Iron Chef Pembroke Pines: September 2011 - Peanut Butter Stuffed Hot Fudge Cupcakes

So...I got this recipe off Tasty Kitchen...and I made them for my birthday because I am a chocolate/peanut butter FIEND...

...and they were SO GOOD, that when Septembers Iron Chef was announced, and the secret ingredient was "Peanut Butter"...I knew EXACTLY what I would be making.

Peanut Butter Stuffed Hot Fudge Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes -

1 whole Egg
3/4 cups Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup PLUS 1 TBS Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 TBS Sour Cream
1-1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Dark Cocoa Powder
1-1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 cups Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce (recipe follows)

For the Buttercream -

1/2 cup Butter, softened
2/3 cup Peanut Butter
3 cups Powdered Sugar (I found I needed LESS than this to get the creamy consistency I was after...you'll have to play with both the amounts of powdered sugar and milk depending on how thick and/or creamy you like your buttercream frosting)
1 TBS milk (have more on hand)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 pinch Salt

For the Hot Fudge Sauce -

1 cup Sugar
1 cup Dark Cocoa Powder
1 pinch Salt
2 TBS flour
1 cup Boiling Water or Scalding Milk
1 TBS Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

For the Cupcakes -

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add milk, cream, butter, and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream.

3. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture,. Mix until batter is smooth, then swirl in fudge sauce. Line a muffin tin (12-count) with liners and using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

For the Buttercream Frosting -

Cream butter and peanut butter together in a bowl of an electric mixer. Add the powdered sugar with mixer on low speed and gradually add milk and vanilla extract. Add a pinch of salt and mix until frosting is smooth. If too thick, add more milk; if too thin, add more sugar.

Put frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a tip. Poke a hole in the cupcake with the pastry tip and fill the cupcake. Then use the remaining frosting to frost the cooled cupcake.

For The Hot Fudge Sauce -

Combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and flour in a bowl or a pot over a double boiler. Bring water or milk to a boil in another saucepan or in the microwave. Gradually add hot liquid to sugar mixture. Stir constantly until mixture thickens.

Once it has reached desired thickness, remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Drizzle over cupcakes and store the rest of the sauce in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

By Shannan Johnson

Iron Chef Pembroke Pines: September 2011 - Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

One of the things I love about Angel Anderson's recipes is that they are simple. 

They require just a few ingredients that everyone has, and a few easy steps...and viola!! 

A masterpiece that ALWAYS comes out super tasty!! How does she do it? 

I really don't know...but man, oh man...am I glad she does!!

 Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Blend:

1 yellow cake mix

1cup peanut butter 

1 stick butter (softened)

2 large eggs

Press into 9x13 pan...reserving 1 cup

Filling:

stir and cook over low heat:

2 tablespoons butter
1pkg semi sweet chocolate chips ( 2cups)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
 
When chocolate is smooth pour over crust mixture in pan. 

Sprinkle reserved crust on top and bake at 325 oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

DELISH!!

by Angel Anderson 

California Stir-Fry and Chocolate Molten Cake

Oh-me, Oh-my...what a Valentines Day.

For those of you clicking over from my main blog (http://www.thejohnsonsjungle.blogspot.com/), you've already heard the story of the Valentines Day Stomach Flu. It's not pretty or pleasant, and if you missed it, I don't encourage you to go check it out. The rest of my blog...yes. But if you wish to skip the sordid stomach flu tale, I completely understand.

The REAL downer of missing the Day of Love, though, wasn't that we were sick...it's that the aforementioned sickness meant that I couldn't cook a nice Valentines Day dinner for my family. So, on Valentines Day - we had Saltine crackers and Gatorade. And I don't need to put a recipe up for that.

Today is a glorious Tuesday...and we are flu-free. So I am making our yummy V-Day dinner TONIGHT.

I am sorry you missed this on the 14th...not that the dinner itself is terribly note-worthy...but the DESSERT is...yummy, sinfully delicious Chocolate Molten Cake. I have two recipes...one straight from my husbands award-winning restaurant, The Grand Lux Cafe, and another that I personally prefer because I am a BIG fan of DARK CHOCOLATE. However, as I was about to put The Grand Lux recipe on my blog...my husband informed me that to post recipes from his restaurant would expose carefully guarded TRADE SECRETS...and he could lose his job.

Whoops.

Not really the right economic climate to take that kind of risk.

So, if I promised you the Grand Lux recipe...sorry. You'll have to come over, and we'll turn off all the lights and cover all the windows and doors, and invent a super-secret encrypted code to communicate with (complete with hand-signs and facial expressions), and I'll share the recipe after swearing you to secrecy by some ancient and binding sacrificial rite. Okay?

Until then, you'll have to make MY version of Chocolate Molten Cake...but I promise you won't mind.

Not.

One.

Bit.

(just a moment...I need to find a napkin to wipe my chin...my mouth is watering. After a weekend of the BRAT diet, I can hardly wait to eat REAL FOOD.)

But first...we need dinner...

This is great served with rice (duh) and chow mien noodles.

California Stir-Fry

2 TBS Catalina dressing

2 TBS soy sauce, divided

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin slices

1/2 cup Catalina dressing

1 tsp minced fresh ginger root

1 clove minced garlic

1 cup broccoli florets

1 small carrot, cut into thin slices

1/2 cup each: medium red and yellow pepper, cut into thin strips

1 cup snow peas

1 cup bean sprouts

(OR...you can do what I do, and just use an awesome frozen oriental veggie mix...like the one from CostCo)

1. Heat 2 TBS dressing and 1 of the TBS soy sauce in large nonstick skillet or wok on medium heat. Add chicken; stir-fry 3 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from skillet.

2. Add all remaining ingredients except the bean sprouts to skillet; mix well. Stir-fry 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. (If using a frozen veggie mix - you can proceed in two ways...thaw veggies and cook only a couple minutes to heat through, or stir-fry from a frozen state. There is really no set time...just watch carefully...or you will end up with veggies that are soggy.)

3. Stir in chicken and bean sprouts; stir-fry until heated through.

4. Serve over rice.

Ahhh...and now, dessert...

Dark Molten Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (6 squares) Bakers Bittersweet Chocolate

10 TBS butter

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup flour

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

1. Preheat oven to 425. Grease 6 6-oz. custard cups or souffle dishes. Place on baking sheet. (My mini souffle cups are still packed in my garage...so I use a giant muffin pan that makes six giant muffins. It works great!!)

2. Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler until butter and chocolate is completely melted (or microwave in a microwaveable bowl on 50% power 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Then stir with a wire whisk until chocolate is melted, too). Add sugar and flour, mix well. Add whole eggs and egg yolks; beat until well blended. Divide batter evenly into custard cups (or muffin tins!!).

3. Bake 14 to 15 minutes or until cakes are firm around the edges, but still soft in the centers. Let stand 1 minute. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Carefully invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Sprinkle lightly with additional powdered sugar and garnish with raspberries, strawberries, candied lemon or orange peel, or mint leaves (or a combination of all the above!!) Tonight, I'm using a triple berry dessert sauce from Smuckers to drizzle around the edges.

Cut in half and serve warm...

recipes courtesy Kraft foods and myself, respectively