J's birthday was yesterday. He is now officially the same age as me. I tease him all the time to show me respect since I am older. I am actually a little over 6-months older than him. I guess now that we're the same age, I have to retire that being older line for another 6-months :-).
J LOVES chocolate peanut butter cake. I mean he REALLY REALLY loves it. So I decided to make J a Giant Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake. I think JOE will also come to love chocolate peanut butter cakes judging from how much she enjoyed tasting the filling when I was making the cake. I guess I am the only red velvet cake lover in the house.
This was relatively easy. A little time consuming but easy overall.
You will need the following:
Reese's Peanut Butter Premium Cupcake mix (you'll need the ingredients for the cake...eggs, water, milk, oil)
Peanut butter molding chocolate buttons
Giant cupcake pan
Mini Reese's Peanut Butter cups
Cake mate sprinkles for decor
Birthday candle
The Shell:
The day before you plan on making the cake, you'll need to make the peanut butter shell. I got the bag from Michaels but your local grocery store might carry it.
1. Melt half the bag in the microwave for a minute. Stir and pour into the bottom side of your giant cupcake pan. Do not grease the pan. It isn't necessary.
2. Use a brush, your clean dry hand or a spatula to properly spread the chocolate around.
3. Put in the fridge for 20-minutes.
4. Melt the other bag and repeat steps 2 & 3 above
5. Leave in fridge for at least 1-hour. I left mine overnight because I made this after I got back from work and had my hands full with JOE.
NOTE: To remove the shell, you might need to use a toothpick to loosen around the edge in like 4 places. I only needed to do it in a couple of places and it came right out.
6. Store the shell in the fridge until you are ready to use
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| The cupcake shell |
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| Close up of the shell |
- Mix the cake mix according to the instructions on the back of the pan
- Since you're working with a giant cupcake pan, you'll need to leave it in the oven to bake for 1-hour as opposed to the 21 - 26 minutes listed on the back. Start checking at 50-minutes just incase.
- Use a skewer to check on the cake's doneness.
- Let the cake cool for 15-minutes before taking out of pan.
- Mix the peanut butter filling that came in the box.
Decorating the cake!
- Use a serated knife to carefully cut off the top of the cake to smooth it out. Store the top to use in ice cream later. YUM!!!
- Use the knife again to cut the cake horizontally into 2-equal halves.
- Using the knife, carve out the outer edge of the cake so it'll fit properly into the cupcake shell
- Using half of the peanut butter filling that came with the cake mix, spread it on top of the bottom half then put the 2 halves together.
- Use the other half on the top of the cake
- Add sprinkles
- Add peanut butter cups and a candle
- Let it all cool in the fridge for 30-minutes
ENJOY!
The End Result:
The Birthday Celebration:
J decided to take the day off to relax and enjoy his day. I am glad I made the cake the day before because he was able to have some of the cut up pieces during the day.
When I got home, we got ready and headed out to J's favorite restaurant. I want to say his all time favorite but I know how much he loves Fogo De Chao so I think they are both his top picks for places to eat.
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| Cheesing it up for the camera. |
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| Ready to open presents. J didn't tell me what he wanted for his birthday so he got the cake, dinner and a gift card from JOE and I. |
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| I love this picture. Check out a similar one from last year. |
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| Time to blow the candle! JOE of course had to be a part of it :-). |
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| JOE reading her card to her da-da. This was just too cute! She really does amaze me everyday! |
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| Dig in! The cake was SOOOOO yummy and RICH! I had to get an extra small sliver and even then, I didn't finish it. JOE of course had ALL my sprinkles! |
Expertise needed: You just need to be comfortable baking and improvising if needed.
Total Approximate time: I made the cake over the course of 2 evenings after I got back from work. The first night took me less than 10-minutes of prep work. The second night took me about 30-minutes of prep work. So actual prep work time was 40-minutes BUT the actual time for the cake from start to finish adding in baking and cooking time was more like 2-hours.
Total Spent on materials: Approximately $10. The box of cake mix was about $4.39, the candy melts was $1.99 (with coupon), the mini peanut butter cups was on sale (yay for Easter candy!) for $2.50 per bag. I didn't use the entire bag though. I already had the sprinkles and the pan at home.
Feedback: I think it was a hit! :-)
Happy belated bday J! This looks fantastic. OMGoodness, we are like the same person, lol! I'm about 6 months older than my hubby and I always tease him about it. I teased him on his birthday, which was in March, and he teased me back, calling me a cradle-robber!! Bday celebrations are so fun. I'll have to try making this cake too when the next bday comes up. It looks so yummy! :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL! We do have quite a few things in common! :-). J used to call me a cougar but that was when I was 30 and he was still in his 29s :-).
DeleteBirthday celebrations are fun! The cake is still being enjoyed! We warmed it up in the microwave to melt the peanut butter shell a bit and then top it with ice cream. YUM!!!
mmmmm! Mouth watering!!! I hope J had a great bday!! When I lived in DC, I always intended to make it to Fogo, but never did. I'll have to make it a priority when I move back because it must be great! Loving all of the father/daughter pics! JOE is a big girl now!!
ReplyDeleteHe did have a great birthday. Thank you!
DeleteFogo is absolutely awesome! They have locations in other states. Not sure where you are but perhaps you can see if there's one close by you?