Toffee Hi-Hat Cupcakes with Candy Corn Frosting

Toffee Hi-Hat Cupcakes with Candy Corn Frosting

I had some toffee to get rid of, and I really do like making hi-hat cupcakes.

Cupcakes:

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 hot water

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) butter

2 1/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Stir together cocoa powder and water in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in another bowl and set aside.

Melt butter and sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until combined. Move to a mixing bowl and beat until cool (this takes a while). Add eggs, one at a time, beating until mixed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture. Alternate in flour and sour cream. Stir until just combined.

Fill cupcake tins 3/4 of the way full. Bake 10 minutes, turn, and bake 10 minutes. Let cool.

Makes 38.

Frosting:

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup (about one bag) candy corn

1 stick butter

3-4 cups xxx sugar

Melt together candy corn and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. The mixture will be bright orange and look grainy but feel smooth when you rub some between your fingers. Let it cool a little.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter. Sift in xxx sugar, then add candy corn mixture and beat until it reaches a piping texture. This may require more sugar, depending.

Pipe a tall spiral on top of each cupcake. Then transfer cupcakes to the freezer for about half an hour.

To finish:

1 bag milk chocolate chips

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2-1 cup toffee pieces

Melt together chocolate chips and oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat, until smooth. Pour into a small bowl suitable for dipping. Let cool somewhat.

Remove cupcakes from freezer.

Dip each cupcake in the chocolate so that it covers the icing; let the excess chocolate drip off. If the chocolate is too hot, it will start to melt the icing while you're doing the dipping, so you should notice right away if you need to wait; on the other hand, freezing the cupcakes gives the icing plenty of time to harden so it should be all right.

Once the cupcake is dipped in chocolate, turn it right side up and sprinkle the top generously with toffee pieces.

The cold of the frosting should make the chocolate set up pretty quickly, but if not, place cupcakes back in the freezer for another half hour.

Let thaw before serving.

Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Frosting and inspiration from The Baking Robot

Nutella Moon Pie Cupcakes

Nutella Moon Pie Cupcakes

Wow, you guys. Wow. I am a genius. Nutella marshmallow fluff? Genius.

Cupcakes:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 actual bananas)

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar. Add in bananas, buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs until well mixed. Sift in flour, baking powder, and baking soda, being careful not to over mix.

Fill cupcake tins about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes, turn, bake 15 minutes.

Let cool.

If your cupcakes overflow the tins -- and mine did, believe me -- your best friend is a small, serrated knife. Use it to trim the edges off the cupcakes so that they are even, as in the picture. This keeps them from looking like terrible deflated mushrooms.

Makes about 15.

Nutella Marshmallow Filling:

2 cups marshmallow fluff

1 cup nutella

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Beat the ingredients until fluffy and well combined.

Chocolate Coating:

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Melt the chocolate chips either in a double boiler or the microwave, being careful to stir frequently to prevent burning. Stir in the oil to keep the chocolate from resolidifying. Let cool.

To combine:

Gently core the cooled cupcakes using your weapon of choice -- as always, I prefer a serrated apple corer.

Fill the holes with a generous helping of the nutella mixture, making sure there is a small peak on top of the cupcake. You can use  a piping bag if you would prefer (I didn't feel like doing any more dishes, so I used a spoon).

Holding the cupcake carefully over the bowl of chocolate coating, use a spoon to cover the top of each cupcake, fulling covering it down to the wrapper. You will need to turn it as you do this, and you will have to pay attention and be quick to make sure the filling doesn't melt off into the chocolate while you're working.

After the cupcakes are covered, decorate with small slices of banana and place them in the freezer or refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

When cool, gently peel off the cupcake wrapper so that the chocolate comes down to about the same even place. Feel free to refrigerate as necessary; however, let the chocolate come back to a soft room temperature before serving. It will hold its shape, but be soft enough to eat.

Cupcakes adapted from FoodNetwork.com

Filling by me.