks that make them work in a few steps.
