I did a test run making cupcakes for the girls’ birthday this week and hate to admit this but they were a flop. I had envisioned a decadent chocolate cupcake filled with a surprise gooey caramel center and topped with a pretty light pink rose.
Of course I didn’t have a recipe for said creation. So I tried a batch of devil’s food cupcakes, popped a Rolo in the center of each, then watched a video on how to do fancy icing piping while they were baking.
Well at least the icing turned out pretty.
The cupcakes, though -- bleh. Dry, crumbly, and filled with rock-hard candy pieces. Oops.
We all had fun. But no one wanted to try a second cupcake (very telling in this house).
Guess I’ll be trekking down to the grocery store bakery tomorrow to place a last-minute cupcake order...
PS: When I was rooting through the baking cupboard and completely annoyed to only find one cupcake tin (where did the others go?), Ro quipped “Really, mama?! You only have one pan? And you even have TWO ovens!”
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Just type in chocolate cupcakes with caramel filling into Google and you'll find said recipes! Many of them. The one by Foodologie (Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Filling, Cream Cheese Frosting and Sea Salt Candied Walnuts looks fabulous) Have fun.
ReplyDeleteOooo, do I dare? Those rows of sad little pink cupcakes are just sitting on the counter mocking me.
DeleteAlright, maybe one tiny little peek at Google...
When I read the recipe for the cupcakes I mentioned above it explained how caramel "gets into the cupcake" and it made perfect sense. I am not a baker but the cupcakes looked easy to make and the photo of course made me salivate. Knowing you and your daughters' talents in the kitchen I bet you could turn out those cupcakes in no time :).
DeletePS to above: I would never let frosting go to waste and even if the cupcakes were bad I would still lick off all of the delicious frosting you made :).
DeleteHa, a woman after my own heart. You know I already ate the tops off of two of them. Mmmmmmm, frosting... You don't even taste the cruddy cupcake underneath if you cut most of it off. ;-)
DeleteAww come on! I'm sure they were not as bad as you think! The icing is pretty! You have to try again. I'm sure your helpers will be willing to test out some more cupcakes!
ReplyDeleteVery simple recipe: use a normal cupcake batter and put a piece of chocolate in each one. Nice and very easy.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! They look like roses to me.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how many times I make cupcakes from scratch they turn out awful and I'm usually a pretty darn good baker. I use box mixes every time now. And I make the frosting and fillings from scratch. No one knows and I always get tons of compliments on my cupcakes. =)
ReplyDeleteI thought they were pretty tasty - I ate two of them last night. :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ehow.com/how_12205112_keep-caramel-soft-making-turtles.html
ReplyDeleteTry this!
M3 - this isn't carmel, but it works great and is festive and yummy. I make the cupcakes, cut about one inch off the top - I scoop out most of the cake and put a mixture of whip cream and raspberries into the void. Put the topper back on and frost with your pretty rose. Put a couple of raspberries right on top in the middle. Delicious and soooo easy.
ReplyDeleteYou could try using the chocolate cake recipe on the back of the Hershey Cocoa Powder box. It is truly amazing. The frosting is good too, or just a butter, cream cheese, vanilla, milk, powdered sugar combo if you need to dye it a particular color.
ReplyDeleteI had decent success using a 'mini' candy bar in some cupcakes earlier this year... if you don't mind a little creamier center, I found that I really enjoyed the ones that had a mini milky way in them. I do tend to bake my cupcakes about 5 minutes less than the box says. also - for just a tad bit more work, you could skip the middle of the cupcake, bake the cupcakes,cut a 'cap' from the middle and create a hollow in the cupcake and then put caramel sauce in it, replace the 'cap' and do your frosting flower on top. no one will ever know that you made a cut out of the top.
ReplyDeleteGo to Trader Joe's and buy their sea salt caramel. Divine. I will confess to sneak a spoonful now and then! Then pull out a medicine syringe and load it up with caramel. Inject your store-bought cupcakes with the caramel. You may have to make a slit in the wrapper.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to bake new cupcakes, the wrapped caramels that come in a bag work well. You also can use a straw to punch a hole in the top and inject some caramel into them before frosting.
I vote for grocery store! There's plenty of other things to tackle for the birthdays. Make it easier on yourself.
ReplyDeleteM.
I'm sure whatever you do will be amazing friend! How can it be that your little girls are almost 7?
ReplyDeleteReady to celebrate with your sweeties!!
I've done chocolate caramel cupcakes by cutting a "scoop" out of the top of the already baked cupcake, adding caramel (I've always made it, but you could use caramel for ice cream), and then putting the frosting on to cover the funny looking top. Works well and is delicious!
ReplyDelete