Week 9: August 22, 2012

Hey everybody! 

Sorry it's been so long again! Lately I've been a little cupcaked out! So last week I made a Butterfinger Blondie Bar! I found the recipe on pinterest and I'll post it on here for the recipe. They were fantastic! LOVED them :)   So then this week, I made a Chocolate Caramel Crunch cupcake. 

But first, the Butterfinger Blondie Bar.... from Six Sisters' Stuff

Ingredients

1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coarse sea salt
2 cups coarsely chopped Butterfinger Bars (approx 16 “Fun Size” bars)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°
Cream butter and sugars in mixing bowl.
Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated.
On low add your dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking soda) until just combined.
Stir in your chopped Butterfinger.
Spread in a 9×13 baking dish and bake for 25 minutes until center is JUST set.
Remove from oven and cool completely.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 25 minute(s)

Butterfinger Buttercream:

Ingredients

1/2 cup room temp butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 1/2 – 3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped Butterfinger Bars (approx 4 “Fun Size” bars)

Instructions

Cream the butter and shortening together until smooth. Add in you powdered sugar on low speed.  Turn speed up to medium and mix until smooth. Stir in your chopped Butterfinger. Spread on your cooled blondies

 

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Now for my Chocolate Caramel Crunch Cupcakes! :)

Cocoa-Buttermilk Cupcakes

Makes 36

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (optional)


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners, set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until fully combined and mixture is light and fluffy. Add egg yolks in same manner. Add in vanilla.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until combined, again scraping bowl if necessary. Add ½ cup of buttermilk and beat until combined. Continue process of 1/3 flour, ½ the buttermilk, ending with final 1/3 of flour mixture. Mix until fully incorporated. If using melted chocolate, stir in after scraping the bowl.

Fill liners ¾ of the way full with batter and bake in preheated oven for 18 – 22 minutes, until cakes spring back when lightly touched.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for ten minutes before removing to rack to cool completely.

Caramel Frosting

Makes enough for 48 cupcakes

1 cup(s) (packed) dark brown sugar

6 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter
1/3 cup(s) milk
1 pinch(s) salt
1 3/4 cup(s) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract


1. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, milk, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium and boil 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; cool completely.
2. Stir in confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth and thick enough to spread on cupcakes.

 

 After frosting the cupcakes, I then crushed up some pretzels (I had the Goldfish pretzels on hand) and sprinkled them on top. Nice for added saltiness :)  If you plan on serving them the next day, I would suggest waiting to put the pretzels on, and instead of crushing them, maybe just placing on pretzel into the frosting. The frosting stiffens up pretty quickly so sprinkling them will not work.

 Enjoy! And as always, let me know how they are if you make them at home :)