Chocolate Cupcakes with Penuche Frosting
Lightened-up chocolate cupcakes that taste even better than their more fatty competitor? Sign me up! These cupcakes melt in your mouth! You would never know that applesauce was added to lighten them up instead of butter or oil. And the penuche frosting, where do I begin? Let’s just say this stuff is worth gold to me =).
What is Penuche?
If you have never tried penuche, it’s an insanely delicious, caramel-like brown sugar fudge, and here it is in frosting form. If you’re a lover of fudge, caramel, or brown sugar flavors… you’re never going to want basic frosting again. The cupcake recipe is my own and the frosting recipe was adapted from allrecipes.com; I love that site! If you haven’t tried penuche fudge, I definitely recommend it. Penuche often includes nuts (like walnuts), so you could incorporate walnuts into your cupcake mix or sprinkle chopped walnuts onto the frosting after icing.
When to Serve Cupcakes with Penuche Frosting
These cupcakes are decadent and luxurious. I love making them for a chocolate lover’s birthday, Valentine’s day, or a girls’ night. I think everyone will love them, but the penuche frosting is usually more of a win with the grown-up crowd. You can mix it up by adding festive sprinkles or perhaps drizzling with caramel or chocolate syrup! The consistency is easy to spread, but make sure you use a large icing tip and work quickly if you want to pipe the frosting—it’s thick and sets quickly. And of course, we love a fun and colorful cupcake liner!
