Last weekend a few friends and I headed up to New York City for a girl’s getaway. It was my first time in New York and it just so happened to be restaurant week. So we literally ate and drank our way through the city and picked up 2 Broadway shows along the way.
Our trip started out early Thursday morning. We checked in at our hotel, found a local eatery for an egg sandwich, and headed down Broadway for some shopping and sight seeing. We ate lunch at the amazing Craft Bar and thanks to restaurant week, I was able to have three delicious courses with a blueberry peach parfait to wrap things up. For dinner, we had reservations at The Lamb’s Club and to wind down the evening, we had drinks at The View courtesy of the Marriot Marquis. If you have never been to The View, it is honestly the coolest place to see a 360 degree roof-top view of the city. The restaurant actually spins, slowly, so that you get to check everything out while you are dining.
Friday morning we were able to pick up tickets to Rock of Ages for later that night. After breakfast, we paid our respects to Ground Zero and the Freedom Tower.
Standing there, among the thousands of names of people who lost their lives on 9/11 is quite humbling and emotional to say the least. My heart goes out to all of you who lost someone on that tragic day and for the ones who are continuing to fight.
The rest of the day included adventures in Chinatown, Chianti in Little Italy, lunch at Mercer Kitchen in SoHo, drinks at Samovar {Russian Vodka Room} and finally, Rock of Ages. I also got to stop by the infamous Junior’s for a slice of Red Velvet Cake. Yeah.
Saturday began with brunch at Sarabeth’s. Yes. THE Sarabeth’s. I have a huge secret crush on Sarabeth’s. I have her jams and her jellies. Her preserves. I even have her cookbook. This was by far my favorite place to eat. I had almond crusted french toast and fried potatoes. So delicious!
After brunch, we did a bit more sightseeing, taking in St. Patrick’s cathedral and stopping for drinks at Rockefeller Center. We ate at Carmine’s for dinner before our next Broadway show, Kinky Boots. We had great seats and even got to meet several cast members afterwards. I was in total awe of the cast, the set, and the costumes. I highly recommend it. After the show, we took the Subway back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before our early flight back home the next day.
So to celebrate my first trip to the big city, I made you fancy Dark Chocolate Espresso Cakes with Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting.
These cakes are the perfect little treat for any occasion, but I think the espresso and dark chocolate give it more of a New York City feel. Don’t ya think?
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa, fill with hot water to the 1/2 cup line
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 8 tablespoons {1 stick} unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate morsels
- 8 tablespoons {1 stick} unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup marshmallow fluff
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 2 1/2 cups confectioner sugar
- splash of milk
Instructions
- Adjust your oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with baking cups.
- In your bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter and sugar.
- Add egg and egg yolks, one at a time until incorporated.
- Beat in vanilla and sour cream.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix again for 30 seconds.
- Measure out 1/4 cup cocoa and then add hot water to the 1/2 cup line; stir until it becomes a thin paste.
- Add cocoa mixture to your wet ingredients and mix well.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, espresso powder and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients, a little at a time, until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
- With a rubber spatula, stir in the dark chocolate morsels.
- Divide the batter evenly among the cups of the prepared tin.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
- In your stand mixer bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, and marshmallow fluff.
- On low speed, slowly whip in your confectioner sugar one cup at a time until smooth.
- Add a splash of milk as needed to make your frosting creamy and fluffy.
- Spread 2 -3 generous tablespoons of the frosting on top of each cooled cupcake.
