Vanilla cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

After all of the candy I made for the Holidays I reallyyyy couldn't wait to get back in the kitchen wanted some time off. The past few weeks have been a nice break! I defnitely enjoyed not having to come home and clean the kitchen every night after work. I also needed to focus on my new calorie-counting regimen with My Fitness Pal app - one of those resolutions for the new year...

Now that my break is over - I was so happy to get back in the kitchen tonight and return to baking. Just needed to make a dozen cupcakes and I decided on the Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes recipe from Glorious Treats. I absolutely LOVE Glorious Treats! She is always making something beautiful and tasty - always with a lovely tutorial us newbies to follow as well.

The thing with trying a new recipe or altering a recipe that you have used in the past...you have to TASTE it to make sure tastes alright. A few swipes of icing here and there - I'm sure the calories were adding up but do I have to tell My Fitness pal? *sigh*

They turned out delicious! Here they are drizzled with a little caramel sauce.

The Caramel Buttercream is based off of a recipe from my Grandmother. I just changed a few things...

Salted Caramel Buttercream:
(makes enough to ice 16-18 cupcakes)

1 stick Butter
4 1/2 Tbsps (light) Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
4-5 Tbsps Half and Half to smooth

Powdered Sugar
Kosher Salt

Melt 1/2 stick of butter with the brown sugar in a sauce pan on the stove on medium high. Once the two have come to a boil slowly add the vanilla and about 1 1/2- 2 Tbsps of Half and Half. (Milk or heavy cream would work as well.)

Once the items are melted together in the sauce pan, turn the burner off. In my mixing bowl, I started with 3/4 - 1 cup of powdered sugar and added the brown sugar mixture with the mixer on low. Once those ingredients were mixed together I wanted a fluffier texture so I added another 4 Tbps, one at a time, of room temperature butter. I continued mixing on medium and adding additional powdered sugar and half and half until I reached the consistency that I liked. (I used about 2 - 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and about 3 Tbsps of half and half.) I also added about 3 pinches of Kosher salt  - but again, this can be left out of the recipe or just added to your desired taste.

I also drizzled a little caramel sauce on top. If you would like a little bit of additional salt flavor and a crunch - they would probably be great with a little bit of crumbled pretzel added on top as well!

The cute cupcake liners were a gift I received, purchase from Sur La Table.

Delicious from every angle!

Enjoy! :)

Food Allergies and Cupcakes - (Recipe - SunButter Buttercream)

Peanut allergies are one of the most common causes of severe allergy attacks. I recently made some chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter buttercream icing. Unfortunately, there are some people who can't eat these due to the peanut butter in the icing. I was asked to try and make the same cupcakes but using a creamy sunbutter spread.

I used a similar recipe to the peanut butter buttercream but made a few minor adjustments. I think the icing turned out pretty tasty but I will have to let you know what they think tomorrow!

SunButter Buttercream:

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup Creamy SunButter

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 pinch of kosher salt

1 Tbsp whipping cream or until you reach the desired consistency

1 tsp molasses

I had the butter out until it reached room temperature. I added the other ingredients and mixed until well blended. It still has a pretty nice fluffy texture compared to the peanut butter. If you think it is still too thick to pipe the icing add a little bit more of the whipping cream until you get a consistency that is easier to work with. It was enough icing for 12-14 standard-sized cupcakes.

Now all you need is a glass of milk to drink with it! :)

A Very Lemon Birthday

I have a friend who really enjoys lemon. I never thought I liked lemon but I do love these cupcakes! A lemon cake, lemon curd filling and a lemon cream cheese icing. Sound like too much lemon? It is just enough!!!

I used the extra lemon curd to add a little bit of color to the top as well. :)

 

Lemon Curd Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens:

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel

6 tablespoons lemon juice

6 tablespoons water

6 beaten egg yolks

1/2 cup butter or margarine, cut up

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon peel, lemon juice, and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.

2. Stir half of the lemon mixture into the egg yolks. Return egg mixture to the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Add butter pieces, stirring until melted. Cover surface of the curd with plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour or for up to 48 hours. Store covered in refrigerator up to 1 week or transfer to a freezer container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in refrigerator before serving. Makes 2 cups (sixteen 2-tablespoon servings).

Harry Potter Birthday

A little girl was turning two on Halloween and was dressing up as Harry Potter! I love Harry Potter so I was excited to make these cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese icing with fondant toppers. Yummm! I had a Hogwarts scarf, Harry Potter represented, Platform 9 3/4, a broom and snitch, Hedwig and a Slytherin Snake for the different designs.

The owl, Hedwig, was one of my favorites!

Modern Barbie Birthday

Another Birthday! This time a little girl was turning six. :) They were looking for a modern Barbie themed cake and provided me with some cute cupcake liners too. Fondant success! I cut the silhouette out freehand aaaand backwards. That way when I was finished cutting it out I could flip it over and the edges would be smooth.

Here are the matching cupcakes! Z is for Zoie. :)

Hello, Kitty!

A little girl was turning one and was in need of a birthday cake! A small Hello Kitty themed birthday party was going to take place so a cake was needed. We needed something bright and colorful for the birthday girl so a small strawberry cake with cream cheese icing was decorated.

I also made a dozen vanilla cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream to go with the cake. Cute and delicious!