Saturday, March 10, 2012

Gooey Caramel and Toffee Cupcakes


     Okay, I'll go ahead and post the recipe for these cupcakes though really, you can find it anywhere else online.  This recipe is essentially a "better than sex cake" or for the more prudish, a "Skor cake."  I've opted to call it something else entirely.

Ingredients:

- 1 batch of homemade chocolate cupcakes (see previous post, or just buy a mix of chocolate cake from the store and make cupcakes)
- 7 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 6 oz. Caramel Topping (for ice cream, but make sure you get the real stuff that has actual dairy products listed in the ingredients instead of just caramel flavoring and coloring.  I used Hershey, and it was great!)
- 3-4 bars of your favorite toffee candy bar (Heath or Skor) [chopped into small pieces]
- 8 oz. of real whipped cream (for the purists)
- or, make up some of my Marshmallow Frosting (for something that holds its shape and is dairy free).

     Once your cupcakes are baked and cooled, go ahead and poke 7-8 holes in the tops with something like a chopstick.

     In a medium saucepan, combine and warm the sweetened condensed milk and the caramel topping.  You aren't cooking the sauce here, just warming it until it's nice and runny.  Once it is to the consistency and temperature you want, go ahead and pour a heaping tablespoon of the caramel sauce into each cupcake.  If your cupcakes are concave on top, then you're in luck and this step will be easier.  If your cupcakes are flat or convex, then you'll need to be very careful and pour the sauce in slowly, aiming for the holes so that the sauce is absorbed into the cupcake and not running over the sides and making a mess.

     Once all cupcakes are filled with their portion of the caramel sauce, you'll want to top them with either real whipped cream (if you plan on serving them right away), or the marshmallow frosting (if you plan on serving them later, see recipe below).  With whatever topping you choose, go ahead and pipe it on using any decorating tip you like, or just lather it on with a butter knife.  I personally chose to pipe a cool little swirl on each one with a 1M cake decorating tip, but any method is fine.

     Immediately after topping the cupcakes with cream or frosting, sprinkle a little bit of the crushed toffee bits onto each cupcake.  Put as much or as little as you like.  After that, drizzle on some of the caramel topping.  This is done easier if the caramel topping is at room temperature and not fresh out of the fridge.  I just dipped a spoon into the sauce and slowly let it drizzle over each cupcake, but I'm sure there are numerous other ways to do the same thing.

     Now they are now ready to be devoured!  Enjoy!


Marshmallow Frosting


Ingredients:


- 5 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cold water
- 1/4 corn syrup

     First, you'll need to start cooking a sugar syrup mixture on the stovetop.  In a medium sauce pan, add 3/4 cup of the sugar, the 1/4 cup of corn syrup and the 1/4 cup of cold water.  Cook this mixture over medium-high heat.  It's okay to stir the mixture at first, but once the sugar dissolves, go ahead and stop stirring, add your candy thermometer and wait for the magic.  Watch the syrup mixture carefully.  You'll want to time this to be done just after your meringue is done.

     Separate your egg whites into a mixing bowl.  Feel free to freeze your egg yolks for later use in things such as custards or ice cream.  I personally save mine for homemade ice cream.  You can also just throw them away as eggs are relatively cheap.  Using your stand mixer, or a hand mixer, whip up your egg whites to stiff peaks.  Once at stiff peaks, slowly add 1/4 cup of the sugar into the egg whites.  This will essentially give you a meringue, once all mixed and well blended.  The sugar should add an extra sheen to the mix.

     One the syrup mixture reaches 235-240, pull from the heat immediately and slowly, very slowly pour the scalding hot syrup into the meringue mixture while slowly mixing, making sure it falls between the beaters and the edge of the bowl.  If the syrup hits either side first, it will most likely seize up and not be fully utilized into the meringue.  Without fail, you'll get some on the beaters or on the bowl, but as long as 90% of the syrup hits the meringue and is blended in then you shouldn't worry.  Once all of the hot sugar mixture is added, go ahead and up the speed on your mixer to about medium and mix for 3-5 minutes or so, to help cool down the frosting.  For obvious reasons, the bowl and the frosting will be hot so mixing it at medium speed helps to cool it.

    If everything is done right, you'll end up with what I like to call, the most amazing substance on earth!  It's fun to eat right out of the bowl with your fingers or off of a spatula!  Since it's mostly egg whites (which are loaded with protein), this frosting is very fun to make and eat!  I love it!

Note:  When used as a frosting or icing on top of things, this marshmallow goo will dry out and become tougher, more like a marshmallow.  Just be aware this isn't a typical frosting, where frostings are concerned (though I still love it).  The reason I used this with the Gooey Caramel Toffee Cupcakes was because it's not very sweet.  With the filling, the toffee and the caramel, this cupcake was already becoming a diabetic's worst nightmare, so I opted for a frosting that wouldn't tip the scales.  This is the same reason whipping cream is used in the original recipes.

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