The bonus cupcake for Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Club was a banana pecan cupcake with caramel butter cream frosting. Yum.
I decided to half the recipe and make minis because I was out of standard size cupcake papers. A half recipe made 48 minis. That's a lot of minis. I must confess that I forgot to halve the eggs so the half recipe got 3 full eggs. Oops. I realized my mistake after I took the second batch out of the oven. I quickly tried one and thankfully it didn't taste like an egg cupcake. Disaster averted.
The banana pecan cupcake is good but the frosting is amazing. It has caramel in it. Not just any old caramel. Homemade caramel. I would be more excited about caramel in the frosting if the caramel wasn't a total pain in the butt. I made caramel Sunday morning for my Tuesdays with Dorie dessert, the chocolate-crunched caramel tart and all went well. When I went to make the caramel in the afternoon for the frosting all went very bad. My first try (oh yes, there was more than one try) I put the sugar and water on medium heat and waited for it to turn amber. And I waited and waited and then all of sudden it looked like this.
What is that? I might of said a few bad words and cleaned the pot to give it another try. I figured I must have messed it up somehow. My second attempt didn't go much better. My caramel would not color. It boiled and boiled and stayed clear. Finally after a long time it looked like it had a bit of color so I added the cream and it seized up and turned into a rock. Lovely. Unfortunately at this point I was hating caramel and didn't think to take a picture of the failed second attempt. After the second attempt I decided it was no longer my fault and by default it was Martha's fault. I decided to use Dorie's caramel recipe from the tart. Success. I knew it wasn't me.
The frosting is a mixture of fluffy egg whites and sugar, butter and caramel combined to make heaven. I couldn't stop licking the bowl. I even sucked the extra icing out of the piping tip. What? I'm not going to let heaven go to waste.
The cupcakes were okay but the frosting was fantastic. I think the caramel frosting on chocolate cupcakes would be heaven times two.
Head on over to the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Club to check out what the other cupcake bakers thought of this bonus cupcake.
I completely agree that the frosting is a keeper. Your photos are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLOL, we are so different: I loved the cupcakes, but didn't like the frosting...I thought it was too buttery for my tastes, but the guys loved the frosting, and I bake for them, so that's what counts. Love the little minis and the cupcake wrappers. Your piping on the top makes it all look like a party...great job!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you were such a frosting fiend. The things I learn about you through your blog are priceless.
ReplyDeleteYou're killing me. I love frosting, and caramel buttercream sounds so good! Your minis look great - love the papers!
ReplyDeleteKim, your cupcakes look GREEEEEEEEEAT!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you loved the caramel frosting! I did a variation on mine and it tasted fantastic, too.
Thanks for doing the bonus round with us this month! You are the best! :)
Kim - wow, I am SO impressed that you stuck with it! That says a lot. I just put my sugar and water in a saucepan and when it turns "clear", I put the lid on. When it stops "steaming" from having the lid on, it's ready to turn amber (within seconds). I learned that from a Julia Child recipe - and it makes it foolproof. I LOVED the frosting too - the cupcakes were too "banana-ish" for me - and glad you enjoyed making the "new" frosting too - what a great save! NIcely done!
ReplyDeleteaw your minis are so cute!
ReplyDeleteLove your little minis. Just the right amount of frosting on top.
ReplyDeleteI also 'manually clean' the frosting tips. When no ones looking, of course.....
Thanks for coming by.
YUM! Banana anything is fine by me, and a banana-pecan-caramel combo sounds divine. Your little baby cupcakes look so delish!
ReplyDeleteLol! I am so glad to hear I am not the only one who sucks the icing out of the frosting tips!! Your minis look so yummy and I am not a big banana-baked fan.
ReplyDelete