adapted from Cake Love
I was gifted a cookbook called CakeLove by Warren Brown for Christmas a few years ago and it was unlike anything I had used before. Warren takes a very analytical and scientific approach to baking. If your cakes aren't coming out how you want them to, he gives you the tools to alter the recipe until you reach your desired result. I love his style, and his recipes are my go to for basic cakes and buttercreams. His recipes are measured by weight to yield accurate proportions. Anyone who has been baking for a while knows that volume measurements often vary hugely based on the set of measuring cups being used. This recipe for chocolate butter cake is delicious, moist, and straight forward. The brandy might seem extraneous, but it adds a certain depth of flavor that is hard to find in a classic chocolate cake recipe.
Alright, now time to talk about this buttercream recipe. It differs from most typical frosting recipes in that egg yolks, sugar, and milk are combined in a sauce pan to make a pastry cream before the butter is added to give the pastry cream body. This recipe is quite a bit easier than a classic Italian Merengue, but it gives a similar creamy, light texture. It is not as sweet as a classic American buttercream, but seriously, this recipe is just as foolproof as an American buttercream. Let me put it this way, I LOVE THIS BUTTERCREAM. The steeped milk gives a really nice peanut flavor, and if you want, you could toast come peanuts with sugar to add some texture to the buttercream. Passing up this buttercream would be a mistake.
(by weight)
Preheat the oven to 350° and line pans with paper cupcake liners.
Sift the flower into a medium sized bowl and add cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside. Measure the half-and-half, brandy, and vanilla extract into a separate bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a standard mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium low speed until light and fluffy. About 4 to 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the dry ingredients alternately with the liquid mixture in 3 additions, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Move quickly through this step. Mix on medium speed for 15 to 20 seconds to develop the batters structure.
Deposit the batter into lined cupcake pans and bake for about 22 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool to room temperature before gently removing from the pan.
Separate yolks into a large bowl, add the 2 ounces sugar, potato starch, and 2 ounces butter without stirring to combine. Set aside on a damp towel to prevent the bowl from sliding.
Measure the whole milk, peanuts, and 7 ounces of sugar into a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and let steep for 10 minutes.
Strain the peanuts over a large bowl to capture the milk mixture. Return the milk to the saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Slowly pour the milk over the yolk mixture, whisking slowly in small circles until fully combined. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
Whisk the mixture inside the saucepan on medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 4 minutes. Keep the pastry cream moving to avoid scorching the mixture. When you see lava bubbles- large, slowly forming bubbled that burp steam- reduce the heat to low and whisk briskly for 1 minute to pasteurize the pastry cream.
Pour the pastry cream into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a wire whip attachment. Add the muscovado, honey, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Whip the cream on high until it's cooled to room temperature, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to medium high for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth.
Melt the semi-sweet chocolate over a double boiler. Remove the chocolate and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate has cooled to room temperature. Transfer the chocolate into a plastic bag and snip off the corner. Pipe a flower design onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure the design is structured enough that the flower will not break when it is removed from the parchment. Refrigerate the flowers for 20 minutes.
Transfer the buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a Ateco #803 piping tip. Pipe a large mound of buttercream onto each cupcake. Transfer a chocolate flower garnish to finish off the cupcakes and enjoy!