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Monday, May 14, 2012

Brownie Cupcakes with Butter Cream Frosting




Because I don't bake. Like at all. I even manage to screw up boxed brownies. I went out on a limb for mother's day and decided to challenge myself to make cupcakes from scratch- but I wanted them to be special.  We went to see my fiance's grandmother and mother for the day and I needed a travel well dessert plus wanted to make it delicious of course. 

 
As I said, I don't bake- I think it's the importance of measuring exactly and following the recipe to a T to make it work that I can't grasp- like when I cook anything it's always eyeballing stuff or throwing in a handful of that. With that being said this is not my recipe but found this really easy to follow recipe with easy ingredients.

 
Turtle Brownie Cupcakes

I followed the cupcake recipe and searched her blog for the butter cream frosting as well. But just made it plain.

Buttercream Frosting (enough to frost 12 cupcakes nicely)
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar
 
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer slowly at first to incorporate all ingredients. Then, increase speed to high to get light and fluffy. Beat for 3 - 5 minutes.

These cupcakes were super rich, but oh so delicious. Like I wish I could eat two but they are so filling- talk about leaving room for dessert!

So I made the cupcakes, topped with frosting and instead of what her topping was exactly I switched it up a bit to make it a tad less messy for me. I made caramel candied nuts.

Caramel Candied Nut Topper

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of nuts of your choice, chopped
  • 1 cup of white sugar
  • splash of water, pinch of salt


Before you start the caramel have the nuts chopped and ready to go, along with a piece of parchment paper or silicon baking mat.  I chose walnuts and almonds (because I had them on hand).

In a small sauce pot add 1 cup of white sugar and about tablespoon or two of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  It will start to boil and become thick.  It will start to turn a golden color. When this happens shut off the heat, add a pinch of salt and swirl the caramel a couple times.  Mix in the nuts and stir until all covered with caramel.  Then pour out onto your paper or mat and spread to an even layer to cool.  When cooled completely break off small bits and top your cupcakes!
 

(For some more detailed caramel making pics check out my previous post Caramel Nut Popcorn)
 
 
Now I can't wait to bake more! Our friends are having a baby and just told us last night! We are super happy for them.  In July they find out the sex of the baby and want to do the surprise gender cake for the big reveal! And asked ME to make it. So excited! Congrats you guys xoxoxo 

 

5 comments:

  1. I **am** a baker, but I was terrified of cupcakes for a long time, probably because they're so cute and delicate and easy to over-cook. So I challenged myself to bake and blog about cupcakes every month for a year, and now I'm not scared anymore! During the process my measuring skills and general precision improved out of site - I was what you could call a "bucket baker" before, and still rarely measure ingredients in savoury meals. These look great Brianne :)

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  2. Thank you! I want to branch out into baking, or at least be able to do some easy staples to have in my back pocket. My older sister is the amazing baker in the fam, but I feel to be a complete cook you need to know a bit about baking too. I always said- "oh Im not a baker" but it always looks so fun with beautiful and delicious results- I felt the need to try! In July Im trying my hand in a professional-looking fondant cake, so we'll see how that goes!

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  3. Good luck with the cake! I'm in the middle of a three-day cake decorating course and it's amazing how inspired you are when your cake looks good as well as tastes good.

    I have a super-easy recipe for you to remember for biscuits (cookies) and it impresses people when you whip it up from memory - 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup of SR flour and 1 cup of whatever you want to add (dried fruit, choc chips, cereal, whatever!). It's 1 of everything except the sugar! Bake at 180oC for 12-15 minutes. I've blogged a few versions including white chocolate and raspberry, and boozy sultana-choc chip if you're after inspiration. Yummm...

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  4. Course sounds fun! Love the quick and easy recipe! And I basically always have those things on hand. Thank you! Ill have to add to my go to book :)

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  5. Hi.

    Thanks for sharing this great article.

    We don't need to encourage people to eat sugars... like this girl eating cupcake. Not OK.

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