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

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

These cupcakes are SO GOOD. I had no idea they were going to be so delicious and I was completely blown away. That said, summer is not the best time to make them, because they melt in the heat.

Cupcakes:

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp almond extract

3/4 cup cake flour

5/8 (about 2/3) cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened and cuber

2 eggs

1/2 granny smith apple, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Stir together milk and almond extract.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flours, sugar, bp, and spices. At in cubed butter a little at a time, mixing on low speed, until the batter looks sandy in texture.

Add eggs, then milk mixture. Mix until combined. Add apple pieces.

Fill cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 10 minutes, turn, bake 12 minutes. The cupcakes will be brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Makes 18.

Cinnamon Frosting:

1 stick butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp cream or whole milk

1 tsp cinnamon

green food coloring, if desired

Beat butter until soft and fluffy. Sift in powdered sugar and cinnamon, then add cream. Beat until frosting reaches the correct consistency for piping. Add one or two drops of food color.

Caramel coating:

1 bag unwrapped caramel pieces

2 tsp cream or milk

Melt the caramel and milk together. If you do this in the microwave, be careful to do it in small increments and with lots of stirring to prevent the caramel from burning. It may take a while for the ingredients to combine fully. Let the mixture cool for a little while.

When the cupcakes are cool, pipe a spiral of frosting on top of each. Dip the frosted cupcakes upside down into the caramel. You need to do this somewhat quickly, especially if the caramel is still warm, or it will melt the icing. Let some of the excess caramel drip off if possible.

As soon as the cupcakes are coated, move them to freezer and let them sit for a while so the caramel can sit. The milk will keep it from becoming crunchy, but it will firm up enough to look really good. In this weather, they will melt almost immediately, so keep them in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to serve them.

Warning: these cupcakes are super messy!

Adapted from The Baking Robot.

Red Velvet Three-Chocolate Hi-Hat Cupcakes

Red Velvet Three-Chocolate Hi-Hat Cupcakes

Happy birthday to my great friend Dal.

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour, sifted

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 tsp red food color (or as much as you need to make batter red)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Whisk together flour and cocoa. With an electric mixer, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs one at a time. Add food color and vanilla.

Add flour in three batches, alternating with buttermilk.

In a little bowl, stir together the baking soda and vinegar until combined. Add to the batter and mix for 10 seconds.

Divide batter into cupcake tins. Bake 10 minutes, turn, and bake another 10.

Makes 24.

Frosting:

3 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

In a heatproof bowl, combine sugar, water, egg whites, and cream of tartar. Beat until foamy, about 1 minute.

Set bowl over a pan of simmering water, and beat on high speed until frosting forms stiff peaks, about 12 minutes; use a candy thermometer to make sure frosting is 160 degrees. You definitely want an electric handheld mixer for this. I had to do part of it by hand because my handheld broke, and yeah, it was miserable.

Remove from heat, stir in extracts, and beat for two more minutes.

Using a piping bag with a large tip, pipe a spiral of frosting into a cone shape about two inches high.

Once the cupcakes are all frosted, stick them in the freezer for an hour.

Chocolate coating:

1 bag dark chocolate chips

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1 bag white chocolate chips

6 tbsp vegetable oil

Melt together each chocolate with two tbsp of oil, each in a separate bowl, being careful not let the chocolate burn (I used a double boiler, but the microwave will work fine here too as long as you take it out and stir often).

Let it cool down to room temperature, about fifteen minutes.

When the cupcakes and the chocolate are cool, remove the cupcakes from the freezer. Carefully turn them upside down and dip them into the dark chocolate until it covers all the frosting. Lift it out, let it drip for a few moments, then turn it right side up again.

WARNING: the frosting, for some horrible reason, will try to melt anyway. I don't know, it's mean. So you will need to be quick with this step. Once you have coated all the cupcakes, return them to the freezer for 10 minutes.

Once the first layer is solid, repeat this with the white chocolate. You may have to heat the white chocolate again -- it solidifies faster than the other two, maybe because it's not real chocolate. Make sure you don't cover up the dark chocolate. Then back into the freezer!

Finally, dip the very tops of the cupcakes into the milk chocolate, making sure to leave a line of white chocolate showing, then freeze again.

It is best to serve these cupcakes chilled, because the chocolate gets melty again with very little provocation. On the other hand, they look super cool, and they taste pretty great! :D

Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.
Frosting adapted from marthastewart.com
Chocolate coating instructions from bakeitinacake.