Another amazing peanut butter and chocolate combination for you today! I decided to redo the classic peanut butter cup in a more sophisticated fashion by piping peanut butter mousse into homemade chocolate cups. I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something inherently elegant about mousse, even though it’s really just glorified whipped cream. So at our “cocktail-attire recommended” housewarming party, these made the perfect sophisticated treats alongside my champagne-sorbet floats.
For the chocolate cups:
2 bags dark chocolate candy melts
Paper mini-cupcake liners
For the peanut butter mousse: Adapted from PB and Julie
1-1/2 cups peanut butter chips
2-1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
3 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp granulated sugar
– In a double boiler, melt 1 bag of candy melts until smooth. Using a paintbrush, apply a thick coat of chocolate to the inside of the cupcake liners and set aside on a cookie tray. Place tray in the freezer to harden, about 15 minutes.
– Once the first coat is dry, melt the other bag of candy melts and repeat the painting process. You want to make sure that the chocolate is not translucent in any areas. Return cups to freezer for another 15 minutes
– When the chocolate is set, remove only 2 cups at atime from the freezer to peel off the paper so the others don’t soften as you’re working. This is where patience comes in: peel gently and slowly, and figure out your best method for successfully removing the paper — it was a lot of trial and error for me! Once all the paper is removed, place cups in the fridge
– For the mousse, microwave the peanut butter chips and 1 cup of cream in large, microwave save bowl in 30 second intervals, stirring each time until chips are melted and smooth
– Whisk in the peanut butter, cinnamon, and vanilla. Place mixture in the fridge to cool to room temperature
– In the bowl of an electric mixture, beat 1-1/2 cups heavy cream with the sugar until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the cooled peanut butter mixture into the cream in 3 additions until mousse is uniform
– Transfer mousse into a piping bag fitting with a large, round tip and pipe mousse into chocolate cups
– For a garnish, use a vegetable peeler on a block of dark chocolate to make small chocolate shavings
I really can’t provide an accurate number for how many peanut butter mousse cups this recipe makes. I think I wound up with about 36 in the end, with lots of extra mousse. I would recommend buying the 2 bags of chocolate melts and see how many cups you can successfully make, and if for some reason you don’t do so well, just half the mousse recipe. or make the whole mousse recipe like I did and find another way to use it, i.e. eat it with a spoon out of the bowl.
I’ve got to try making these. I always love the taste of the first mini Reese’s cup but by the 5th or 6th I start feeling a little queasy. Probably corn syrup overload. A peanut butter cup made with decent ingredients will probably be a revelation!
I love this idea of making your own chocolate cups and my mind is going crazy thinking of all the ideas of different things I could use them for!!! :D Thanks so much for sharing!
these look incredible! so impressive and perfect for entertaining!
these look like little cups of peanut butter heaven! fantastic!
You definitely have more patience than I do…those cups look like pieces of work! I’m glad they turned out for your house warming party :)
Wow- I love the idea of a more “upscale” peanut butter cup! One thing that would make the chocolate cups easier is to use chocolate chips and FOIL muffin cups, like in this recipe: http://site.inspiredcuisinestore.com/RecipePages/ChocolateMousseFilledCupsRecipe.html
will be making these soon :)
I will definitely be trying these out as I’m addicted to Reese’s (even though I am unable to find them over here — boooo). Those cups look like quite a bit of effort though!
Keith — that’s a great suggestion! Next time I’ll definitely try the foil, thanks :)
Oh my goodness! These look absolutely heavenly!! This is a must try for me. Love the chocolate cups!
Has anyone tried making these yet? I’d love to know how an amateur’s results turned out. I really want to try them, but I’m afraid I’ll bust the heck out of them and have to eat more chocolate than I already do. You’re brilliant, Erica!
love this idea, thanks for sharing, I’ll be making this real soon for my upcoming guests.
These look fantastic! i can’t wait to try this out!
Hi Erica, I work with Alaina’s mother and she sent me your link. Check out this site I found for some awesome cupcake “accessories”. Very cool. Like you I have done the chocolate painting of cupcake liners and yes, it’s terribly time intensive and fair amount of breakage. Suggestion: Wilton makes these fluted oval shaped molds to make chocolate cups. So much easier! Had some trouble w/ the milk chocolate, & for whatever reason, the white chocolate just worked out better…easier to unmold. Thanks for a great blog!
Another way to make the chocolate cups is to fill the foil cup (or whatever you’re using) with chocolate, wait a few minutes until it starts to harden at the edges, then pour the excess chocolate back into the bowl. Much quicker than painting the chocolate in. The longer you let them sit, the thicker the outside will be. I usually leave them in the cups so they are easier to move around and don’t get melty fingerprints on them (don’t ask me how I know lol). Can’t wait to try with your filling. My husband is a peanut butter fanatic!
Just seen this on Pinterest. I have to make these ! I LOVE Peanut Butter and Mousse !!! Wounded if it would work to lay the wrappers on their side and coat one side at a time until you make it all the way around ?? I will have to experiment with this. My mother in law made chocolate mousse for our wedding and she took clam shells covered with foil them covered with chocolate and made chocolate shells to put the mousse in. They didn’t last long I didn’t even get one
Can u freeze the cups with the mousse in them? If not how long do u think they will stay fresh? I made the cups today, haven’t done the mousse yet.
Thanks for the recipe
Bev
Erica — December 15th, 2013 @ 5:12 pm
Hey Bev, sorry I’m not sure how the whole thing will hold up in the freezer, but I’m thinking it would be okay. Let me know if you give it a try, I’ve never frozen them before!
Hi Erica
Decided not to freeze them. I made the cups & just put them in the refrig. I am going to make the mousse today. Don’t need the cookie until Sunday. Thanks for getting back to me.
Merry Christmas!
Bev