Whiskey Caramels

Another whiskey recipe. 
I love caramel. I have been known to eat an entire pan/box/jar of caramel in one sitting. (If only there was a caramel eating contest.) These caramels were amazing. They were soft and chewy with out sticking in your teeth, and had just a hint of whiskey. (In the photo they look a little grainy, but they were actually silky smooth.)

Whiskey Caramels
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tsp Honey Whiskey
Sea salt

Butter a 8x8 inch pan.

In a large saucepan, combine corn syrup, condensed milk, milk, heavy cream, butter, sugar, and whiskey. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally until mixture comes to a boil. If sugar crystals are present on the side of the pan, wash down with a wet pastry brush.

Stirring constantly, cook to 250 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tsp whiskey. Pour without scraping into the prepared pan. Let stand for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with sea salt. Cool at room temperature overnight.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Our family's Thanksgiving always consisted of the typical turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, but then there was dessert; pecan pies, pumpkin pies, apple pies, and even lemon meringue. (Obviously baking runs in my blood)  Although not as traditional as the pies, the flavor of these cupcakes scream Fall, and would make a great addition to my family's dessert buffet.
The cake was very light and moist, tasting a little like a spicy cinnamony carrot cake. (The apple flavor went missing.) The frosting, a delicious and ridiculously smooth buttercream, with a perfect caramel flavor that wasn't too rich or too sweet. I was so pleased with the texture of the frosting that I am thinking about trying it in other flavors as well. As for the reviews, it was unanimous everyone LOVED them, even that super picky co-worker who complains about everything, yeah that one, he ate two. (:

Caramel Apple Cupcakes
Adapted from Baked
Makes a boatload of cupcakes (about 45)

Apple Cake:
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
2 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
4 cups applesauce (I used 1/2 regular & 1/2 cinnamon)

Caramel Butter Cream:
1 ½ cups sugar
⅓ cup flour
1 ½ cups milk
⅓ cup heavy cream
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoon Smuckers Caramel Sauce at room temperature (Mrs Richardson's would probably be better)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepare cupcake pan with paper liners.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves together into a large bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the applesauce, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl, then mix on low speed for a few more seconds.
Divide the batter into cupcake pan. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 and bake 20-30 minutes,  until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let sit until cool enough to touch. Remove cupcakes from baking pan and let cool completely.

Caramel Buttercream:
In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until cool. Reduce speed to low and add the butter and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Add ⅓ cup of the caramel and continue mixing until combined. If the frosting is too soft, put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill slightly, then beat again until it is the proper consistency. If the frosting is to firm, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is the proper consistency.

Frost cooled cupcakes and drizzle with the remaining caramel. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm before serving.

This is Halloween, Halloween! Halloween!

One of my favorite candies of all time is the See's Scotchmallow, A layer of caramel with a layer of honey marshmallow covered in chocolate. As a kid my Great Uncle would give out 1 pound gift certificates to See's, and I would get an entire pound of Scotchmallows.

For Halloween I made my own candies that I call Carmallows. And then to really show off I wrapped them in Fanci-Foil (paper foil for cake boards found at Walmart) and decorated them with jack-o-lantern stickers. A perfect candy for a Halloween Party.

The recipe I used came from the Chocolates and Confections book from The Culinary Institute of America, but this recipe is very similar.


Carmallows
Caramel
Adapted from Allrecipes
1 cup Butter
1 pound Sugar
1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened condensed milk
1 cup Light corn syrup
1 pinch Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla extract

Marshmallow
From Hutchinson News
3 envelopes Gelatin
1/2 cup Cold water
1 1/2 cups Sugar
3/4 cup Light corn syrup
1/4 cup Honey
1/2 cup Water
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract

3 cups chocolate, melted, tempered (Callebaut Couverture Callets)


Directions:
Set aside a silicone 9x13 pan
In a heavy bottom saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, condensed milk, and corn syrup. Stirring constantly bring to a boil over medium heat, until the syrup reaches 240 degrees.
Remove from heat and carefully stir in the vanilla and salt.
Pour into the silicone pan and let cool while you make the marshmallow.

To make the marshmallow, stir the gelatin and cold water in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a 2-quart saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, honey, and water. Cook to 250 degrees.
Remove from heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Allow to cool undisturbed until syrup reaches 210 degrees, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the gelatin over a hot water bath. 
When the syrup reaches 210 degrees add the melted gelatin and mix on high speed for 6 minutes, until light and fluffy. 
Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
Pour over the top of the caramel and spread evenly.
Allow to cool to room temperature for at least 2 hours.

Chill slightly before cutting into bars.
Using an oiled knife, cut around the edges of the pan to loosen the marshmallow. Remove the entire slab from the pan and place on a silpat, caramel side down.
Cut slab down the middle lenghtwise. Cut each half slab into 1 inch bars, then cut each bar in half. (Be careful not to cut the silpat. I used my bench knife.)

Dip each bar into tempered chocolate and place on baking rack, allowing excess chocolate to drip off. Remove from rack before chocolate sets and place on a piece of parchment paper to set completely.

The Show Must Go On

While making a batch of caramel corn for an upcoming project, I ended up making caramel covered knuckles instead. 
WARNING: the next picture isn't pretty

When I poured the caramel on my hand I immediately put my hand under cool running water. (While I stirred the popcorn with my left.) Then I soaked it in a bowl of cool water for about 20 minutes. The next day I went to the doctor, where I cried like a baby when I got a tetanus shot, (I wasn't even close to crying when I got burned.) and they lathered some lotion on it and wrapped it up so I wouldn't stretch the blister.  I wasn't quite good as new, but I did manage to make another batch of caramel :)


This weekend I should have some really good cupcakes to show after all this drama.

Madison Avenue Cupcakes

I have a lot to write about considering I have been on multi-city sugar tour/vacation. It's going to take me a few days to review all the delicious place I have been to in the last week. I am going to start with this weekend and work my way back to last Thursday. Sunday I made Madison Avenue Cupcakes for Fathers Day. The recipe was inspired by a cake from Michelle Marie Patisserie called Park Avenue. Madison Avenue Cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes filled with caramel and frosted with vanilla butter cream. It's definitely a sugar overload.

Chocolate cupcake:
1 cup milk
1 tsp vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven 350 and prepare muffin tin.
Stir milk and vinegar in bowl of stand mixer, and let stand.
In a separate bowl whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Add to the bowl of milk the sugar, oil, and vanilla beat until foamy.
Add dry ingredients to the wet in two batches until no longer lumpy. (a few small lumps are ok.)
Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake 18-20 minutes.

 Caramel:
1/2 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 can condensed sweetened milk
1 cup light corn syrup
12 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

Combine water, sugar, milk, corn syrup, and butter in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly with silicon spatula.
Continue stirring until syrup reaches 235 or soft ball stage.
Remove from heat. Add salt and vanilla.
Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting:
1 cup shortening
1 cup butter softened
8 cups/1 bag powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup heavy cream or milk

In a bowl of a stand mixer cream shortening and butter
Add powdered sugar and beat until well blended.
On low speed add salt vanilla and cream.
Turn to high and beat until fluffy.

Assembling

Twist round cookie cutter into center of the cupcake and pull out. Cut the removed cupcake center in half.  Fill center of the cupcake with caramel and place the top half of center back on top of the cupcake. Frost with butter cream.

You may want to make a dental appointment before making these yummy cupcakes, or perhaps next time make a less sugary frosting. :)