Beyond decadent, and a trick of the light
I had to go downstairs for something. I passed the front office, and did a double take. There was a movie star in our office!

It wasn't, of course. In fact, it was my supervisor, who is normally an ordinarily nice-looking guy. Something about the particular blue shirt he was wearing, the way he was standing, and the illumination had conspired to transform him, for that one odd instant, into a Vision of Masculine Beauty. Very odd.

I long to make these -- recipe from
I was just really very hungry. A. would hate me. I would hate myself. But oh! they look delicious! Perhaps for the Yuletide Gift Baskets.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
(Recipe slightly edited, but any whimsy of phrasing is courtesy Makiko Itoh, of IWJRVH.)

350g / 12 oz (about 2 cups) smooth peanut butter
1 cup of salted roasted peanuts
225g / 8oz (about 1 cup) icing sugar
50g / 1.8oz (about 1/4 cup) brown sugar, or raw sugar
500g / a bit more than a pound, of dark chocolate, minimum cacao 50%
90g / 3oz unsalted butter

Supplies needed: shallow paper cups, plastic zip bag

Chop up the peanuts with a knife or in the food processor.

Put the peanut butter, 60 grams/2 oz (two thirds) of the butter, peanuts, and both sugars in a sturdy plastic zip bag. Press the air out of the bag and close it. Knead and mix the bag until the contents are completely mixed and smooth.

Once the mixture is well-combined, press it down towards one corner. Cut off that corner with scissors, and twist the bag - now you have a sort of pastry bag.

Squeeze about a tablespoon worth of the peanut butter mixture into each paper cup, smoothing out the top of each with your finger. Each cup should be about 1/2 full. It's easier if you keep each cup in the stack of other paper cups for stability while you fill them.

Once the peanut butter mixture is all used up, make the chocolate topping. Break up the chocolate into a bowl. Melt it in the microwave at medium for about 3 minutes. Check at this point; if the chocolate is still hard, mix and nuke for about 1 minute more. Add the rest of the butter, and nuke for another 30 seconds. Mix the chocolate and butter well with a spoon until smooth.

Fill up each cup with the chocolate, smoothing out the top with your finger or a knife. Try not to lick your fingers during this whole process, unless of course you plan to eat all the cups by yourself, in which case it probably doesn't matter.

Cool in the refrigerator until the chocolate is firm, about 1 hour. Store in the refrigerator until all consumed.

Makes about 24 cups.

Note: if you would rather not put in peanuts, increase the amount of peanut butter by about 1/2 cup, and add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. You can also use chunky style peanut butter, increasing the amount by about 1/2 cup.