Oh no, my first really dud of a result in baking with the Tuesdays with Dorie group. I am very pleased with the way the cupcakes look, so enjoy the photo, but they were dry and lacked flavor.
photo by David Peterman
I was banking on the frosting to save the day, but no, it was hard as soon as it cooled. Chocolate, butter and sugar, seems reasonable enough, but when I stopped to think about the fact that the proportions of sugar and butter were small compared to the chocolate and butter is solid at room temperature, it is no surprise that it set up rather solid. Dorie refers to the frosting as a glaze indicating that it should just be a thin layer, which would be better, but I think it would still be too hard even as a thin glaze.
I did mix some smooth commercial peanut butter into the glaze to make a soft filling hoping to distract from the dry cake and it was delicious, but didn’t do much to hide the fact that the cake was dry. It would make a wonderful topping as well.
Quick Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
Gently melt bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and mix in half as much smooth peanut butter, by weight. Whisk in powdered sugar by the tablespoon until the flavor reaches the desired sweetness.
I am so interested to go see all the other blogs on Tuesdays with Dorie and find out if I was the only one with these problems. Thanks to Clara of I Heart Food For Thought for selecting the recipe for this week.
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sorry they came out dry for you
the pic is great, though!
Mm… chocolate and peanut butter… Sorry that couldn’t save them – maybe soaking them a la better than sex cake would help?
Your photo is gorgeous. Bummer you weren’t a fan but thanks for baking with me this week!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
There is NOTHING worse than dry chocolate cake, imo. Sorry your cuppies suffered that fate. They do look amazing, though. And that chocolate peanut butter recipe is going right into the file! Thanks. I guess Dorie’s allowed one ringer, right?
Your food pictures ALWAYS look amazing, Carol. I am green with envy. As for the dryness, I did make some modifications to the recipe. I used heavy cream instead of buttermilk and I opted to bake it at 18 minutes and then let it set in the pan for a few minutes (so it will bake gently). Mine turned out quite moist. Thanks for sharing your experience and Happy Halloween!
I was not impressed with this recipe, either, but your cupcakes are lovely!
Sorry they didn’t turn out as planned…but they do LOOK good!
I hovered over mine as I baked and took them out slightly underdone — they turned out fine, although I wouldn’t say they were really moist. Too bad yours didn’t work out for you — better luck next time!
Sorry your cupcakes turned out dry. Your photo is gorgeous nonetheless!
They look stunning. Too bad you didn’t like them!
I thought these were very “blah” as well! The flavor was so dull!!! They look great, though!
Good Work! Nice Photos too.
AmyRuth
That is really too bad! Maybe you can tweak them and get a better texture next time? Keep the photographer though, the pic is great!