Peanut Butter Yum Yum

Well, it's official, I am back at Clark. (Jumps up and down with girlish glee)
I cannot describe how much I have missed this place. Did you know, I haven't been on campus since May 11th? Talk about a long time. And if it hadn't been for my girl pal Irene, I wouldn't have been back on campus until today. Like most people, my family was hunkering down for Irene's onslaught and decided that it would be better to get me up to campus on Saturday, rather then wait until Monday. Why? Because we anticipated that the Long Island Expressway would be chaotic and didn't want to chance the idea that we'd be stuck in traffic for hours. So, dad and I hoped in the car and drove up to Worcester, Mass. With a hug and kiss goodbye, my dad literally dumped me and my stuff inside my dorm and left the remainder of the moving process up to me. Oh yeah, I did a one-woman move in. Impressed?

After the hour and half I spent running up and down the staircase with boxes and black plastic bags, I glanced out the window and saw that the rain had ceased for the moment. Until then, the rain had been coming down in sheets. Dad and I got lucky; there was a break in the storm during the forty-minutes it took us to move in. Taking the opportunity while I had it, I grabbed my wallet and made a quick dash to the local super market. In case you hadn't noticed, which I wouldn't be surprised since most people hadn't either, I had posted a survey in order to figure out what kind of cupcake I should make next. To my delight, something with peanut butter won. So, I sought out a cupcake recipe, one that wouldn't be too complicated or expensive. In the end, I decided to stick to my 500 Cupcakes. The recipe was easy, yet sounded mouth-wateringly delicious. The only thing I really needed at the store was butter, eggs, and granulated sugar. I did attempt to buy plain yogurt to act as a moistening ingredient, but the store was out. How can a store be out of plain yogurt? Well, in Worcester, anything is possible.

Though I had planned to bake on Saturday, I got carried away and thought it would be better to just bake on Sunday, crossing my fingers that my school didn't lose power. Well, guess what? Hurricane Irene apparently lost her steam somewhere over New Jersey and by the time she hit Worcester, it was just rain and some strong bursts of wind. This time around, I had a cooking companion with me, one of suite-mates, Ginny.

The recipe was as easy as it sounded. Just some butter, eggs, sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, and flour. I only did one variation this time around, since I really didn't want to break the bank buying ingredients. My dorm's kitchen, by the way, is gorgeous. It has everything a cook or baker would need (with in reason). There is even a cabinet dedicated to spices and things. And what a collection of spices! Now I don't have buy turmeric and cardamon. Every now and then, other people in my dorm came into the kitchen and all complimented me on the delicious smell of the cupcakes. And these cupcakes didn't just smell delicious, the same could be said of the batter. Had I not intended to bake them, I would have been totally content with just eating the batter. Then of course, there was the matter with the chocolate chips. Once again, another ingredient that was at risk of being eaten before putting it to proper use.

The only snag I hit throughout the process was that the dorm's ovens were really slow to heat up. I mean, really, really slow. But once they did, I slid the pans in and set my piggy timer for twenty minutes. Yes, you read that right, my piggy timer. Ain't that cool? Remember when I said how good the batter tasted? Well, the peanut butter frosting I got to make afterwords was infinitely better. Peanut butter creamy goodness!  I just could not stop myself from licking the bowl. It took some time, but eventually I pulled it together; I wasn't done, I needed to ice my beloved cupcakes and find a taste tester.

This guy here is my good pal Jordan. He was lucky individual who I selected to take that first bite. The result? Peanut butter heaven. Within two hours, my batch of eighteen had dwindled down to five. And I must agree with everyone, they were good. A tad bit dry, but I had expected that. Next time, I'll find yogurt, I promise. But seriously, these were really good. The frosting had the right balance of peanut butter and sugar, while cupcake managed to retain it's peanut butter flavors without being too strong.

So, with those two recipes completed, that leaves me with 492 recipes to go. I wonder what I should do next. Hmmm. I like fruit, especially pineapple. Maybe there's a recipe out there that combines cupcakes and pineapple. Wouldn't that be something.

Until next time,
Jill



Yea, I know that the recipe is supposed to be here, but it's late right now and I have class in the morning, so, I'll post it tomorrow. You'll just have to wait until then, haha!