We have some really incredible locally-produced honey here in Tennessee. We pick up a giant jar of raw dark wildflower honey at the Farmers’ Market every few months or so, and use it in everything from tea to salad dressings to baked goods. I swear, once you buy some really good pure honey, you will never go back to the cheap-o store stuff (yes, I’m talking about you, Mr. Bear).
A few weeks back I made a chocolate cake, and the cake recipe I used included honey in the batter. Which I didn’t think much of until we were eating it that night. And you know what? You could actually taste the honey. It was a delicious complement to the richness of the chocolate itself.
So I took that idea (as I often do), and downsized it into cupcake form. Mixed in some roasted peanuts (because as a child who would choose a pb & honey sandwich over a pb&j anyday, I knew they were a perfect match), and topped it off with a subtly sweet and buttery rich honey buttercream. Yum. The honey adds an unexpected note of sweetness and depth of flavor to these cupcakes that you can actually taste in the final cake (surprisingly it does not bake out). Not to mention that since honey is naturally moisture-loving, these are some of the moistest cupcakes you will ever eat. To put it concisely, these cupcakes are all-around scrumptious.
Granted, Taylor has never been a fan of peanut butter and cake in the same bite, and while I had hoped that the ground peanuts would differ from simply adding peanut butter, I still think he would have preferred these sans-peanut. But I am sure he won’t put up a fight when I ask him to help me finish off this batch. I mean, cake is cake, right?
Chocolate Honey Cupcakes with Roasted Peanuts and Honey Vanilla Buttercream
Makes 12 cupcakes.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup soy milk
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, finely ground
For Frosting:
- 2 large egg whites
- 3/8 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
- Whisk together the soy milk, oil, sugar, honey, and vanilla extract until incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix in peanuts. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in soy milk mixture. Stir until just smooth (do not overmix).
- Pour into liners, filling each with 3 tablespoons of batter (cups should be no more than 2/3 full). For mini cupcakes, fill each with 1 tablespoon batter. Bake 18-20 minutes (or 10-12 for minis), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
- To make buttercream, combine the sugar, honey, and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, 7-10 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like melted marshmallow cream. Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk on high speed until mixture is completely cooled and stiff peaks form, about 6-10 minutes. Add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, on low speed, mixing well after each addition. If at any point mixture looks separated or curdled, stop adding butter. Increase speed to high and beat until mixture smooths out again. Reduce speed, and continue adding remaining butter. Beat in vanilla and food coloring (if desired). Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.
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Weee! Collapsible cups!!!
All of the Chef’n gifts look great! :)
Love cupcakes! Thanks for the giveaway, I would love to win : )
Those sound so tasty! I love honey and like to get the good stuff from the local farmers market.
That cupcake recipe sounds A-Mazing!!! Thanks for sharing. I would also love to be entered into your giveaway :)
P.S. Here is my tweet on the giveaway too:
http://twitter.com/lindsaybabble
i love it when i read your lovely recipes and find that I have all the ingredients in my pantry :) thanks for another yummy-sounding and interesting cupcake recipe!
p.s. Saw chef’n stuff for the first time the other day and thought they were neat-o! thanks for the chance to win!
Thanks so much for hosting this giveaway; the utensils look really great. Blogged about it here: http://theradioactivegan.blogspot.com/2010/03/purportedly-best-broccoli-ever.html
That cake looks pretty awesome. Do you think it would do well with dark agave in place of the honey? I think my niece would love those for her upcoming birthday (five is an important one!).
Awesome set of baking stuff!
I have to love any product that comes in the color “arugula.” I think it’s a match made in heaven.
How awesome of you to snag a set for the readers! Also, the cupcakes look awesome–one of the many reasons I’m happy I buy honey by the jug.
this recipe really makes me want to get cute yellow liners now. sounds delicious!
I love the taste of pure honey — and I was reading this, I was thinking, “Yeah, but can you TASTE the honey?” When of course you answered that! Another reason I love reading your blog — you think along the same lines I do!
First, I love honey. Second, I love giveaways. I am a TN girl. Clover honey is my favorite.
went away w/o computer for the weekend and came back to great updates! Excited for this give-away AND those potato pancakes – YUM!
Love the recipe and the giveaway,
http://prettyenoughtoeat.blogspot.com/2010/03/check-it-out.html
Yum, these look delicious!
If I win your giveaway, will I be able to make cupcakes that look and taste as amazing as yours!?!?! I’d hope so!!!
So colorful!
Hmm.. sounds like something I could definitely wrap a fork around. Love the give-away. I have a soon to be married grandaughter & she would love to have these.
Thanks for the chance.
Chocolate & honey? Never thought of it as a combo! Yummy!
And, yes, Chef’n do make some pretty nifty gadgets for the kitchen – I own one of their mandolines :)
There’s a strong possibility I’ll be making these tonight. A chocolate + honey combination is just too interesting to resist trying!
I always like to see recipes that use alternative sweeteners to regular sugar, especially honey
oh I’m a huge fan of those measuring cups! pick me!
These look amazing, and I love fun cooking supplies (and collapsible items and bowls that nest are a must in my teeny-tiny kitchen!)
I can’t wait to make these delicious looking cupcakes! beautiful!
Can u write more about honey and the different kinds. Love your blog
omgosh these sound so good!
I need those collapsible cups. Mine always get trapped in the drawer.
these cupcakes look amazing! they may just grace the table at my next staff meeting.
p.s. the giveaway looks fabulous too =)
Wow! I would love to have this fantastic set. So cute!! Thanks for having a giveaway!!
biehnl AT yahoo DOT com
Oh man…this sounds absolutely amazing.
Ooooh, those are so fun looking! Pick me! Pick me!
Look SUPER yummy!! Will have to try it!
I love that you had Chef’n projects already!
Those cupcakes look wonderful!
yay chef’n!
Oh yes, that luscious, DARK honey is the key. Not only does it add flavor, but bread crusts come from the oven darker. And I’m sure you know honey has natural preservative properties, making it an excellent choice for home baked breads that aren’t consumed in one sitting.
Not that I’ve ever had that problem! Nice cupcakes.
added a comment on my f-book page –
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sweet-Treats/88906934872?ref=ts
i’m with u – every bit of storage space is valuable in a cramped kitchen… gotta love chef’n
7pm on a sunday, and i have everything on hand to make these…perfect end to the weekend – thanks!
pretty cupcakes. thanks for the giveaway!
I tweeted about this too :) (http://twitter.com/brittty/status/10142323953)
I tweeted: http://twitter.com/ZakStrassberg/status/10142320012
These look like they combine most of my favorite things!
I want both cupcakes and cooking implements. Both look so pretty.
The cupcakes look great!
I was just thinking about making frosting with honey earlier today! This looks fantastic!
I love chocolate and honey. So ditto, I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Though I would love to win the stuff, I want to try those cupcakes!! Been having a craving for choco and peanut butter lately, maybe this will help!! Thanks for recipe!
can’t wait to try this recipe!!