Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

I am very happy to tell you my friends that Aishwarya has returned to school after her surgery. She was so happy to be back in school after a 6 weeks break ( She was given a royal welcome back by her friends and teachers, even I was a bit surprised by how much she was loved). She attended 4 days of school and the school closed for summer on Tuesday. Next academic year she would be attending a different school as she has graduated to the middle school.  My little girl was a sad girl on the last day and insisted on staying back a little longer at her school. As I stood watching her take a last look at her school of 6 years, I remembered her first day in Kindergarten. She was so anxious to start school and didn't want me to linger back like most parents were doing. So she called me aside and told me to go home and bake a cake (1st day of school was her birthday too). Even at the age of 5, she knew that baking would soothe me from worrying about her. So on her last day of elementary school I thought I would take that advice and bake a cake with her to soothe her and to celebrate the occasion.This one is for you my dear who from a little timid caterpillar has morphed to a  well loved beautiful butterfly. This being the week of Blog Hop I decided to make a cake from my partner  Ruchira Hoon 's blog and as chocolate is Aishwarya's favorite I chose this cake. As usual, I adapted the original recipe to suit me and changed the frosting to peanut butter frosting as I had been wanting to try this combination for a long time. The final outcome turned out to be quite delicious - according to my tasters, this cupcake tasted like Reeses peanut butter cups.
Recipe Adapted from :Cookaroo and Allrecipes
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour,
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Ingredients for frosting:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Method:
Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.