New Job Snickers Cupcakes!

 

I recently got a new job! I had been temping for a month as a receptionist for an oil company, and they asked me if I was interested in the job permanently - I told them I definitely was! but then had to explain my situation, because I wasn't showing back then! so I explained how I was pregnant and due Feb 4th! They had some other candidates to interview alongside me, and so the tense wait began! I'm clearly not the best prospect in the world as in 8 weeks time I'll be heading off on maternity leave! but through some definite answered prayers I was offered the job! At 6 months pregnant...I took that as quite an achievement! I decided some baking was in order to celebrate! and since I work in an office with 40 men and 2 women I tried to think of the manliest cupcakes I could bake! I decided snickers would be a good place to start and these cupcakes were born! 

A moist chocolate sponge with a snickers slither baked in the middle, filled with caramel, topped with a caramel frosting, broken up pieces of snickers and nuts and a drizzle of chocolate! To say they went down well is an understatement! I'm not sure there were any left past 10.30am! and I thought I was the only one with a big enough sweet tooth to eat cupcakes for breakfast! 

All day long my inbox pinged with emails coming through from all the different engineers thanking me for the cakes! Here is a selection of my favourite comments... 

"Were you in the cupcake business before working here? That is some serious cupcake equipment you have left on the filing cabinet! and the cupcakes are darn good!" Paul the engineer

"Congratulations! Mary Berry would be proud of that tray." Chris the engineer

"Wowzers!!  Those cakes are shamazing!!! You should sell them."  Colin the engineer

"Gemma… the muffins are DE-licious. That’s what heaven must taste like." Sundeep the engineer, who I had a little chat with to educate him on the difference between a muffin and a cupcake, haha!

I have now created quite a stir in the office and there's lots of pressure for more baking to come their way!  They kept asking me when I was going to bring in snickers cupcakes again, and then someone asked me if I could bake other things besides snickers cupcakes...so I emailed them a link to the recipe index on here and now it's all the office talks about! I don't really think they understand the blogging thing so it's referred to as 'the list'...and it's doing the rounds! People are requesting bakes left, right and centre...first it was my blueberry and banana bread, then the chocolate malt layer cake and now someone has even asked me to make a Christmas cake for their mom...which is quite a task! 

I'm thinking when I eventually go on maternity leave, I could probably just make a living driving by my work once a week and doing a baking drop off! haha

Snickers Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting:

Makes 24 regular and 18 mini cupcakes

From Kiss My Whisk

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes:

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 small package Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
18 mini Snickers bars (you'll need about 27 to 30 total)

Caramel Frosting:

2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
4 cups powdered sugar
9 to 12 mini Snickers

1/4 cup salted peanuts

1/4 cup melted milk chocolate, for drizzling

Line cupcake pan with cases and preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix together all ingredients, except Snickers. Spoon or pour cupcake batter into cupcake pan. Stuff one mini Snickers in each cupcake case, using a spatula to make sure the Snickers is covered with cupcake batter.

Bake regular sized cupcakes for about 23 to 28 minutes and mini's for 12-15 minutes.  Test that the tops bounce back when pressed with a finger, since sticking a toothpick or knife into the middle of the cake will result in a gooey Snickers mess!

Cool in the cupcake pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Make the frosting by mixing brown sugar, butter and milk in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts. Once butter melts, increase heat to medium high and let boil for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar.

Leave frosting to sit in the bowl for about 5-10 minutes and it will thicken enough for you to pipe it.

 

Crumble 9 to 12 mini Snickers in blender or food processor.  Also, blitz salted peanuts so they resemble a fine crumb.

Pipe frosting onto cupcakes and top with the crumbled mixture of Snickers and nuts. 

Melt milk chocolate in microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals, and then drizzle over the top.

Eat and enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache Raspberry Filled Chocolate Cupcakes...a revisit

These cupcakes may be looking familiar to you, that's because I made them back in February for my friend Nicole when she had just given birth to her baby girl, Paisley.  Fast forward to last month and I was planning Paisley's baby shower! because here in Vancouver they seem to have showers after the baby has been born! 

It was soooo much fun to plan! and there will be a ton more photos coming next time but for now I leave you with these cupcakes.  I knew they had to be the centrepiece of the dessert table because Nicole had loved them so much the last time I made them! So it seemed only right that I should bake them again! Only this time I tweaked them slightly and slathered on generous amounts of ganache, because incase you missed my gushings on ganache last time I'll give you a recap of my new baking mantra:

Everything tastes better with ganache in it! 

I also took a few more pictures this time around just to try and lure you in a little more and tempt you into making some of these bad boys! Remember that raspberry infused chocolate cream cheese filling? You can't go wrong if you start filling a moist buttermilk chocolate cupcake with the stuff! 

Once I plugged the tops of the cupcakes, I reunited myself with that dreamy silky ganache, and I slathered it on!

The fresh blended raspberry frosting came next...

finished off with a carefully selected fresh raspberry (because only the prettiest ones make the cut!)

I was SO sure I'd have some of these cupcakes left over! I baked up a storm for the baby shower and a few people were no shows on the day but sadly (for me) these were the only things that disappeared faster than you could guess the word 'pregnant' in baby charades (one of our friends Denise was pregnant at the time and so pointing to her belly was a pretty easy way to win that word!) - pictures of all the fun of the games to come next time too! 

Chocolate Ganache Raspberry & Chocolate Filled Cupcakes:

Makes 12

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

For the cupcakes:

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup salted butter, firm but not cold

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.  Set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed, whip together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy for about 3-4 minutes.  Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until combined.  Measure out buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup and add vanilla extract to milk, then whisk to combine.  Working in 2 separate batches, add buttermilk mixture followed by flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing just unti combined after each addition (batter will be thick).  

Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full.  Bake in a preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, until a knife inserted into the middle of each cupcake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in baking pan until transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling:

225g cream cheese

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp raspberry puree (I blended fresh raspberries until liquid, and then sieved out the seeds)

1/4 cup whole fresh raspberries (about 7)

Blend cream cheese and unsalted butter together with an electric mixer until incorporated.  Beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder until combined.  Stir in the raspberry puree and beat in the whole raspberries until only little fragments can be seen.

Using a knife, or a cupcake corer if you're fancy like that, cut a circular hole in the middle of the cupcakes.  Remove the cake and cut the top circle part of the cut out cake off.  Save this part for later.

Put your filling in a piping bag fitted with a nozzle.  Pipe the filling into each cupcake hole, and then plug the top of the cupcake with the round cake disc you saved from earlier.

Chocolate Ganche:

Makes enough to frost the above, with plenty to spare...and you can eat the rest with a spoon! I always do

From Tracey's Culinary Adventures

12 oz. dark/bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 cup double/whipping cream

1 1/2 tbsp caster sugar

1 1/2 tbsp corn syrup

3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl.  

Combine the cream, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Immediately pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute.  

Whisk until the mixture is smooth and blended, then add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until completely incorporated.  Let the mixture stand at room temperature to thicken before topping the cupcakes.  

Once cool, using a palette knife spread a generous amount of ganache on top of each cupcake.

For the frosting:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup fresh raspberries, blended into puree

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

12 raspberries (for garnish)

Puree the raspberries in a blender.  Pass them through a sieve into a bowl.  It may take a little while but keep using a spoon to pat the raspberry liquid through the sieve until only seeds remain.

Mix the butter and half the sugar together in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.  Once they are well blended, add the remaining sugar.  Beat together until smooth and creamy, about 4 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla extract and raspberry puree.  I like to add the raspberry puree a few teaspoons at a time because it's a fine line when using fruit between when it's added a good amount of flavour or when it adds too much liquid to the frosting.  

Taste it to see if it tastes raspberry enough, and see if the frosting is stiff enough.  If it needs to be stiffer, add more sugar, if it needs to be more flavourful then add more puree.

Pipe a swirl of raspberry frosting on top of the chocolate ganache layer, and add a single fresh raspberry on top.  You could also drizzle with chocolate for extra decadence...because everything looks better with drizzle! 

Serve, Eat and Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Vanilla Bean & Chocolate Malt Frosted Mini Cupcakes

It's been a while since cupcakes graced the blog...and without cupcakes this blog just leaves me as crazy Gem! so that needed to be rectified! 

One of my favourite things about our time in Canada has been the kindness and friendliness of the people here! From the very first day we arrived, and we had no change for the bus but the driver let us on anyway to people lending you cars! Yes, that's right! The colleague I work with went to Mexico during spring break and knew that we don't have a car here so he offered to lend us his so that we wouldn't have to hire a car everytime we wanted to go somewhere! How kind is that! So thanks to him we were able to have crazy amounts of fun that you can check out here and here.

I knew that I wanted to bake something for him to show my appreciation and since I can't think of a tastier treat than cupcakes, I baked up some of my favourite chocolate buttermilk cupcakes and topped them with a generous amount of ganache and then finished them off with two frostings: vanilla bean and chocolate malt.  Can we just talk for a minute about how amazing ganache is? It's something I make very rarely...but I had so much fun making it that I can see it is going to pop up more frequently in the future! It is just SO versatile! and what's not to love about a giant bowl of thick fudgy chocolate blended with cream! I'm a convert that's for sure! and it took these cupcakes from being yummy little bite sized treats to being over the top indulgently delicious chocolate bombs!

Make them for people...and I guarantee their kindness will keep coming! Like tonight I just got home from that same colleague's house where he helped me fill out my first Canadian tax return, and he is lending us his car again next week when my mom and sister come to visit!!

I better start whipping him up another batch! 

Double Chocolate Vanilla Bean Mini Cupcakes:

Makes 32

From Cooking Classy

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup salted butter, firm but not cold

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.  Set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed, whip together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy for about 3-4 minutes.  Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until combined.  Measure out buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup and add vanilla extract to milk, then whisk to combine.  Working in 2 separate batches, add buttermilk mixture followed by flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing just unti combined after each addition (batter will be thick).  

Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full.  Bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until a knife inserted into the middle of each cupcake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in baking pan until transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Ganche:

Makes enough to frost the above, with plenty to spare...and you can eat the rest with a spoon! I did!

From Tracey's Culinary Adventures

12 oz. dark/bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 cup double/whipping cream

1 1/2 tbsp caster sugar

1 1/2 tbsp corn syrup

3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl.  

Combine the cream, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Immediately pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute.  

Whisk until the mixture is smooth and blended, then add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until completely incorporated.  Let the mixture stand at room temperature to thicken before topping the cupcakes.  

Once cool, using a palette knife spread a generous amount of ganache on top of each cupcake.

Vanilla Bean Frosting:

From Cupcake Project

2 cups/250g icing sugar

1 cup/225g unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tbsp milk

Mix together the sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy.  Add vanilla bean paste and milk and continue to beat for another minute.  If desired, add more vanilla bean paste to taste, or more icing sugar if you require a stiffer consistency.

Chocolate Malt Frosting:

From Sweetapolita

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp Ovaltine powder

4 oz. Belgian chocolate, or other good quality chocolate

1/4 cup whipping/double cream

In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine half the icing sugar and butter and beat on low speed for one minute.  While that is mixing, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, and set aside to cool. Add the rest of the icing sugar and butter to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed until completely combined (I do it in two stages so as not to completely cover my kitchen in icing sugar).

Add vanilla and Ovaltine, and beat on low speed until well combined.

Add the melted, cooled chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add double cream and beat on high speed for one minute.

Once the ganache has sat on the cupcakes for around 10-15 minutes and become firmer, pipe little frosting swirls onto the cupcakes (alternating between the vanilla bean and chocolate malt frostings).  Finish off the chocolate malt topped cupcakes with a large Ghiradelli white chocolate chip, and a sprinkling of 3 Ghiradelli mini chocolate chips on the vanilla bean topped cupcakes.  

Eat and enjoy, or share with friends and sit back and watch the kindness emerge!

I'm also sending these over to What Kate Baked and Lavender and Lovage for their Tea Time Treats blogging challenge because the theme for April is Fairy Cakes, Cupcakes and Muffins.

Raspberry & Chocolate Filled Cupcakes

Oh raspberries...it's been far too long since we have spent some time together! Before I left the UK my morning breakfast consisted of creamy coconut yoghurt dotted with scrummy raspberries! Unfortunately, because Vancouver has precisely 3 brands of yoghurts...all of which are fat free and therefore taste disgusting, my breakfast ritual has had to change! My days of creamy dreamy coconut yoghurt are a thing of the past (whilst my Mom can post me endless amounts of dairy milk and malteaster bunnies, it's a no go on the airmail yoghurt front!) and so I have to think of other ways to incorporate raspberries into my daily diet! 

Considering this blog is about a person obsessed with cupcakes, there's been a distinct lack of cupcake baking going on around here! So I went crazy...bought some expensive Vancouver raspberries, and whipped up some chocolate and raspberry cupcakes! 

I knew that I wanted my return to cupcakes to be big, so when you wanna go big...filled cupcakes are the way to do it! 

I spent hours agonising over how I would fill them! Initially my first thought was with a nice dollop of raspberry jam...but then I remembered I live in Vancouver where jam = watery inedible liquid, no jokes! so then I thought about chocolate ganache but I wanted something lighter and creamier and then chocolate cream cheese filling dawned on me, so I whipped some up.  As I was whipping it up I thought adding some raspberry puree could make it even tastier...and I was right so then I went all out and blended in a few whole raspberries so you got lovely little raspberry blasts throughout! I was eating it by the spoonful! It was oh so delish.

I then blended in the rest of the raspberry puree to the frosting to make some vibrant fresh raspberry frosting! Look how pink it turned! All natural baby.  A fresh raspberry to finish it off, and these were some of the moistest, richest, most decadent cupcakes I've made for a long while!

I made them to take to a friend who just had a new baby, but since Valentine's is coming up and they tie in nicely you could make them for the one you love! Really though, these cupcakes are so delicious that you don't even need an excuse to make them! 

Raspberry & Chocolate Filled Cupcakes:

Makes 12

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

For the cupcakes:

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup salted butter, firm but not cold

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.  Set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed, whip together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy for about 3-4 minutes.  Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until combined.  Measure out buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup and add vanilla extract to milk, then whisk to combine.  Working in 2 separate batches, add buttermilk mixture followed by flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing just unti combined after each addition (batter will be thick).  

Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full.  Bake in a preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, until a knife inserted into the middle of each cupcake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in baking pan until transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling:

225g cream cheese

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp raspberry puree (I blended fresh raspberries until liquid, and then sieved out the seeds)

1/4 cup whole fresh raspberries (about 7)

Blend cream cheese and unsalted butter together with an electric mixer until incorporated.  Beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder until combined.  Stir in the raspberry puree and beat in the whole raspberries until only little fragments can be seen.

Using a knife, or a cupcake corer if you're fancy like that, cut a circular hole in the middle of the cupcakes.  Remove the cake and cut the top circle part of the cut out cake off.  Save this part for later.

Put your filling in a piping bag fitted with a nozzle.  Pipe the filling into each cupcake hole, and then plug the top of the cupcake with the round cake disc you saved from earlier.

For the frosting:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup fresh raspberries, blended into puree

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

12 raspberries (for garnish)

Puree the raspberries in a blender.  Pass them through a sieve into a bowl.  It may take a little while but keep using a spoon to pat the raspberry liquid through the sieve until only seeds remain.

Mix the butter and half the sugar together in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.  Once they are well blended, add the remaining sugar.  Beat together until smooth and creamy, about 4 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla extract and raspberry puree.  I like to add the raspberry puree a few teaspoons at a time because it's a fine line when using fruit between when it's added a good amount of flavour or when it adds too much liquid to the frosting.  

Taste it to see if it tastes raspberry enough, and see if the frosting is stiff enough.  If it needs to be stiffer, add more sugar, if it needs to be more flavourful then add more puree.

Frost each cupcake, and add a single fresh raspberry on top.  You could also drizzle with chocolate for extra decadence...because everything looks better with drizzle! I was intending to, but then I realised it was 1 minute until our bus was due to leave to take the cupcakes to our friend so they had to be snapped quick and go without drizzle this time around!

P.S Please note I am coming up to my 6 month mark as an ex pat in Vancouver.  As ex pats go, your first 3 months are the honeymoon phase when everything is amazing and exciting and new.  Apparently once you pass that mark you progress into the rejection phase where you start deciding everything was actually much better where you came from.  I feel like I'm in that phase so bear with me! Cream and yoghurt frustrations aside and ignoring the incessant rain for a minute, I have a feeling with spring around the corner I'll enter into a new phase soon where I'm back to appreciating the endless supply of root beer and graham crackers and the fact I have to say 'bangs' instead of fringe and 'pants' instead of trousers will not irritate me quite so much! but for right now just let me dwell in my rejection phase for a moment, okay?

Caramel Filled Curly Wurly & Rolo Cupcakes

Back in the summer when it was time to leave our temp jobs behind in Milton Keynes, we decided it would be fun to bake some cupcakes for the ladies at both the agencies who found us work to begin with.  I sent them emails asking them what their favourite chocolates were and the responses that came back were Curly Wurly's and Rolos! 

So I baked up these chocolate cupcakes, filled them with some caramel or 'carmel' as they say here in Canada! topped them with some caramel frosting which is super tooth achingly sweet which is why you only need a slither! and then topped them with their favourite chocolate bars!

I'd love to tell you the reason why I'm only blogging about them now is because I had planned this carefully and wanted to be blogging about them especially for National Caramel Month! but in fact I'm just playing catch up on my summers baking and it's a happy co incidence that October is National Caramel Month!

I tested out a new chocolate cake recipe as I'm always after finding 'the best' one there is! Jaclyn over at Cooking Classy described it as the unforgettable, perfect chocolate cake recipe and I would have to agree! It was really light and fluffy with the perfect amount of moistness, I'd encourage you all to bake up your own to see what all the fuss is about! 

Caramel Filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting:

Makes 12

Adapted from Cooking Classy

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup salted butter, firm but not cold

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.  Set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed, whip together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy for about 3-4 minutes.  Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until combined.  Measure out buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup and add vanilla extract to milk, then whisk to combine.  Working in 2 separate batches, add buttermilk mixture followed by flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing just unti combined after each addition (batter will be thick).  

Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full.  Bake in a preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, until a knife inserted into the middle of each cupcake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in baking pan until transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I cut a hole in each cupcake with a knife and scooped out the cake, then filled it with some dulce de leche, and plugged it with a trimmed piece of cake.  

Frost with the recipe below, and finish them off with either a Rolo chopped in half or a piece or Curly Wurly or the chocolate of your choice! 

Caramel Frosting:

From Cupcakes From the Primrose Bakery

60g unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 tablespoons milk, at room temperature

220g light soft brown sugar

240g icing sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract

Place the butter, milk and brown sugar in a heavy saucepan over a high heat and stir to combine.  Bring to the boil, stirring continuously, and allow it to boil for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and stir in half of the icing sugar.  Leave the mixture to cool slightly, then add the remainder of the icing sugar and the vanilla extract and stir until it thickens to the desired consistency. 

The icing is best used immediately.  If you do need to make it in advance, thin it with a little double cream and beat well before using.  Alternatively heat the icing for 10 seconds in the microwave.

Eat and enjoy!

Double Stuff Oreo Brownie Cupcakes & Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes

So this week was National cupcake week back in the U.K! I obviously missed it but I did manage to try out some of my first cupcakes here in Vancouver which was exciting! but for now I'll leave you with some cupcakes I made back in the summer, a double whammy of Oreo Brownie Cupcakes and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes!



because let's face it, brownie cupcakes are hands down some of my favourite cupcakes to bake and eat, and everything is better with Oreo's and Reese's - it's just a fact! 

which is why when I saw this in my ice cream aisle at my local Wal Mart this week my heart skipped a beat! you can read about my full Wal Mart experience here! (p.s how much do I love using the phrase 'local Wal Mart'!! haha)

It's no surprise that Oreos are one of the most baked with ingredients on my blog! (although they are slightly being overtaken by coconut as it stands right now!) You just can't beat an Oreo cupcake and so often when I get requested to bake cupcakes for people Oreo flavour is the first one that springs to mind!

The Oreo Brownie cupcake is a fave combo of mine and so when a friend requested some welcome home cupcakes for his daughter who had been in Canada I decided spicing up my brownie cupcakes with Oreos and Peanut Butter Cups would be fun...and I threw in some obligatory Union Jack cupcake cases to help welcome her back to the UK!

and when you're starting with either a Double Stuff Oreo or a Reese's Peanut Butter cup at the bottom of your cupcake, you know it's only going to get better from there! 

In fact you could probably even eat that whole tray of deliciousness without it ever reaching the oven if you wanted to! 

Let's break down each cupcake individually.  The Oreo masterpiece was a Double Stuff Oreo at the bottom, covered with a rich chocolate brownie batter with crushed Oreos inside, frosted with Oreo cream cheese frosting, and a sprinkling of crushed Oreo crumbs topped off with a mini Oreo! Phew...that's alot of Oreo going on in there! 

For the Reese's masterpiece, each cupcake begins with a mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup which gets baked into a peanut butter infused brownie batter, and then topped with thick and creamy peanut butter frosting, a sprinkling of Reese's Pieces and topped off with half a mini Peanut Butter Cup! 

Pure utter tastiness! on both accounts (yes I made extra so I could indulge in them too!)

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes:

Makes 12

Adapted from Martha's Brownie Cupcakes

12 mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

225g dark chocolate

113g unsalted butter, at room temperature

185g caster sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

70g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

100g smooth peanut butter

Frost with the peanut butter frosting, no.6, from my Top 10 Frostings post.

Double Stuff Oreo Brownie Cupcakes:

Makes 12

Adapted from Martha's Brownie Cupcakes

12 Double Stuff Oreos

225g dark chocolate

113g unsalted butter, at room temperature

185g caster sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

70g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

100g crushed Oreos

Frost with the oreo cream cheese frosting, no.2, from my Top 10 Frostings post.

To make the brownie cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set above a pan of simmering water.  Stir occasionally until just melted, about 4-5 mins.
Remove bowl from heat and whisk in the sugar and salt until the mixture is smooth,  whisk in the eggs to combine.  
Gently whisk in flour and cocoa until just smooth (do not overmix).  If you are making the Reese's one, this is the point you would stir in the peanut butter, if you are making the Oreo ones then stir in the crushed oreos.

Put a half a Double Stuff Oreo or a whole mini Reese's peanut butter cup in the bottom of your cupcake cases.  Top up with 3/4 brownie batter.  Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, about 25-30 minutes.