In The Kitchen With Kat

Preposterously Palatable Peanut Butter, Butter Cream Frosting

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In my realm there is a law, well a rule, actually, it's more like a tenet. If you are part of my herd, you get cake on your birthday. As far as creeds go, I suppose it is a pretty sweet one, especially if you are fond of baked goods. Today is one of my dear, dear friend's birthday. She is a spectacular person, with a big heart. My favorite thing about my friend M is that she comes across as rather brash at times. You can always count on her to be direct. I can go 3 months without seeing her and we can meet up for a meal and some mischief like it was only hours since we last hung out. She's good people.

Anyway, today is M's birthday and of course she gets cake. As I am still recovering from the immune system doom plague courtesy of the local school children, I decided to make her some cupcakes as I just didn't think I had a full layer cake in me. M adores chocolate, so I whipped up a triple chocolate fudge cake batter and baked up a couple dozen fudgy cupcakes. As to how I was going to adorn the little nibbles, I had to pause for a bit of sugar spun pondering.

I started thinking about how I still felt like I got ran over by a rampaging pack of wild turkeys in pursuit if a horde of grasshoppers, so I needed to not over do it, yet M is my bestie and I wanted the cupcakes to be special. I then remembered the little chocolate covered peanut ball candies that she gives to me every Christmas and inspiration struck.

Enter Peanut Butter, Butter Cream. Honestly, it's one of my favorite frostings to exist ever. There might have even been an occurrence of chocolate kisses being unwrapped and dipped into a batch of PB Butter Cream frosting made solely for that purpose. I admit nothing.

Anyway, I whipped up a batch of that luscious frosting faster than you can spell L-O-V-E H-A-N-D-L-E-S and piped it onto the fudge cupcakes. Of course I could have just left the cakes alone at that level of completion, but as anyone who knows me knows, why leave something just done when it can be overdone!

So, I got out my trusty Cuisinart food processor that my Grandma found for me at a garage sale a couple of decades ago, and using a butter knife to activate the thing (the piece of plastic in the lid that does that job broke off.), I ground up some roasted salted peanuts into a crumbly dust and rolled the frosted cupcakes in the peanuty flavor enhancer.

Next, I melted some milk chocolate and drizzled that ambrosia on top of the cupcakes in a not at all artistic flourish. In fact, if anyone was watching me do the drizzling, they would probably be concerned that I was having some sort of seizure. If there was a class on being confidently flamboyant I would probably be an F student. Hello awkward.

The final product does look somewhat edible though, and I can guarantee you that it will taste good. I have always been more concerned about taste than esthetics. However, I am trying to do better in the looks department, it seems I am developing more patience in some areas as I age. Some.

Anyhoo, if you are feeling like something decadent, whip up a batch of this butter cream and enjoy. I won't judge you for eating it out of the bowl, or slathering some between two graham crackers and dipping the resulting sandwich of joy in melted milk chocolate. Not at all:)

Peanut Butter Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup room temperature butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter See note
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Cream the butter and the peanut butter together. Whip it until its nice and creamy.

2. Turn your mixer down a notch or two, unless you want to be garnished in powdered sugar, and add in the powdered >sugar a bit at a time. Well, unless you want to wear it. I always end up wearing it.

3. Next, add in the whipping cream and vanilla. Crank up your mixer again and whip the frosting like you are churning >butter. You want to go for maximum fluffiness here. Depending on your mixer this part could take five to ten minutes of >whipping.

Enjoy.

Note: When it comes to peanut butter choices, I tend to eat my own homemade or the "natural" kind. As much as I >like that kind of peanut butter, for this recipe you want to use the creamy processed kind, it just works better.

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Additional note: My husband, a man who despises cake, loved and inhaled one of these cupcakes. He's busy playing Borderlands 3 and was even bragging to my Cuz about them. I am feeling pretty good about giving them to my bud!

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And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's currently dusted in powdered sugar iPhone.

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