Most years for Tom’s birthday I make some sort of towering, multi-layered chocolate monstrosity, since he’s the chocolate lover of the two of us.  But this year, I opted for cupcakes because more people were coming to his party than we have plates & we thought the cleanup would be easier with everyone having their own little individual serving of cake.

The cocktails flowed, our little house was packed, we all had a blast…& the next day we had dark chocolate crumbs ground into the carpet, all in the bottom of our silverware drawer (?) & even a fudge handprint on the door.  So much for cupcakes making less mess!

I won a Savory Spice Shop credit, so I went ahead & bought Black Onyx cocoa powder & used it for the hot fudge & part of the cocoa powder in this recipe to give the cupcakes their dark, dark color.  Black Onyx cocoa powder is ultra-Dutched (alkalized) to give it a deep, almost purplish color, but the alkalization also removes some of its fat content, which is why it’s recommended to use it for only about 25% of a recipe’s amount of cocoa powder…nobody wants a dry cupcake.

If you don’t feel like making the investment, any dark cocoa powder should work in this recipe.  Either way, dark chocolate + peanut butter + fudge sauce is a pretty hard combination to beat.

PEANUT BUTTER HOT FUDGE CUPCAKES
makes 12 cupcakes

for the cupcakes:
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/8 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup hot fudge sauce (recipe below)

for the frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup peanut butter
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon, plus more if necessary, heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

for the hot fudge sauce:
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350°.  Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together egg & sugar until no lumps remain.  Add the milk, cream, butter & vanilla & continue to mix until smooth.  Fold in sour cream.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, dark cocoa powder, baking soda & salt.  Add the dry ingredients & mix until combined & smooth.  Swirl in the hot fudge sauce.  Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour the batter into each liner in the prepared pan.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, checking periodically until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Set aside & let cool completely.

For the frosting, combine the butter & peanut butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, or large bowl with electric hand mixer.  Cream on medium until well combined.  Very gradually add 3 cups of the powdered sugar until well combined.  With the mixer still running, carefully pour in the cream & vanilla.  Toss in a pinch of salt & mix until well combined, adding more powdered sugar &/or cream until light, fluffy & well combined.

For the hot fudge sauce, combine the sugar, dark cocoa powder & salt in a double boiler, or glass bowl set over pot of simmering water.  Gradually pour in boiling water & stir constantly until thoroughly combined & mixture thickens.  Remove from heat & stir in butter & vanilla.

To assemble, remove the cooled cupcakes from the pan.  Fill a piping bag, fitted with your choice of tip, with frosting.  Insert the tip of the piping bag into the center of the cupcake, filling the middle with frosting just until the top of the cupcake rises a bit.  Be careful not to overfill.  Frost the top of the cupcake as desired.  Fill & frost all of the remaining cupcakes.

Reheat the fudge sauce until loosened enough to pour.  Spoon fudge sauce over the top of each frosted cupcake.  Watch for crumbs!

barely adapted from Tasty Kitchen