The hardest part about this dessert is definitely making the chocolate cups -- they require quite a bit of time and patience. Time was on my side (I had the afternoon off) but I almost ran out of patience. The method I chose was painting melted chocolate onto the insides of paper mini-cupcake liners. I actually wound up doing 2 coats for these so they were a little sturdier when I went to peel off the paper. Inevitably I broke quite a few in the process, so I suggest making a few more than you plan on using to be safe. The fact that the paper does peel off easily (regardless of whether or not the chocolate falls apart subsequently) is pretty unbelievable, and it was just as exciting of a process as when I used mint leaves for the cupcake wreath I made back in December. Chocolate is truly an amazing substance, for more than one reason!
Once the cups are made the rest is a breeze -- whip up some cream, fold in melted peanut butter cups, and you've got yourself a fancy and delicious filling. To fill the cups, I put the mousse into a piping bag and used a large round tip to neatly fill each cup. I also used a vegetable peeler and a bar of dark chocolate to garnish the cups with chocolate shavings.
Even though these were really delicious, I haven't been able to top the perfection of a Reese's quite yet, although I have tried. But serving Reese's on a platter just isn't as special, so I'll keep trying (without any complaint from my friends, I'm sure) and in the meantime I suggest you try these :)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cups
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.
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.
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