Chocolate and Peanut Butter – Oh My!
I absolutely love chocolate. Hubby – not so much. The only way I can get him to eat chocolate is when I contaminate it with other things. But I don’t mind mixing in some peanut butter – what a great combination!
I had been hearing great things about this recipe so I had to give it a try. I even got hubby to help with adding the peanut butter!
We both loved the cupcake in it’s finished state. It was the first time I had ever made a from-scratch chocolate cake. The cake itself wasn’t very chocolatey, but the finished product was amazing. I will definitely be making these again sometime!
Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate (cup)Cake (2 WW pts – 5 pts with frosting and PB filling) From the back of the Cocoa box or here (Makes ~2 dozen)
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour – I use King Arthurs White Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk – I used Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil – I used 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F.
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely.
Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Frosting (2 WW pts)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
1/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar – I used 2 1/2 cups
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.
Peanut Butter Filling (1 WW pt)
Mix 1 cup of peanut butter (I used low-fat JIF creamy) with about 2 Tbsp powdered sugar.
To assemble, we used the cone method as described here. It worked well with a helper 🙂 I cut the cones out, and hubby spooned in the PB mixture. Then I replaced the cones and frosted the top of the cupcake.
Note: The batter is VERY THIN… as in liquid.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Looks great!! I love the history info too 🙂 Congrats you did an awesome job!
Love the history info and your buttercream looks so silky. Nicely done!
good job! rolls like the yule log and the pumpkin roll really aren’t too hard to make, but they’re great to bring to get togethers b/c everyone loves them 🙂
Congrats on your first “real” yule log. I wasn’t crazy about the buttercream either, though I did like the coffee flavor!
Yum! Very nice, creamy-looking buttercream. Looks delish! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I went for raspberry inside too – and agree that chocolate frosting would be tastier. Good job!
You did an awesome job, Jen!
Your log turned out so pretty – as did the mushrooms!
Way to go!
xoxo
Your log looks wonderful, so silky creamy. Happy Holidays!
Your log looks awesome. Congratulations on completing the challenge.
Very pretty! I thought this one was harder than the “Buche” I made in French class too.
I love your texturing – nice log!
Job well done. I made it with chocolate buttercream and I think it would have gone lovely with raspberry.
I love the idea of the raspberry filling with the coffee buttercream. That must have tasted incredible.
As worldly as I thought I was at the time, I never could have attempted anything this complex in high school. You did a great job with your… it looks luscious!
I hope you had a joyous holiday, and that 2008 brings you health and happiness, laughter and love.
Great bûche de Noël and I loved reading your post.
Happy Holidays!
Julius from Occasional Baker
You aced this challenge like a pro! It looks gorgeous!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Your filling looks and sounds delicious! I went with chocolate for the outside, and loved it. Great job!
A very pretty log! Well done!
Cheers,
Rosa
Nice work there. I love the combination of raspberry and chocolate – mmmm! Congrats on your challenge and happy new year 🙂
jen at use real butter
Oooh I love the idea of the raspberry in the log!