Miniaturizing Another Favorite

I don't know if you are aware of this dear reader, but there was a time I was vehemently opposed to the popularity of the cupcake concept.  I really don't know why.  I spent most of my time resisting jumping the bandwagon, thinking cupcakes were a passing fad that wouldn't last. Now here we are a few years later, with the cupcake alive and well and gaining even more popularity. Every once in a while now I feel a twinge of regret of what could have been.  Had I relented sooner, I could have begun turning my repertoire of cakes into cupcakes months and months ago.  Now that I am as cupcake crazy as the next person, I am thoroughly enjoying myself with my experiment in miniaturization.  I have some very willing co-workers, who are more than happy to partake of the results of my attempts.

A few months ago, a co-worker who was celebrating his birthday sent me a recipe for a German Chocolate Frosting.  No recipe for any kind of cake, mind you, just a recipe for frosting.  I guess that was his way of hinting what he wanted me to bake for our monthly birthday celebration.  Never having made  a German Chocolate Cake before, this was a double challenge for me.  My first-ever attempt at this cake and at the same time shrinking it down.  It was time to read up about this cake as I could so I could meet the challenge armed with as much knowledge as possible.  I learned that German Chocolate Cake had nothing to do with the country of Germany.  Go figure!  Rather, the recipe was one owned by a family with the last name German.  It was originally known as German's Chocolate Cake.  The apostrophe and the "s" were dropped somewhere along the way.  Be that as it may, this cake is simply delicious!  I fell in love with the complex symphony of flavors and textures the first time I ate it.  Rich, moist chocolate cake, crowned with sweet flaked coconut and crunchy pecans held together by a caramel flavored custard-like frosting.  Divine!

For my base recipe, I went with Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake.  I used two standard cupcake pans instead of the 9 inch round pans suggested in the recipe.  For the topping I used the German Chocolate Cake Frosting sent by my co-worker, but made a few slight modifications.  The Coconut Pecan Frosting recipe I have posted below makes enough to generously frost 24 cupcakes, because the last thing you want is to run short.  Despite all its gooey goodness, I will admit that the cupcake version could use a little help in the looks department.  The next time I will pipe a chocolate frosting around the edge, much like its regular-sized counterpart.  Hopefully this will lend to the cupcakes' aesthetic appeal.  But as my nephew would say, "This cupcake may look horrible but tastes fabulous".  That's what his comment on the Red Velvet Cupcakes I made and took over to him.  Yes, Nicholas believes in telling it like it is.

So here you have it, German Chocolate Cupcakes.  If you do happen to make them, any feedback will be greatly appreciated.  Enjoy!

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

CUPCAKES

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

• Line two standard cupcake pans with paper cups.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a large mixing bowl and using a wire whisk, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Add eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix well on medium speed using a hand-held mixer.
• When combined, slowly add boiling water and stir thoroughly.  Batter will be thin.
• Using a standard ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake cavity with batter.
• Bake cupcakes about 10 minutes, then turn the pans around to ensure that cupcakes bake evenly.
• Bake cupcakes for another 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes come out clean.
• Remove cupcake pans from oven and cool for 10 minutes.
• Remove cupcakes from pans and cool on a wire rack for 2-3 hours before frosting.

COCONUT-PECAN FROSTING

1 large and 1 small can evaporated milk

1-1/2 cups white sugar

5 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

1-1/2 cup flaked coconut

In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick.
Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut.
Spread on cupcakes while frosting is still warm.
If frosting cools, warm it up over a saucepan of simmering water.
Top each cupcake with a pecan half.
If piping edges of cupcakes with chocolate frosting, wait for coconut-pecan frosting to cool before doing so.

Caramel Bliss

I love caramels. Love, love, love them.  Luscious, rich, sweet little squares of goodness that make you want to close your eyes as you savor the slightly burned sugar with the added complex flavors of butter, vanilla and salt.  

Seeing as I love to experiment making things from scratch, I went in search of a good caramel recipe.  I tried a few, some of which were disastrous flops.  Others didn't come out quite right.  They were either too chewy, which made my jaws hurt, or the butter separated from the sugar during the cooking process.  I finally came upon Carole Bloom's recipe for Classic Cream Caramels from her book "Truffles, Candies & Confections - Elegant Candymaking in the Home".  The author describes these as "Truly the quintessential caramel.  They are chewy and creamy and just plain good".  I have to agree. 

There are a few lessons I've learned while making caramels, which I would like to share with you so you know what you're getting yourself into (insert smile icon here).  I don't mean to intimidate you with that statement, I just wish someone had told me these things prior to my experimentation.

• While I absolutely support the idea of having children help in the kitchen, this may be one of those situations where you may want to have them go play outside.  They can help measure the ingredients, but I would advise against having them doing the stirring.  Cooked sugar can scald when hot, with extremely painful results.  
• Keep a bowl of ice water near you while cooking caramels.  If you happen to burn yourself with cooked sugar, immediately dunk the burned area in ice water to ease the pain.
• Making caramels requires a good amount of stirring.  If you have a physical ailment that may cause joint pain, you may have some difficulty with the process and may want to solicit help.
• Never make caramels on a rainy day.  The corn syrup and sugar will absorb moisture from the air and the caramels will end up a gooey mess that won't hold their shape.
• Use a metal spoon to stir the caramel.  Avoid using a wooden spoon as these tend to absorb odors and flavors when previously used.  If you have to use a wooden spoon, use a brand new one save it just for making caramels.
• Have a good pastry brush available to wash down the sides of the pan when cooking the sugar.  This is very important to avoid sugar crystallization.  It makes sense to invest in a good quality plastic or silicone-bristled pastry brush.
• Make sure to have an accurate thermometer, because temperatures are key to successful caramels. Use a deep-fry thermometer but avoid the cylindrical ones that have a temperature bulb at one end and a clip at the other.  The bulb will need to touch the cooking sugar while it avoids touching the sides of the utensil which is diffuclt to do because of the clip.  Go for the immersible deep fry thermometer like the one pictured right.  It costs around $10.
• Once the caramel has been poured into the sheets to set, do not scrape the caramel from the sides and bottom of the cooking utensil.  Instead, add some milk or cream and reheat the leftover caramel until it melts into a viscous syrup.  Pour into a glass bottle and use it to top ice cream
  
• Never store caramels in the refrigerator for the same reason that you want to avoid making them on a rainy day.
• Wrap caramels in cellophane paper or wax paper made for this specific purpose.  Commercial wax paper available in a roll cannot be twisted and will tear. Sur La Table's caramel wrappers were large squares of parchment paper, which you want to avoid.  Michael's craft store sells cellophane paper by the roll in many different colors.  I use Confectioners Wax Paper which I buy online from Country Kitchen SweetArt.  I buy the packet of 500 and cut them in half because each square is quite large.  Amazon.com offers some choices as well, but they are slightly more expensive.

Now for the recipe.  Drum roll, please. Here we go!



CLASSIC CREAM CARAMELS


2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• Line a 13 by 9 baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Coat the foil with vegetable oil and set aside.
• In a heavy-bottomed deep saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup over medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.  Wash down the sides of the pan a few times with a pastry brush dipped in warm water, to prevent the sugar from crystallizing.
• Place a candy thermometer in the saucepan.  Increase the heat to medium high and cook the mixture, without stirring, until it registers 305 degrees on the thermometer.
• In the meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat.
• Add the butter, a little at a time, to cooked sugar.  Keep the mixture boiling on low heat.  Slowly add the cream and continue cooking, stirring vigorously, until the caramel registers 250 degrees on the thermometer.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and let stand for about 5 minutes.  Add the vanilla and salt and stir well.  
• Pour caramel into prepared baking sheet.  
• Allow caramel to set for 5 to 6 hours, then mark the caramel with a knife.  This will make it easier to cut it into pieces when set.
• Cool the caramels for an additional 2 hours until firm.  
• Coat a cutting board and a sharp knife lightly but thoroughly with vegetable oil.
• Remove caramel from the baking sheet and carefully peel off the aluminum foil.  Set the caramel on the oiled cutting board.
• Using the oiled knife and with a sawing motion, cut the caramels into bite-size pieces.  Wrap immediately and store in an airtight container.  
• DO NOT REFRIGERATE.  The caramels will keep for two weeks.

The base recipe yields caramels that taste wonderful all on their own, but lends itself to many variations.  I have added chopped pecans, used it as a filling for caramel truffles and dipped the set caramels into dark chocolate and topped with a pinch of Fleur De Sel.  Feel free to play around and come up with your own creations.


In the words of the inimitable Julia Child, Bon Apetit!

Celebrating May 5th

This year we had a bake sale at work, which happened to coincide with Cinco de Mayo.  I thought it would be appropriate to come up with something that had a Mexican influence for the bake sale.  I reached out to my bake-happy friends and scoured the internet for ideas.  There was the Tropical Lime Cake that my friend Sameena had experimented with the previous weekend.  She had a great success with tweaking the recipe to do away with the boxed cake mix and make it from scratch.  But I didn't feel as adventurous and I was pressed for time. 

Once again I turned to a Martha Stewart recipe.  I used her Lemon Meringue Cupcakes as my base recipe, but made a few modifications.  For the frosting, the base recipe was Lemon Buttercream, also with a few modifications.  The result was what I call Margarita Cupcakes with Key Lime Frosting.  I really wanted to be able to use Tequila, but I settled for frozen Margarita Mix.  The next time I make these, there will be alcohol!

Here is my recipe.  Enjoy!

MARGARITA CUPCAKES WITH KEY LIME FROSTING

CUPCAKES:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

5 key limes, zested and juiced (may substitute 3 regular limes)

1 teaspoon pure lemon extract

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup tequila or frozen Margarita Mix, thawed

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two standard muffin tins with paper liners.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. 
• With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
• Beat in zest and lemon extract.
• Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with additions of buttermilk, lime juice and 1/4 cup tequila, beating until just combined after each. 
• Using an ice cream scoop, fill each of the cups with batter, about three-quarters full. 
• Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
• Transfer tins to wire racks.  While the cupcakes are still warm, brush them with remaining 1/4 cup tequila or Margarita Mix.
• Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

KEY LIME FROSTING:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar 

4 key limes, zested and juiced

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or lemon extract

Pinch salt (optional)

• Cream butter until pale and fluffy.  
• Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar, beating well after every addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of mixing bowl.
• Add lime juice, half the zest, lemon extract and salt (if using) and continue beating well.
• Pipe frosting on cooled cupcakes.
• Add a pinch of reserved lime zest to each cupcake.