Glee! Banana Nut Cheerio Cupcakes

I am so excited that Glee is returning tonight after the late winter break. Last episode left us hanging on the fate of Quinn after her car accident, so I wanted to make Quinn's cupcake for this week.

It would be an understatement to say Quinn has had a few ups and downs in her time at McKinley High. Her fall from high atop the Cheerios (and school popularity) pyramid due to her teen pregnancy sent her into a bizarre downward spiral in season 3. An attempt to sabotage the custody rights of her daughter's adoptive mother was definitely b-a-n-a-n-a-s. Inspired by A) Quinn's nutty behavior and B) the many flavors of Cheerios cereal, I created Quinn's cupcake.



I am definitely glad to see that she was able to come full circle in the last episode and regain the status she has longed for: to once again be a Cheerio.

Quinn's Banana Nut Cheerio cupcake combines cinnamon banana cake with a Cheerio covered peanut butter center, and is topped with caramel swiss meringue buttercream.

Banana Nut Cheerio Cupcakes

Source: Adapted from Apple a Day
Yield: Serves 24
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (with cooling time)

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 mashed overripe banana (1 large)
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 scant cup sugar

For the filling:

• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups crushed peanut butter Cheerios cereal

For the buttercream:

• 8 ounces egg whites (from a carton is fine)
• 12 ounces sugar
• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons caramel sauce

Instructions

For the filling:

1. In bowl, with mixer on medium speed, mix powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla until blended.
2. Shape mixture into 24 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. (Balls will be sticky and don't need to be perfectly shaped.)
3. Roll in crushed Cheerios cereal. Place balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet; set aside.

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with 24 paper liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, 1/4 c. at a time, beating on medium speed until light and fluffy and scraping down sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl after each addition.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
4. In a small bowl, combine banana, buttermilk, and vanilla.
5. Add in flour and banana mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour, and mix on low speed until just combined.
6. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Insert a Cheerio covered peanut butter ball into the center of the cupcake and push down to cover with batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool completely, then frost with buttercream.

For the buttercream:

1. Add egg whites and sugar to a heat-safe bowl. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk lightly until the mixture reaches 140 degrees F and the sugar is dissolved.
2. Pour hot whites into a room-temperature bowl and whip with a wire whip until double in volume on medium-high speed. When the mixer stops, the meringue should not move around in the bowl. Meanwhile cut up butter into 2-inch pieces. (The butter should be slightly moist on the outside but cold inside.)
3. On your mixer, remove the whip and attach the paddle. Add half the butter into the bowl immediately and pulsate the mixer several times until the meringue has covered the butter completely. To pulsate the mixer, turn it on and off in a jerky motion. This forces the butter on the top to the bottom of the bowl. Add the balance of the butter and pulsate mixer several times. Slowly increase the mixer's speed, starting with the lowest speed and increase the speed every 10 seconds until you reach a medium-high speed.
4. Continue beating until the mixture begins to look light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl. Reduce speed to low. Add vanilla and caramel and continue to beat on low speed for 45 seconds. Then beat on medium-high speed for an additional 45 to 60 seconds.
5. Leftover buttercream can be placed in plastic containers with lids and kept in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost completely (several hours) and rewhip before using.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Whipped Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Whew! Long title! My best friend and her mom found these cupcakes on the Good Housekeeping website and suggested I make them. My husband came home that day and mentioned that his coworker was having a party on Saturday - perfect! The GH recipe calls for a plain buttercream frosting, but thought it needed a little something more. I asked around and got some suggestions, and when someone said whipped peanut butter cream cheese frosting, I was SOLD!

I did a little googling to get a general idea of proportions, then threw some together for a wonderfully creamy, cream cheese-y, peanut buttery delight! Despite overbaking them a tad, the cupcakes were delicious and not overwhelming on either the chocolate or peanut butter flavor. I did, however, get a pocket of air above the peanut butter ball inside each one. I remedied this by poking through the top of the cupcake with the decorating tip, filling that space with frosting, then piping the swirls on top.







Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Whipped Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Cupcake recipe from Good Housekeeping
Yield: 24 cupcakes

For the filling and cupcakes:
~2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
~1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
~10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
~1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
~1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
~3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
~1 teaspoon baking soda
~1/2 teaspoon salt
~1 cup sour cream
~2 tablespoons milk
~1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
~2 large eggs

For the frosting:
~8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
~4 tablespoons butter, softened
~1/2 cup peanut butter
~3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
~1 cup cool whip

1. Prepare Filling: In bowl, with mixer on medium speed, mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla until blended. Shape mixture into 24 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. (Balls will be sticky and don't need to be perfectly shaped.) Place balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet; set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 standard muffin-pan cups with fluted paper liners.

3. Prepare Cupcakes: On waxed paper, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix sour cream, milk, and remaining vanilla; set aside. In large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat granulated sugar and remaining 8 tablespoons butter just until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 1 to 2 minutes more or until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until ingredients are combined, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

4. Spoon 1 heaping measuring tablespoon batter into each muffin-pan cup. Drop 1 peanut butter ball in center of each cup and top with another heaping tablespoon batter. Bake cupcakes 25 to 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean. (I baked mine for 23 minutes and they were over-done, so watch them carefully!) Immediately remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

5. When cupcakes are cool, prepare frosting: In large bowl, with mixer on medium-low speed, beat butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter until smooth and blended. Add powdered sugar slowly, incorporating fully after each addition. Add cool whip and beat until smooth and creamy. Frosts cupcakes.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

This is a spin on the Old Time Vanilla Ice Cream, and is from the same website. It is, perhaps, not as peanutty as I'd like, but it is still OH so delicious and my husband absolutely loves it! Here I topped it with some caramelized peanuts leftover from Snickery Squares - yum!

Having made this recipe so many times, I've worked how to lower the fat content a bit. The resulting ice cream is still SO creamy and wonderful that you'd NEVER know you were missing anything!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from Doc Wilson's Ice Cream page

~1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg beaters)
~1/2 can fat free sweetened condensed milk
~1/2 cup peanut butter (I use chunky)
~1/8 cup sugar
~1/8 cup upacked brown sugar
~4 ounces heavy cream
~4 ounces skim milk
~8 ounces fat free half and half
~1/8 tsp salt
~1 Tbsp vanilla extract
~1/8 to 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (I go by eye!)

~In a large mixing bowl whisk together egg and sweetened condensed milk. Add sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter, mix thoroughly. Then add heavy cream, milk, half and half, salt and vanilla extract.

~For the very best results (who wants anything less?), let the mix chill in the refrigerator for about four hours which allows the mix to "age" before freezing according to the directions with your ice cream freezer. In the last 5 minutes of mixing, add the chocolate chips.

TWD: Peanut Butter Torte

Holy heavens! This is one rich dessert! I made the mistake (blessing?) of calculating the nutritional information, and decided to skip the ganache topping since it would just be hubby and I eating it (he can handle the calories, I can't!). I left him 1/4 of this in the fridge, as I'll be away for business for a few days - I really hope it's gone when I come back! The rest is sliced and in the freezer... and will definitely be a once-slice-per(overthe)-week treat. Definitely rich and definitely decadent!

Problems (because I always have them): Definitely my first time working with this type of crust. I read some comments indicating it may take more than 24 oreos, so I added a few extra but didn't increase the butter (oops). I had a little difficulty getting it to stay up. I also try to get it unmolded without blow drying it... and some of it stuck to the pan. A lot of it crumbled off the sides when I tried to cut it, as well. I'm not really complaining because it cut a *few* calories off, but certainly something to make note of if I ever wanted to serve this to guests.

Peanut Butter Torte
Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan
Chosen by Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food

~1 ¼ c. finely chopped salted peanuts (for the filling, crunch and topping)
~2 teaspoons sugar
~½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (or finely ground instant coffee)(I omitted)
~¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
~Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
~½ c. mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped semi sweet chocolate)

~24 Oreo cookies, finely crumbed or ground in a food processor or blender
~½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
~Small pinch of salt
~2 ½ c. heavy cream
~1 ¼ c confectioners’ sugar, sifted
~12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
~1 ½ c salted peanut butter – crunchy or smooth (not natural; I use Skippy)
2 tablespoons whole milk
~4 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped

Getting ready: center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch Springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Toss ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chops together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the spring form pan (they should go up about 2 inches on the sides). Freeze the crust for 10 minutes. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in ¼ cup of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Crape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Wipe out (do not wash) the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, ¼ cup of the chopped peanuts and the milk.

Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream. Scrape the mouse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.

To Finish The Torte: put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan. Bring the remaining ½ cup cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and , working with a a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.
Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing it with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the remaining ½ cup peanuts over the top and chill to set the topping, about 20 minutes.

When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the Springform pan; it’s easiest to warm the pan with a hairdryer, and then remove the sides, but you can also wrap a kitchen towel damped with hot water around the pan and leave it there for 10 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.