Devil's Food Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

David had his office barbeque party at the house last Friday. It was pretty low key on my end in regards to food preparation since it was potluck style and David was on barbeque duty. However, I couldn't show-up empty handed at my own house! So I decided to whip up these super rich and easy cupcakes. Devil's Food Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake. Wow, that's a mouthful! You could use any type of mix whether homemade or boxed. Don't cringe... but I went with a boxed mix to save time. Afterall, I do have 2 kiddies to look after! ; )

Whatcha' need for these cupcakes:
One box of Devil's Food cake mix
4 eggs (I've learned that an extra egg makes the cupcake more dense and prevents cupcake tops from sinking especially if you have a center filling)
1 1/3 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Mini Peanut Butter Cups, frozen (this will help the cups from melting away into the batter as they bake)

What to do with this stuff?
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line cupcake pan with liners. Tip: I like to coat the pan with non-stick spray too so the puffy cupcakes tops don't stick when removing.
Combine first 4 ingredients and mix well.  Evenly fill each liner with batter (I use an ice scream scoop) and drop one mini peanut butter cup into each cupcake. No need to push down on the peanut butter cup; it will gradually bake down.
Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. *Remember to test the perimeter of the cupcake and not the ooey gooey center.

Now for the frosting. I didn't want to overpower these cupcakes with more peanut butter, so I decided to go with a buttercream frosting instead. There are a lot of buttercream recipes, but I had to make the one inspired from the photo below:

If you EVER find yourself in New York, you must satisfy your sweet tooth here!

Whatcha' need for Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Buttercream:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
6-8 cups confectioners' sugar (I used 7 cups and got the right consistency)
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Food coloring, optional

What to do with this stuff?
Put butter in a mixer. Add 4 cups of the sugar, the milk and then the vanilla. On medium speed, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. Use or store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled. Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. This makes enough to generously frost 2 dozen cupcakes.