The first 3-layer cake becomes CUPCAKES!

I raved about this chocolate cake so much that when I told my dad the Sky High cake book came in the mail.. he requested a birthday cake!  I didn't make him a birthday cake for his actual birthday because its 2 days after Christmas and we had tons of cookies, Christmas pound cake, and pumpkin pie leftover.  Also, the cake either would have been quite a few days old or I would have had to make it at my parents (when was I going to do that???  The visit was short enough as it was...)  Yes, I am trying to justify not making my own father a birthday cake for his birthday...  the poor guy didn't even have a store bought birthday cake.   Now, I have the chance to redeem myself since we are going to see my parents again this weekend.  

My dad loves chocolate cake so I knew I had to make triple chocolate cake again.  We (yes D helped) halved the recipe and it made 18 cupcakes.  I also made some other changes.. I didn't want to go to the store so I used semi-sweet chocolate chips in place of the unsweetened chocolate.  I cut back on the sugar just a tad to make up for it.


Some action shots of mixing up the batter..  Don't forget the cake recipe was featured in an earlier post..

Action shot of the mixer.

This batter is really thin.. Unlike any cake batter I've ever seen.. It is best poured using a measuring cup, to prevent messes!

 

Remember to only fill cupcakes 3/4 of the way full...

Now we have to wait for them to cool...  Time to start thinking frosting...

Since we didn't make the trip to the grocery store we had to change up the frosting.. this time it is the peanut butter frosting also from Sky High.


Peanut Butter Frosting from Sky High (This is the original recipe.. I only had 4 oz of cream cheese so I had to bust out some math to cut this to 2/5 the recipe. )


10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended




Waiting for ingredients to come to room temperature..

Sifting in the powdered sugar.

Mmmm frosting..

I used a cookie press to frost these cupcakes.. I don't recommend it, it is too inconsistent.  For a first try they did come out cute!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!  Even if you didn't get these cupcakes until New Years Day (5 days late)!

I forgot to frost a few cupcakes.. So these were just done with a knife.  We had some mini chocolate chips that I thought would look cute..