Black Forest Mini Cupcakes and a Giveaway!

Tweet

It's Tuesday of our "Mini Week" and today we having Black Forest Mini Cupcakes for dessert! It's also Day 2 of our giveaway. You can sign up everyday until the drawing on Sunday! There is a picture of the giveaway at the end of this post! Check it out and enter everyday! Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite mini dessert is, and for 2 extra entries, like us on facebook, and follow The Freshman Cook. Leave me a comment about that too. Enter every day this week until Sunday!

Black Forest Mini Cupcakes 

 Cupcakes

(cake from Cake Dr)

1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix

3 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 1/3 cups Buttermilk

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

3 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Fresh Cherries 

Chocolate Frosting

8 tablespoons Butter

2/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

3 cups Confectioner's Sugar

1/3 cup Milk

2 teaspoons Vanilla

1/4 teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pit your cherries. You will need 2 cherries per cupcake 

for the filling, and 1 cherry, pitted, but with the stem on

for the garnish on top.

Combine the mix, 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder,

buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in mixing bowl. 

Mix for 1 minute on low. 

Scrape the bowl, and mix again on medium for 2 minutes.

I used 2 ounce souffle cups for cupcake wrappers.

Put a small spoonful of batter in the bottom of the cup.

Place 2 pitted cherries on top of the batter.

Cover the cherries with more batter.

Fill the cups about 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Cool on a cooling rack.

While your cupcakes are cooling, make your frosting.

Place 8 tablespoons butter and 

2/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa in bowl. 

Blend on low until combined.

Add confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla and salt.

Beat on low for 2-3 minutes. If the icing is too thick, add

more milk. If it is too thin, add confectioners' sugar.

Using a Wilton #5 tip, pipe the chocolate frosting

on top. Garnish by pitting the cherry, but keeping it

in as good a shape as possible. Top cupcake with cherry.

Enjoy!

Thanks for joining me today!

Stop by tomorrow and see what we are making

for tomorrow's mini!

This is our mini giveaway I mentioned above.

You can enter every day until Sunday. The giveaway 

ends Sunday at 11:59 pm PST.

Enter by leaving me a comment telling me what your favorite

mini dessert is. You can enter once a day! Get 2 extra entries

by liking us on facebook, and following The Freshman Cook.

If you enter everyday, and like us on facebook, and follow us

you will have 9 entries!

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tall Stack Cake

Tweet

Not too long ago a friend had a birthday party, and the family asked if I would make the cake. Ha! Of course, I will! I never turn down the opportunity to bake anything. I was pleased as punch that they asked me. The only guidelines they gave me is that my friend loves chocolate and peanut butter. Well, yeah, who doesn't?! So I got busy baking, and I came up with a cake that was a big success.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tall Stack Cake

Cake Decorations

Mini Reese's Cups

Peanut Brittle

Party Peanuts

Chocolate Buttercream
(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)
10 tablespoons unsalted Butter, softened
1 cups Confectioners' Sugar
pinch Salt
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 oz. semisweet Chocolate, melted and cooled

Beat the butter at medium speed for about 20 seconds.
Add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat at medium speed,
incorporating the sugar, for about 45 seconds. Scrape down your bowl,
and beat again for 15 seconds.
Scrape down your bowl, and add your vanilla extract.
Reduce the speed to low, and slowly pour in your chocolate.
Beat for 4 minutes until all the chocolate is incorporated
and buttercream is light and fluffy

Peanut Butter Buttercream
(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)
8 tablespoons unsalted Butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Confectioners' Sugar
pinch Salt
1 tablespoon Heavy Cream

Beat the butter and peanut butter together at medium speed for
20 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat at medium
speed, incorporating the sugar for about 45 seconds . Scrape down your bowl,
and beat again for 15 seconds.
Scrape down your bowl, and add your heavy cream.
Beat at medium speed until incorporated, then beat at
medium speed until light and fluffy.

Buttermilk Devil's Food Cake
(adapted from The Cake Doctor)
1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix
3 tablespoons unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 1/3 cup Buttermilk
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
3 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract


The first thing you should do is multiply the above amounts
by 2. The ingredients listed will make 2 - 9" round cakes.
You will need 4 - 9" round cakes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare your pans by greasing them with pan spray and
dusting them with flour or cocoa powder.
Mix all your ingredients together for 1 minute on low speed.
Scrape your bowl.
Turn it up to high, and mix for 2 minutes.
Pour into your pans.
2 pans need 28-30 minutes to cook. If you are making
all 4 at one time, keep an eye on the time. You may need
a little more time.
Let cool completely.
When cool, wrap each cake in plastic and place in the
freezer for about 30-45 minutes.

Putting It All Together!
Take each cake out and slice the cake through
the middle, sideways. In other words, each cake becomes two.
Have the cake circle or cake plate or whatever you
want to present the finished cake on ready to go.
The cake is heavy to move to a plate after completion.

Plus you take the risk of it falling.

Put the bottom layer on your cake circle.
Frost the middle of the cake with the
peanut butter buttercream. Keep layering the cake
pieces until all eight layers are stacked evenly,
with frosting in between each layer.
The cake is great to work with when it is slightly frozen.
I took 1 cake at a time from the freezer to insure they
would be semi frozen.
Once all the layers had peanut butter buttercream on them,
I stuck 4 wooden cake rods in a square design through the
top of the cake. I measured them before I inserted them.
I wanted them from the bottom of the cake until just
short of the middle of the top layer.
This kept the cake from falling.
I set the cake in the fridge so it would set up quickly.

When it was set up enough, I took it out of the fridge,
and quickly frosted it with the chocolate buttercream.
Then I stuck the mini reese's cups around the bottom and then
haphazardly wherever I thought they needed to be.
I added the brittle and the peanuts because I thought it added
much needed color and texture.
Then I placed it in the fridge for several hours.

My friend was happy with the cake.
I hope they ask me to make his cake again next year!!
Thanks for stopping by!

This recipe partied at the following shindigs:
33 Shades of Green 
Tutorial Tuesday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Full Plate Thursday