Dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting

Inspiration can come from anywhere, but I personally find a lot of it these days on the very addictive Pinterest. This is probably why I have over a hundred pins on my board titled 'words'. However, it is not just words that inspire me especially when it comes to doing something I enjoy and creating a celebratory treat for a special occasion. I feel like I am quite an observant person, which I think helped me in baking some cupcakes yesterday to celebrate my lovely housemate, and fellow Aussie, Corinne's birthday. Last year I whipped up two different kinds of cupcakes for her birthday celebrations as mentioned here and here. This makes me think I should have made three types this year because of last year's effort and the fact that we are now housemates, but I am pretty sure the combination I made yesterday was spot on. I chose a dark chocolate cupcake using the recipe I found here while the frosting was again my own creation.

I have to say I was a bit nervous about making these cupcakes as I was using new ingredients and techniques I hadn't used before. I even made sure to bake at least one extra cupcake so I could try it fresh out of the oven. It was only then that I realised there was nothing to worry about. The peanut butter frosting consisted of the following (some are approximate measures as I added ingredients until I was happy with the flavour):

• 1/2 tsp meringue powder
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 generous tbsp smooth peanut butter
• 3 cups icing sugar
• 6 - 8 tsp milk, to create the required consistency

I combined the above ingredients in my KitchenAid stand mixer initially at a lower speed and then on number four until I had achieved the desired consistency. I used my Wilton 1M decorating tip to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and finished them off with a sprinkling of chocolate jimmies.

I can't wait for the next reason to celebrate in our house, but nothing really beats a birthday celebration. However, I do know when it comes to my baking sometimes celebrations are optional.