Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream

 Hello, all! As you may already know, fall has finally arrived and I am so excited!! Not only is it my favorite season, but it also means everything will be pumpkin-flavored! So there will be many, many pumpkin recipes coming soon!

So I had a banana lying around (OK well, I stole it off of Roger's bunch), and I decided to make just enough cupcakes for that one banana (which is about 9). I found a recipe for banana cupcakes and cut everything in half. This is the whole recipe:

• 1/2 c shortening
•  1 1/2 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1c mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
• 1/4c buttermilk*
• 2c all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• **1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg** (I added this and it's delicious!)

1) Cream shortening and sugar.

2) Add eggs, vanilla, bananas, and buttermilk.
3) Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to the banana mixture.

4) Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Insert a butter knife in order to determine doneness.

They look a bit overfilled, so I'll make 9 next time

Meanwhile, I made a Martha Stewart recipe for peanut butter buttercream (yields one cup-- perfect for this amount of cupcakes!)

• 2/3 c peanut butter
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c confectioner's sugar
• fine salt (like popcorn salt)

1) Cream peanut butter and butter on high speed using the paddle attachment.
2) On low speed, mix in the sugar until combined, then beat the mixture on high until fluffy (about 3 minutes).
3) Add salt to taste.

Yum!!

  And when the cupcakes and this buttercream are combined...

... something delicious and magical happens! These are amazing! My Betrothed (who is a huge fan of bananas and peanut butter) loved them! So these recipes are definite keepers! I can't wait to pair these banana cupcakes with other buttercream recipes (cream cheese? salted caramel? Brown butter?). Stay tuned!

Ah, yes. About that pesky asterisk up there...

*I didn't have buttermilk on hand when I was making this recipe, but I did have milk and lemons, so this is a way to make buttermilk for baking: Combine 1/2 cup of milk (I had 2% and it worked fine) and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Let sit for 15 minutes, and voila! You have buttermilk!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Peanut Butter Filling and Peanut Butter Buttercream

Wow! That title is a mouthful-- just like these delicious cupcakes I made for my beloved for our seven year anniversary! And of course, I had to go for the chocolate and peanut butter flavor combo, since it's his favorite (and hey, it's scrumptious!)

So I had been bargain shopping a little bit ago, and I came across a Paula Deen brand of chocolate cupcake mix.

It was for 12 cupcakes, so I figured it was the perfect number for two people to enjoy (right..?) I started by following the box directions then popped the cupcakes in the oven.

I had used cute little heart cupcake cups, but of course the design disappeared because they were included in my bargain shopping as well. I have yet to try those Reynold's cups... Anyhoo!

Meanwhile, I mixed up some peanut butter buttercream. This recipe is enough to cover these twelve cupcakes with a low swirl. For a high over-the-top swirl, try doubling it.

• 1/4 cup (half stick) of butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk or cream

1.) Cream the butter and the peanut butter together. Then add about half of the confectioner's sugar.
2.) Stop the mixer to add the milk, then add the rest of the confectioner's sugar.
3.) Mix until smooth and remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl! :)

After the cupcakes were cooled, I cut a little hole into the center of each cupcake...

And I filled them with honey peanut butter (sooo good!)

A swirl of buttercream and some little heart picks, and our anniversary cupcakes were a go! They were very moist, and that burst of peanut butter tasted perfect!

Ohh yeeeah!

Oh, yeah... he doesn't like his picture taken. Tee hee!

Fondant-Free Hobbit Hole Cake!

Ah, yes. The birthday cake for my beloved has been revealed-- it is a Lord of the Rings-inspired hobbit hole cake! I kind of had a choice between Minas Tirith and a hobbit hole, so I went for the hobbit hole! I am not that ambitious just yet, especially after seeing this! So I started with two 8" layers and two 6"
 layers of chocolate cake.

My beloved's favorite flavor combo is chocolate and peanut butter, so I made him some Wilton peanut butter buttercream from scratch.

The recipe is as follows


Peanut Butter Buttercream (makes 3 cups)

• 1/3 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups (approx. 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 4-6 tablespoons milk

After placing my layered 8" rounds onto a corner on the board and cut a notch out of my 6" layers, so they could fit snugly. I saved the piece cut out from the notch and placed it between the 8" and 6" rounds to create a slope.

I slathered (oh, yes, I said "slathered") all of the cake in the peanut butter buttercream then set it in the fridge for about 20 minutes. I had also made a regular vanilla batch of buttercream for coloring purposes, so in the meantime, I mixed a LOT of green for the grass.

I spread a block of white on the "front" of the hobbit hole where the doors and windows will go.

I popped the cake back in the fridge for another 15 minutes or so. I covered the top and back of the hill in green with a grass tip (time-consuming!)...

I traced circles in the front for the door and windows.

I used different colors of icing for the flowers and rock detail.

Overall, my beloved LOVED it! I was excited!

On a sidenote: While I was researching the look of hobbit holes, I came across this. This is a real residence in Wales, and I am officially impressed and inspired.