Tuesday: Special Edition

What’s a buckeye?

According to Wikipedia, "Buckeye" may refer to:
•Several tree species of the genus Aesulus
•Ohio State Buckeyes, the intercollegiate athletic teams of The Ohio State University
•Buckeye (chicken), a breed of chicken originating in Ohio

But in our house they can only mean one of two things…candy or CUPCAKES!!!!

Yes!!! It is another edition of “CUPCAKE FRIDAY”!!!

Okay, I know this is Tuesday. Cut me some slack here! Remember we weren’t going to do “Cupcake Friday” anymore after the end of June? But apparently, some of you actually read this blog! Woohoo!!! And you like “Cupcake Friday”! In fact, word from some of you is that you want “Cupcake Friday” back! And seeing as how I am here to serve your whims and needs, “Cupcake Friday is definitely back. And it all starts with this special edition on Tuesday!

Why “Cupcake Friday” on Tuesday, you ask? Well, as if you didn’t already know (and how could you possibly not since I’ve been talking about it forever) Dishing-It-Up! is going to be on tv! O-M-G!!!

Yep! It’s true! None other than Channel 4’s Mikaela Hunt came out to the house to talk to me about Dishing-It-Up! We talked about how I got started doing the blog and we made cupcakes together. Seems that “Cupcake Friday” has claimed a certain spot in Mikaela’s heart. (Gotta love a girl that is passionate about her cupcakes!) So we did a special segment for you and we prepared Buckeye Cupcakes. I had some of the batter available to pour into pans & pop in the oven. Then we moved on to cupcakes that I had already baked. We filled them with peanut butter filling. This is a very technical process that Mikaela seemed to master immediately. She just stuck that pastry tip into the cupcake and squeezed til she saw the cupcake bulge! She proved to be quite proficient filling those little orbs of chocolate cake. We then frosted the filled cupcakes with a milk chocolate icing. I had so much fun with Mikaela and Steve (the wonderful photographer!) Thank you for coming out to see us!!!

And oh man are these things good! What’s not to like? I ask you Buckeye fans, “What’s not to like?” Chocolate cake, peanut butter filling and milk chocolate frosting? All of it homemade. No mixes. None of that semi-homemade stuff here! No way! (At least not with this recipe.)


Just pure buckeye happiness.

Buckeye Cupcakes
This recipe is from my friend Amy Pressler (aka: Aunt Bea)
Makes 24 cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes:
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk

Peanut Butter Filling:
½ cup creamy peanut butter
3 T. butter, softened to room temperature
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
3 to 4 T. milk

Chocolate Frosting:
1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips (9 oz.)
¾ cup sour cream

Heat oven to 375. Line the cups in 2 standard size muffin pans with paper liners.

For cupcakes, in medium size bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
In large bowl, with mixer on medium high, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy, 1 minute. On low speed, beat in flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fill each prepared muffin cup two-thirds full, about 3 T.

Bake in 375 oven 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan to wire rack; cool.

Filling: In medium size bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. On low speed, gradually beat in sugar and 3 T. milk. On high speed, beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute. If too thick, beat in 1 more T. milk.
When cupcakes are cooled, spoon filling into large pastry bag fitted with plain round tip. Insert tip into top of each cupcake; squeeze as much filling into center as possible (top will bulge a little).

Chocolate frosting: In large glass bowl, microwave milk chocolate pieces on High power 1 to 2 minutes, stirring to melt. With mixer on medium speed, beat in sour cream until fluffy and good spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes. Store covered in refrigerator up to 3 days.