Snickers Cupcakes

Still waters run deep.

See? Depth.

I seem to be on a run here.

Well, Halloween and all...there's lots of candy on top of my dish cabinet - but this isn't going to help you get rid of that. There is not a thing in the world wrong with cutting up candy bars and putting them into cupcakes...that's delicious and a good use of inventory. But, I wondered, as with the twix cupcakes - what if you could actually turn an established product (like a Snickers bar) into a cupcake? Well, why not?

I borrowed most of the components of this from other sources - I try to come up with recipes in my head, but frankly, I had no idea how to make nougat (I think my first thought was, "What IS nougat, anyway?") and was surprised at the answer. Nougat isn't hard to do at all. You just need to be able to pay attention and use a candy thermometer.

Put the children down for a nap, is what I'm saying.

The recipe I used made a LOT of nougat and caramel, so I went ahead and turned the leftovers into actual candy bars, as the author intended. But I figured that since I was going for the actual bar inside the cupcake, that was fine and dandy. 

And these did turn out well! Just like hiding a Snickers in a cupcake, but the flavors were so much better (ever hear anyone talking about a fresh vs. a stale candy bar? Here you go. Fresh.) and, to steal some more...Snickers really satisfies you. Especially in cupcake form. Heh. The subtlety of the caramel in the chocolate frosting really worked here too, and the dark chocolate cake played its own role but didn't try to upstage anyone. A good team effort all around.

This was admittedly a long process, so if I were to do it again, I'd probably make the cupcakes and frosting one day and the filling the next. But I did do it all in one day, with lots of time to wander off and do other things (but not during the candy making! Let me make myself clear about that - do not cook sugar on the stovetop and then leave it. Facebook can wait. Harvest your crops before you start this.

This made 21 cupcakes and about 18 smallish candy bars. I think I hear my dentist calling. I am fairly certain I will hear from my mother about this, too.

Make the cupcakes first and let cool while you prepare the filling:

Chocolate cupcakes:

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1 cup hot coffee
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line 21 standard-sized muffin cups with baking liners.

Combine the chocolate and cocoa in a medium mixing bowl and pour hot coffee over. Let sit until chocolate is melted. Stir to combine; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. To chocolate mixture add vinegar, oil, eggs, and vanilla; mix well with fork to combine. Pour over flour mixture and stir well.

Pour the batter into the lined muffin tin (filling about 3/4 full). Bake at 350 for 15 - 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes in pan and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Cut out the center of each cupcake, using a large knife. Make the hole as large as you want to stuff the filling in. You will not be keeping the tops for this one, try one to test the flavor, then discard the rest or put to another use (cake pops? ).

Look at that filling!

 For candy filling (borrowed, well, really, ripped off entirely from about.com ):

• 2 cups light corn syrup, divided
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 cups sugar, divided
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups roasted peanuts, chopped (I used unsalted)
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

For Peanut nougat:
Line a square pyrex pan with aluminum foil, and grease the foil well. Set aside.
Place 1 cup of corn syrup, the water, and 1 1/2 cups of sugar into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved, and insert a candy thermometer. Continue to boil the syrup until it reaches 246 degrees.
While the sugar syrup boils, place the egg white in the bowl of a large stand mixer. Whip the white on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Stop the mixer once stiff peaks form so that the egg whites are not overbeaten and crumbly.
Once the sugar syrup has reached 246 degrees, remove it from the heat. Turn the mixer to high and, with the mixer running, slowly pour in the sugar syrup in a thin stream. Whip the whites for two minutes until it is well-mixed but still thin.
Add the peanut butter and vanilla, and turn on the mixer briefly to incorporate the ingredients. Once the nougat is mixed and homogenous, pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Let cool until you can handle it easily (but don't let it get too firm if you can help it, and for goodness' sake don't put it in the refrigerator...yet!)
For caramel:

Once the candy has reached the proper temperature, remove it from the heat and immediately stir in the peanuts. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the mixture into a large bowl and let it cool enough until it is still warm but won't burn you (about 5 - 10 minutes).

Scrape out about a teaspoon of nougat filling and press it into a disk with your fingers - drop it into the bottom of the hollowed-out cupcake. Repeat until all the cupcakes have nougat. Then, spoon in enough caramel-peanut mixture to fill to the top of the cupcake. Don't worry if the caramel mounds up a little; it's all going to be covered with frosting anyway. Place the cupcakes into the refrigerator to chill.

Before you do anything else, smooth the remaining nougat to mostly cover the pan that it's been cooling in. Spread the remaining caramel over the top of the nougat, and then remove to the refrigerator to deal with it later (see, you're getting candy bars out of this, too).

For frosting - sneaked from epicurious

• 23 ounces imported milk chocolate chips (2 11.5-ounce packages)
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 1/4 cups whipping cream
• 21 mini snickers bars, halved diagonally

Combine milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate in large bowl. Stir sugar and 1/2 cup water in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Boil without stirring until syrup is deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 10 minutes. Carefully and slowly add whipping cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir over low heat until any hard caramel bits dissolve and mixture is smooth. Pour caramel over chocolate; let stand 1 minute to allow chocolate to soften, then whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Let chocolate mixture stand at room temperature until completely cool (about 2 - 3 hours), then beat with the paddle attachment of your stand mixture until it is fluffy and pipeable (or spreadable). If you're making the frosting in advance, put it all together and store in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature (about an hour) before proceeding to the beating step.

To finish: pipe the chocolate-caramel frosting on the top of each cupcake until the cake is completely covered, then top with two snickers halves. Store the cupcakes in the refrigerator, but let come to room temperature before serving or you are going to lose a tooth! But what a way for a tooth to go...

Okay, remember the pan full of nougat and caramel? Get that out now. Remove the candy from the pan by lifting out the aluminum foil; set onto a stable surface. Using your sharpest knife dipped in hot water, cut the square into long strips and then the strips into bars. This sounds really easy but you're going to have to put all your weight behind it, so be careful or enlist the help of your personal trainer (hi, Luke!). Place the bars in a single layer on a cookie sheet and return to the refrigerator while you get your dipping station set up and melt the chocolate.

Melt two 11.5-ounce bags of bittersweet chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each heating period. Place a cooling rack over parchment paper. Using a fork, carefully dip each candy bar into the melted chocolate and then place on the rack to let the excess drip off. Let the coated bars stand at room temperature to set, and then store in the refrigerator (again, letting come to room temperature before serving to save your teeth). 

Cook's bonus! Hooray!

 

Twix cupcakes

     There are certain sweets I do like, mostly because there is a contrast of flavors and textures. What I mean by that is I rarely get a craving for a Hershey's Kiss (unless there's an almond in it), but I do have a hard time turning down a Twix bar. Because if you think about it, it's not really even a candy - it's an elaborately topped cookie. And I can get behind that, because an elaborately topped cookie is just begging to be cupcaked. Yes, I just turned a noun into a verb. I have no editor here besides myself, and I'm probably not going to object too much.
     One of the things I like best about Twix bars is the cookie base, and I like incorporating that into my cupcakes as evidenced here and here. I like the surprise crunch of a cookie on the bottom of a cupcake, and having shortbread on the bottom just made sense.
     Then, I used a simply but moist vanilla buttermilk cake to top off the cookie, filled it with a gooey caramel sauce, and then...the frosting? I knew it couldn't be too dark, or rich, or heavy, and this is one of the occasions where milk chocolate did the trick.

     This makes 24 cupcakes, so plenty to share (and a bit of leftover frosting and caramel sauce to dip your leftover shortbread sticks in - cooks' privilege, you see?).

~Shortbread Cookie Base~
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, chilled

Preheat oven to 350F.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. Pulse a few times to blend.
Cut butter into large chunks and add to food processor. Blend for about 1 minute, until dough has a very sandy appearance and starts to clump together.

Line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners. Press about 2 tablespoons' worth of the shortbread mixture into each muffin cup, pressing down with your (clean!) fingers to form a solid layer.

You will have leftover shortbread mixture. This is awesome! Line a standard loaf pan with aluminum foil so that you have an overhang on two sides and dump the rest of the dough into the pan. Press it down evenly with your fingers. Using a sharp knife, lightly score the shortbread into bars and set it aside to bake after you bake the shortbread bottoms. When it is time, bake the bars in the oven for about 20 minutes or until starting to turn golden. Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then using the foil as handles, remove the shortbread from the pan. Carefully cut into bars using your scoremarks as a guide, and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Bake the shortbread-lined tins in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until the cookie is just starting to turn golden. Set aside to cool while making your cupcake batter.

~Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes~

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Your oven is still at 350, right? If not, get it there.

In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in eggs and egg yolk and then mix in the vanilla. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Combine. Add the buttermilk, mix and then dump in the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined and the batter is smooth. Spoon out batter into shortbread-lined cupcake pan, filling about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out with moist crumbs.

~Salted Caramel Filling~
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons salted butter cubed
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt the sugar over medium high heat in a large pot. Whisk the sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes a deep amber color. Add the butter and stir it in until melted. Pour in the heavy cream (mixture will foam) and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. You may have some lumps but keep stirring until they have melted. Add in salt but don't taste it! Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Cut a small cone-shaped piece out of the tops of each cooled cupcake. Cut off the excess cone-part, leaving just the lid and pour in 1 teaspoon of caramel into the hollow of the cake. Replace the cake lid and set cupcakes aside.

~Creamy Milk Chocolate Buttercream~
(I'm told this is originally from Cook's Illustrated, but it was paraphrased on a website so I am not 100% sure; I adapted it a bit anyway)

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces milk chocolate
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 cup powdered sugar
2 sticks butter, cut into chunks

Heat cream with corn syrup and salt on stove until simmering. Meanwhile, chop chocolate in food processor. With the processor running, add the simmering cream slowly and process for one minute, until chocolate is melted. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and process again. Then, with processor running, add butter one piece at a time, waiting until the piece is incorporated before adding another. Cool until thick and spreadable (about two hours), then beat with an electric mixer until fluffy and spreadable. It can now be piped or spread onto the cupcakes.

Pumpkin pound cake cupcakes with pumpkin mousse and cinnamon-sour cream frosting

Ok, I caved. I did a pumpkin cupcake. But you know, I really like pumpkin, and even if everyone is doing it, that's for an excellent reason. Pumpkin desserts are delicious! I was so happy with the pound cake from the pralines and cream cupcakes that I decided to do something similar with a pumpkin pound cake. But doesn't even the name sound heavy? Pumpkin. Pound. Cake. I had to do the opposite for the filling, and what could be lighter than mousse? Never mind that I've never made mousse in my life before. I found a basic mousse recipe and added pumpkin (and it was so easy. Seriously, why am I not doing this every day? After all, as I told my sister's dear friend Alma, it's just air. Everyone needs air. Sheesh).

My mother, who doesn't really like sweets all that much to begin with and to whom my over-the-top cupcakes are just...too much, offered that I ought to try a sour cream frosting. Really? I'd made a sour cream chocolate frosting years ago, but honestly I hadn't even thought about it since.

It worked great! I just added a bit of sour cream to a buttercream recipe, and added cinnamon, and the result was a warm, slightly tangy frosting that was reminiscent of cream cheese frosting, but a little fluffier. Great idea mom!

('Course, it turned out that she'd meant cream cheese frosting and said sour cream instead. But that is a detail so minor I've relegated it to italics AND parentheses. Hi Mama! I love you!). 

So these were great! I loved the mousse inside, so much that I think I'll be playing with other flavors. All the components by themselves, cake, frosting, mousse, are good (the mousse being really good), but when they all play together it's really something special.

~ Pumpkin Pound Cake Cupcakes ~
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk and pumpkin puree; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla and mix well. Add in flour mixture and pumpkin mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.

Spoon the cupcake batter into the prepared pans and bake in the preheated oven for 15 - 18 minutes or until an inserted tester comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.


~ Pumpkin Mousse ~
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
3 egg yolks
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks and chill until needed.

Place the egg yolks in a glass or metal bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Heat until the sugar is dissolved. Start whisking the egg yolks and slowly stream the hot sugar syrup into them. Place the bowl over pot of boiling water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Whisk the mixture constantly for about ten minutes, or until the egg yolk mixture thickens and lightens in color.

After it has thickened, remove the bowl from the heat, and transfer the mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes or until the bottom of the bowl feels cool to the touch.

Add in the pumpkin and spices to the egg mixture, and beat with the paddle attachment until well combined.

Fold a third of the whipped cream into the mixture to help lighten in, then fold next third, and then the last of it, using a lighter touch with each addition. Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the cupcakes for filling by cutting out a cone shaped piece from the top of each one. Slice away any extra cake (go ahead and eat these) from the widest part of the cone (this is your lid). Keep in mind that the size of the opening is the amount of filling you can fit into the cupcake, and cut accordingly. Spoon in a bit of the pumpkin mousse into each cupcake and replace the lid on top. Keep in refrigerator until ready to frost.

~ Sour Cream Cinnamon Frosting ~

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients, except powered sugar, until well combined. With an electric mixer on slow, add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth. Frost cupcakes by piping on with a pastry bag using a large star tip.

Store the finished cupcakes in the refrigerator. Makes 18 cupcakes.

Pralines and Cream cupcakes

Ooh, I loved these. I really did. I was sorry to eat the last one. I will also say that these were probably among the most time-consuming of the cupcakes I have attempted so far. Of course, they didn't have to be. I'm very good at overcomplicating things.

I knew I wanted a pralines and cream cupcake. I knew I wanted to go as Southern as possible (I was bringing these to my sister, and I figured she'd appreciate it). So I made the pralines myself (I used the recipe here if you're interested, bearing in mind that the writer leaves out the Very Important Detail that you need to cook the candy mixture to about 236 degrees. I actually knew this, but I thought it odd that it wasn't mentioned). I knew what I wanted as far as frosting and filling (salty sweet filling, and I had caramel leftover from the caramel apple cupcakes, so, easy enough), and I wanted to go super-Southern with the cake part, so I turned to Alton Brown's chiffon cupcakes (this is one link-happy paragraph, isn't it?).

Wanting to pump up the praline-ity, I had bits and pieces left from trying to get the candies off the wax paper upon which they had cooled (which always happens. Those are cook's pieces), so after putting together the batter I gamely plunked in the praline bits. Which immediately sank to the bottom. I could hear my mother's voice - "And did you really think that was a good idea, dear?" Well, no. I didn't. I didn't think at all, actually. I was plunking.

Still, I forged ahead and baked the cupcakes and hesitantly unwrapped one. Yep. All the pieces had gone to the bottom and sort of goo-ed to the paper liners, leaving sticky, snaggle-toothed cupcakes. The cake itself was lovely - not-too-sweet, light and fluffy and moist, but obviously the praline idea wasn't going to work with this recipe. This is probably because I baked chiffon cupcakes after Labor Day and before Memorial Day, or something. So, delicious but not quite right, appearance-wise.

Pound cake, while certainly not strictly Southern, has, to my mind, a Southern-ness about it, but typically it's dense, dense, dense, and not really what I want for cupcakes. Rather it's what I like toasted, with coffee. But sour cream cupcake is a bit lighter (in texture, anyway - ha!), and so I tried that. Of course, I had to make caramel sauce again (darn!) and pralines again (double darn!) and I had it quickly because we were leaving for the family visit on the next day and instead of plunking I gently folded in the pralines, and...

Eureka! Light and fluffy cupcakes with a tender crumb, which I then filled with a salty dense caramel buttercream, and topped with a praline frosting. Yummmmmm - just kissing the line of altogether too much, but not there yet. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. And feel free to take shortcuts! It won't hurt my feelings a bit.

~ Sour Cream-Praline Pound Cake Cupcakes ~
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups crushed praline pieces (make your own pralines or purchase them or wait for someone to give them to you and use some up this way)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners (so, 24 cupcakes and you may still have extra).
 http://www.rachelscookery.com/2011/10/caramel-apple-cupcakes-with-apple-pie.html
Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside.
In a stand mixer cream butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time; add vanilla.
Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream and mix just until combined. Gently fold in the praline pieces.
With a spoon, scoop the batter into each cupcake liner and fill it 2/3 full.

Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.


~ Caramel Buttercream Filling ~
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup caramel sauce (use the caramel drizzle found here or purchase some from the store)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until soft and creamy. Add in caramel sauce and salt and mix well. Beat in powdered sugar.


Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling.

Look at that crumb. Look at that filling!

 ~ Praline Frosting ~

6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream (plus more if needed)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring butter, brown sugar, and cream to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.


Pipe frosting on using a pastry bag with a large star tip. If desired, garnish by perching a leftover praline piece jauntily on the top of the cupcake. Store in the refrigerator, but let come to room temperature before serving.

Makes between 24 - 30 cupcakes.

Caramel apple cupcakes with apple pie filling

Rustic!

I've been torn over this cupcake. It's a different animal from what I've been making lately. Compared to last week, this is health food! Well, sort of.

Fruit in the middle! Fruit in the cake! And, as I thought when I pulled the first pan out of the oven...

Oh hell. I just made muffins.

But I didn't! Once I tasted them...the crumb is tender, and the grated apple adds moisture and flavor. The apples in the middle are...dare I say...refreshing! And who can go wrong with a caramel swiss meringue buttercream (go here if you want more detail on the caramel-making, with pictures)? I didn't make muffins a-tall. These are delicious!

A word on the apples - I wasn't overly concerned with the baking-appropriateness of the apples in the cake - I just needed a little apple flavor, but was after the moisture more, so I used up some Red Delicious that I bought in a fit of...something. I don't even know what I was thinking that night. It's more important to use an apple that is good for pie making for the filling, so go with something that holds up well, like a Granny Smith, or whatever you like in your pies. And if you're lucky enough to have apples growing nearby (Apple Hill is just a..well, a long stone's throw from here), go pick your own and start enjoying the season!

~ Brown Sugar-Spiced Apple Cupcakes ~

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 2 large eggs 
• 2 cups flour 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 4 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and grated (about two cups total)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 standard-sized muffin cups with baking liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs; whisk until well combined. Add in flour, baking powder, salt, and spices, and stir until just combined (don't overmix). Fold in apples. Spoon into muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full, and bake for 15 - 17 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

~ Apple Filling ~

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 4 - 5 medium apples (Granny Smith or Fuji work well here - whatever you like in a pie) 
• 2 tablespoon granulated sugar 
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 
• 1 tablespoon water

 Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add apples, sugars, lemon juice, spices, salt and vanilla. Cook until the apples are tender and release their juices – about 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Add to apples and stir, cooking until thickened. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature (cover and refrigerate overnight if making ahead).

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the apple filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling.

Not the prettiest photo, but you get the idea.

 ~Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream~ 
(borrowed from How to Eat A Cupcake)

~Caramel Drizzle~

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

~Swiss Buttercream~

• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces, room temperature

For the frosting:
In a heavy-bottomed, high-sided saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat until it begins to melt around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stirring with a clean wooden spoon, continue to cook until the sugar is melted and has turned golden amber, about 3 minutes longer.

Carefully pour the cream down the side of the pan in a slow, steady stream (it will bubble and spatter), stirring constantly until completely smooth. Don't be alarmed if your sugar forms a huge lumpy pancake. Just stir, gently (you don't want this to splash on you, either), until it's all melted in. Stir in the salt. Pour the caramel into a small ceramic bowl and let cool completely before using. (The caramel can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; bring to room temperature before using.)

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) barely simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160°F on an instant-read thermometer), 3- 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Transfer to a stand mixer or, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the frosting appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add 1/2 cup of the caramel drizzle and beat until combined (or almost combined for a swirling effect).

Looky! A buttercream rose, just dripping with caramel!

Refrigerate the frosted cupcakes before drizzling with additional caramel, if desired. Let come to room temperature before serving, if possible.

Cookies and Cream cupcakes - part two!

I am afraid I am a bit of a perfectionist.

If I am not happy with the way something turns out, it haunts me until I can figure out what to do to make it right. Now, I try not to be like my grandmother about these things - she would serve dinner and then proceed to tell you that really, it wasn't very good and then list exactly why the dinner didn't measure up. I am learning to keep my opinions to myself. Plus, most of the time no one is going to notice anyway. They're just happy that you made something for them to eat! I know that's how I approach the dinner table.

My first cupcake recipe was also for cookies and cream cupcakes, but I was definitely not thrilled with the results. I thought the cookie on the bottom was soggy, and not crunchy like I wanted. The chunks on the top made it hard to fill the cupcakes. The frosting was grey, and gritty with the crumbs. The cookie shoved into the top looked like an after thought (or a tombstone). Plus, you can see a sausage grinder in the background of the photo. That's just silly.

Still, it was my first time, and you know, people really liked them, and they did taste good. They just didn't reflect what was in my head - a cupcake that really encompassed the cookieness and creaminess of the idea.

Soggy bottom being out, I borrowed from my key lime pie and s'mores cupcakes and did a baked cookie-crumb bottom that I topped with more chocolate, just because. I like this technique because I like the texture contrast. It doesn't show well in the photo (dark on dark), but it's definitely there and I think it adds to the cupcake.

I wanted the cake itself to be like the classic sandwich cookie: dark and not too sweet with that creamy filling (but without the marshmallow I had used before). I found a few Oreo knockoff recipes on the web and piecemealed my own together - sweet and yes, with shortening (that was necessary for color and texture and leave it out if you just can't bring yourself to do it. I think shortening has its place, myself. Like in piecrust. Anyways...), and thicker than my cupcake fillings usually are.

For the frosting, I really wanted to reflect that cream aspect, and after much thought, went with a whipped buttercream. The amount of air you beat into the butter makes it creamy and light like a whipped cream, but with much greater stability, and the frosting ends up tasting like melted vanilla ice cream. Crumbled cookies were the garnish and look pretty against the pale frosting.

These were the cupcakes for my son's third birthday - and everyone in attendance loved them. Liam himself just ate off the frosting with a spoon, took the lid off of the filling, and licked out that part, leaving the cake behind. Still not too shabby for a three-year-old.

This makes about 21 cupcakes.

~Chocolate Cupcakes~
For cookie bottoms:
1 1/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (about 2/3 of a package of chocolate wafers)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup dark cocoa powder
1 cup hot coffee
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line 21 standard-sized muffin cups with baking liners.

Combine together the chocolate cookie crumbs and melted butter until the mixture is damp and crumbly but holds together when squeezed into a ball. Place about a tablespoon of the crumb mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup, dividing as evenly as possible among the 21. Press down gently with your fingers to cover the bottoms in an even layer. Sprinkle over with the chopped chocolate. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until the chocolate melts a bit. Let cool for 10 minutes before filling with the cupcake batter.

Combine the chocolate and cocoa in a medium mixing bowl and pour hot coffee over. Let sit until chocolate is melted. Stir to combine; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. To chocolate mixture add vinegar, oil, eggs, and vanilla; mix well with fork to combine. Pour over flour mixture and stir well.

Pour the batter into the lined muffin tin (filling about 3/4 full). Bake at 350 for 15 - 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes in pan and then cool completely on a wire rack.

~Vanilla filling~
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cream or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla bean)

Mix together the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer until fully combined. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add in the cream or milk as needed to achieve the proper consistency (you're going for the filling of an Oreo cookie, remember, but just a little creamier than that).

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the marshmallow filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling (once cool, it will become very thick and hold the caps in place).
 
~ Whipped vanilla buttercream frosting ~ 

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crumbled Oreo cookies, for garnish

In your electric mixer, beat the butter using the paddle attachment for 8 minutes. No, I am not kidding.

Slowly add in the powdered sugar, beating in after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl, until combined.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.

Pipe on the frosting using a pastry bag or just swoop it onto the cupcakes with a spatula, and sprinkle the crumbled Oreos on top. Store in the refrigerator, but ideally let come up to room temperature before serving.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Fall is here. I know it.

It showed up in the middle of the night last night...in theory. In practice it's 96 degrees outside right now, the tree in the front yard has no intention of letting go of its leaves anytime soon, and Liam is in a sleeveless outfit.

But Autumn has arrived! It should be in the seventies by the weekend, and I have high hopes that the nineties will be behind us for another year. We're redheads in this family. We don't do sunshine well.

I finally caved in to this cupcake, although really it probably could have waited...for November, probably, knowing Northern California. Maybe it's like washing your car on a sunny day - it rains. Make a wintry cupcake, and bring on the sweaters! Or at least the sleeves, for heaven's sake.

What we have here is a surprising flavor combination, to the uninitiated. Mexican chocolate is spiced with cinnamon and chili, and heated with a bit of cayenne. Don't turn your nose up! Done well, the spices are present, but you don't go running for the milk; rather, you do, but that's because a glass of milk is mighty nice with a cupcake.

The cake itself is sweet, and mild with milk chocolate, but with a hint of spice and a bit of heat in the aftertaste. It is very moist, and dense. The filling is a cinnamony marshmallow, sweet and spicy. And the frosting...ah, it looks like a rich chocolate frosting, but you bite into it and instead it's fluffy whipped cream, light and full of cocoa and with a warm finish. It's the wintery-comfort of a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon and spice, but in a cupcake. So bring on the cold milk!

Couple of notes, because I can't help myself. This recipe was adapted from a bundt pan recipe - it makes a LOT of cupcakes. So halve it in your own best interest (unless you know a lot of people and are willing to share).

As far as the frosting goes: I love the whipped cream because sometimes buttercream is a little too-too, but unless you're going to serve it immediately, you need to stabilize it, which I did with gelatin here. If you don't want to be bothered, just leave the gelatin out and pipe on the frosting at the last minute. And even if you do, make sure you store the cupcakes in the refrigerator.

~Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes~

• 3 cups cake flour
• 6 ounces milk chocolate, melted
•  1 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 14-ounce can condensed milk
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 
• 1 tablespoon New Mexico chili powder
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners (this made 24 regular-sized cupcakes and 6 jumbo ones - so likely 3 dozen regular. Feel free to halve the recipe and make 18!)
Melt together butter and chocolate (I just use the microwave in 30-second increments, but use the stove or a Bunsen burner or whatever you like). Set aside to cool slightly.
Combine flour, chocolate mixture, and all the other ingredients besides the spices in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed to mix well, scraping the sides and bottom to make sure all is combined. Batter will be thin.
Bake at 350 for 15 - 17 minutes or until the cake springs back and a tester inserted comes out clean (jumbo cupcakes take about 25 - 30 minutes).
Cool for a couple of minutes in the muffin tins and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

~Cinnamon-Marshmallow Filling~ 

• 1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add in sugar and beat on low speed to combine. Add in salt and marshmallow cream, vanilla, and cinnamon; beat to combine and add heavy cream if needed (you want a thick, fluffy filling that is going to pipe easily and not be too firm at room temperature).

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the marshmallow filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling (once cool, it will become very thick and hold the caps in place).

~Cocoa-Chili Whipped Cream Frosting~

• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon New Mexico chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a large saucepan bring about 1 inch water to boiling over high heat. Meanwhile, in a 1-cup heatproof glass measuring cup combine the cold water and gelatin. Let stand for 2 minutes. Place measuring cup in the saucepan of boiling water. Cook and stir about 1 minute or until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Remove measuring cup from water; set aside. Cool for 5 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and cocoa. Add about 1/4 of the whipping cream and whisk together to blend (you are getting the lumps out of the cocoa powder and making it easier to all mix together). Add in the chili powder and cayenne - check to make sure the heat level is present but not overpowering. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat in the rest of the cream, and then gradually drizzle in the gelatin mixture into the cream mixture. Continue beating the cream mixture until stiff peaks form.

Use a pastry bag with a large star tip to pipe on the frosting, and garnish with grated bittersweet chocolate, if desired.

Caramel Cupcakes

If you were to ask me, out of the blue, what I was thinking of at any given time, chances are it would not be about cupcakes. Sometimes I think about dips.

We don't actually entertain all that often - having an almost-three-year-old and an eight-month-old makes having grown-ups over a bit difficult, and we're still working on the house to make it company-worthy, inside and out. We will be all set for Halloween, on a positive note. Lots of dead stuff already in the backyard.

But I do think about cupcakes fairly often; usually, what flavor combination to try next. What you may be surprised to learn about me is I don't actually eat sweets very often. I am much more a bread-and-cheese, savory/salty type of girl. But I do love to bake them - and sometimes, I get in a rut.

Chocolate ruts are easy to fall into, and you don't really get a lot of help out of them, either. I still have a Mexican hot chocolate cupcake dancing in my head, and a chocolate-mint one that I can't seem to shake either. However, when in doubt, I turn to others for help, and help I get (once I can pry them out of this chocolate pit we all seem to have jumped into).

Caramel was a request. I like caramel - certainly I don't dislike caramel, but it's something I tend to appreciate if it's there, not a flavor I seek out. I never think, "Golly, what I need right now is a chewy mouthful of caramel." And yet, a dear friend of a dear friend sent over a call, and I turned the idea around and looked at it from a few sides, and you know what? It's a darn good concept.

It's September, people! Time to turn to thoughts of spices and warmer flavors and golden brown and amber (she says, biting her thumb at the 90-degree temperatures forecast all week in Northern California). Let's go with it!

And so here we have a caramel cupcake...but not just that (although you see I'm going for efficiency in my blog title, anyway). This is a moist, not-too-sweet brown sugar cupcake with a chewy little nugget of caramel on the inside, but the real fun is the frosting. It's a Swiss meringue buttercream (which is a new one for me, and I love it), flavored with caramel, and then caramel is drizzled over the top of the whole thing.

Swiss buttercream takes a little more time than your standard powdered sugar buttercream, but it is so worth it. It almost plays like a whipped cream, being light and airy but creamy too, and if you're put off by the "meringue" - don't be. This is nothing like that pie topping you are probably thinking of.

Yes, I made my own caramel. You need to for the recipe, you see. But it isn't hard. And if I can do it, with my attention span, so can you. Two rules of thumb: pay attention and don't touch. If you can manage that you'll be fine. I took pictures so you could get an idea. And if you have a problem with the quality of the photos, please remember that I am making caramel while holding a camera and keeping children away from the stove with a couple of chairs and my own bare feet. So don't judge.

And hey, if you have a cupcake request, request away! I'm game.

The Recipe:

~Brown Sugar Cupcakes~

• 1 1/2 cups  flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or sour milk - just add 1/2 tbsp. of lemon juice or vinegar to the 1/2 cup of milk and let stand for 5 minutes or so)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with papers. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Add vanilla, and continue to mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beat until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about halfway full. Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes. When done, let the cupcakes cool in the pan for about 2 minutes, then remove them from the pan and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

~Chewy Caramel Filling~

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter (just divide it into three tablespoons)
• (generous)1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Melt the sugar over medium high heat in a good-sized, heavy-bottomed pot. Whisk the sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes an amber color. Use your nose! If it smells like it's burning, it has. Start over and lower the heat. Keep your fingers out of this! Add the butter and stir it in until melted. Keep your fingers out of this! Pour in the heavy cream (stand back because the mixture will foam) and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. You may have some lumps; do not panic. Just keep stirring until they have melted. Remove from heat and let cool slightly before filling the cupcakes.

Cook the sugar and wait for something to happen.

Something's happening!

Add the butter. Don't panic. Also, don't touch.

Just about there.

The caramel on the left was the first attempt. Burnt.

Cut a small round piece out of the tops of each cooled cupcake and pour in 1 teaspoon of caramel. Replace the cake piece and set cupcakes aside.

~Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream~ 
(borrowed from How to Eat A Cupcake)


~Caramel Drizzle~

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

~Swiss Buttercream~

• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces, room temperature

For the frosting:
In a heavy-bottomed, high-sided saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat until it begins to melt around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stirring with a clean wooden spoon, continue to cook until the sugar is melted and has turned golden amber, about 3 minutes longer.

Carefully pour the cream down the side of the pan in a slow, steady stream (it will bubble and spatter), stirring constantly until completely smooth. Don't be alarmed if your sugar forms a huge lumpy pancake. Just stir, gently (you don't want this to splash on you, either), until it's all melted in. Stir in the salt. Pour the caramel into a small ceramic bowl and let cool completely before using. (The caramel can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; bring to room temperature before using.)

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) barely simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160°F on an instant-read thermometer), 3- 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Transfer to a stand mixer or, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the frosting appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add 1/2 cup of the caramel drizzle and beat until combined (or almost combined for a swirling effect).

Chill the cupcakes in the refrigerator and then drizzle more caramel sauce over the tops. Store in the refrigerator.

A river of caramel cascading down a Swiss buttercream mountain...

Cinnamon Cupcakes with Brown Sugar-Pecan filling

Mmmmm...cinnamon!

In one of my previous posts (it was for the lemon cupcakes ), I talked about how the first version of my idea was a total failure - one thing after another went wrong - and I finally just tossed the darn things out. There is, of course, always a time to raise the white flag (y'all know I'm from Alabama, right? And I'm French? Hush your mouth!). But there are other times when things don't go as planned and instead of having a foot-stamping fit, it's an opportunity (hee! Now I sound like a middle manager). In other words, never admit to mistakes (in cooking!). So these are the I-Meant-to-do-that cupcakes, and boy, did they turn out well!

I had to take the car to the mechanic (for the third time in as many weeks) and was just about in a state over it. I needed some comfort. So first, I got in a workout (preventative measures, you see) and then I went about whipping up some comfort. Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate, obviously, but the smell of cinnamon, like the smell of fresh bread, just makes me feel better. Back in college, I used to burn ground cinnamon in metal cups instead of the ubiquitous college incense - I read about it in a book from the 60's...maybe the Alice's Restaurant Cookbook (and even if not you should check that book out) and everyone always loved how our dorm smelled. Anyway, a cinnamon cupcake appealed to me.

Now, I've seen recipes where you essentially make cinnamon rolls and plop them in muffin tins to sort of resemble a cupcake, but that's not what I wanted. I wanted a cupcake, with a gooey filling. I went for a light and moist vanilla cake (with a bit of cinnamon added), and thought that if the cake were light enough, I could make a cinnamon sugar filling (like you'd use in a cinnamon roll), sprinkle it on top, and it would sink into the cupcake. I even read other recipes where that worked!

Yeah, not for me. The filling spread out over the top of the cupcake like a spicy skullcap. But that didn't have to be a bad thing. That meant I could still do a filling (I like putting a creamy filling in cupcakes, and I was a bit dubious about the cinnamon-sugar route to begin with).

I knew I wanted a cream cheese frosting, so I didn't want anything to similar for the middle of the cupcake, and I had liked a brown sugar frosting I used for a chocolate chip cookie cupcake (of which I didn't take any photos so I will have to recreate...darn), so I went about looking for a brown sugar buttercream. I wanted to take the lazy way out so I found one that didn't require the separation of eggs or cooking to a certain temperature and whipped it together...but it didn't look very frosting-ish. It looked a lot more like caramel.

I moved on. What fluffy buttercream? Faugh!

I knew I wanted to incorporate pecans somehow, so I toasted some off on the stove and then ground them up in my mini food processor (I didn't want big chunks of nuts) and folded them into the not-at-all-fluffy brown sugar stuff. Voila! A buttery, brown sugar, toasted pecan-y filling, and had I not just told you, you'd never have been any the wiser.

So I filled the cupcakes with the usual cut-a-cone-out-fill-up-the-cavity-replace-the-cap method, then piped on the cream cheese frosting. I dusted the tops with cinnamon and a bit of the ground pecans so my tasters would know what they were getting into.

You know what? These were great. Really great. They had everything you love in a cinnamon roll (but with more frosting) in a dessert form. The filling was sweet, buttery, and gooey, and the cap of cinnamon and sugar was a nice, not-too-sweet foil to the creaminess of the frosting. It was a lovely balance of flavors and textures and when I make these again, I won't do anything differently.

I totally meant to do that.

~For Cupcakes~
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 egg white
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cinnamon Mixture:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, softened
Mix with a fork until it makes a paste, and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners (or grease the tin well). (This made 21 cupcakes for me, so be prepared to make about that many. If not, of course, it is not real hardship to take a cupcake liner out of a muffin pan and put it back in the cupboard, is it?)

In an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. While that's beating combine together the dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, egg white, milk, and vanilla.

Once the butter and sugar mixture is light and fluffy add a third of the flour mixture. Mix on low speed. Add half the wet ingredient mixture to the batter. Alternate until all of the ingredients are just incorporated.



~Brown Sugar-Toasted Pecan Filling~

1 cup tightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 1-ounce pieces
1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely ground in a food processor (about 2 tablespoons reserved for garnish, if desired)


Heat the brown sugar, cream, and 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently while bringing the mixture to a boil. Allow the mixture to continue boiling while stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Transfer the hot mixture to a metal bowl and allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour before proceeding. Place the cooled mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Then beat on medium for 2 minutes, while adding the remaining 3 pieces of butter, one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to high and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Mix in the pecan pieces and stir to combine.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling (once cool, it will become very thick and hold the caps in place). 

~Cream Cheese Frosting~
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (one stick), room temperature
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 - 2 tablespoons milk (only if needed)

In an electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese until well-blended. Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time (add in the salt, vanilla, and lemon juice after half the powdered sugar has been added). If a thinner frosting is desired, add a bit of milk; add more sugar if you want it thicker. Frost the cupcakes using a pastry bag and large star tip. If you like, garnish with a dusting of cinnamon and a sprinkling of the reserved ground pecans.

Heavenly Hash Cupcakes

This was the last cupcake I made during my visit to my mom's house. I wasn't going to make any more after the malt shop and the key lime cupcakes, but then my niece Lily looked at me with those big, long-lashed brown eyes and said, "What kind of cupcakes are you making tomorrow, Auntie Rachel?" (This is the same voice she uses when she asks, "So, when are we going to Kohls?")

So I thought about the place we're all from (the primordial ooze! Nope, Mobile, Alabama. Hmm...that still works), and among the many delicacies there (Dew Drop hot dogs! Concecuh sausage! Pollman's Bake Shop!), there is a beautiful place called the Visitation Monastery. There, a group of talented nuns make a candy called "Heavenly Hash" of milk chocolate, local pecans, and homemade marshmallows. As far as I know, you can only get the candy at the gift shop or online, but everyone I knew growing up was thrilled to see the white box and would indulge in some unholy gloating - "I got the big box! No, I'm not sharing!"

Since I had an audience that would appreciate such (we're all Southerners at heart, more or less), I thought of turning the candy into a cupcake. It's really a more angelic Rocky Road, but I wanted the cupcake itself to be smooth and the top to be heavenly. I went back to my favorite chocolate cupcake and marshmallow filling, which I've reprinted here, and the topping could not be easier. It's really just a milk chocolate ganache with toasted pecan bits and marshmallows folded in. It is sticky and sweet and gooey and straight-from childhood. In fact, this particular cupcake was very appropriate to the end of summer, Labor Day, end-of-visit celebration, and, in fact, was a piece of cake.

Heh. Sorry.

Note: If you're one of those people who turn up their nose at milk chocolate, don't let me stop you. Go ahead and make it your way with bittersweet. Just remember that you'll need to answer to the nuns. You don't think you know better than the sisters of the Visitation Monastery, do you?



~Chocolate Cupcakes~
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup dark cocoa powder
1 tablespoon espresso powder
3/4 cup hot coffee
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin or line with baking liners (if you have extra batter, fill up more muffin tins. Easy.)
Combine chocolate, cocoa, espresso powder in a medium mixing bowl and pour hot coffee over. Let sit until chocolate is melted. Stir to combine; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. To chocolate mixture add vinegar, oil, eggs, and vanilla; mix well with fork to combine. Pour over flour mixture and stir well.

Pour the batter into the lined muffin tin (filling about 3/4 full) - the batter will be thin. Bake at 350 for 15 - 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes in pan and then cool completely on a wire rack.

~Marshmallow Filling~ 
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add in sugar and beat on low speed to combine. Add in salt and marshmallow cream, and vanilla; beat to combine and add heavy cream if needed (you want a thick, fluffy filling that is going to pipe easily and not be too firm at room temperature).

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the marshmallow filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling (once cool, it will become very thick and hold the caps in place).

It's an alien!

Really, she has a lovely personality...

~Heavenly Hash Topping~
One bag (around 11 ounces) milk chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped (you want some big pieces)

In a saucepan, heat the cream just to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Stir the mixture together until the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth, shiny, liquid. Now, chill the chocolate mixture until it is thickened (probably about two hours - you want to be able to spread it but still work with it easily). Fold in the marshmallows and nuts.

Using a spatula, spread the heavenly hash mixture over the tops of the cupcakes. Just try to be as neat as you can - these cupcakes are not going to win any beauty contests, but they don't care anyway. Return the cupcakes to the refrigerator, and if you can, chill them overnight to let the frosting fully set up before serving.