Sweet and Salty

Welcome to my first blog post! I hope it turns out to be everything you've ever dreamed and hoped for.

First, I'm going to try to explain the point of this blog and why I decided to start a blog. The main reason is because I'm stuck in Stillwater for the summer and I have nothing better to do. But the reason you probably wanted to hear is that I'm trying out recipes to see if they turn out the way the recipe says, and if not, how to fix it! Since I am a college student I will also try to sneak in some college budget friendly recipes.

This summer, me and my friend, Sarah, are venturing through recipes together, hoping that they will turn out fine so we can eat the delicious concoctions and not have to share them with anyone else.

Just kidding. Sharing is caring.

The first recipe we decided to try was a Chocolate Cupcake with Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Frosting, in honor of my favorite cupcake shop in OKC, Cuppies and Joe.
The recipe is from a cookbook called Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Now, I know what you're thinking (because it was the exact same thing I was thinking before I tried this cupcake)... "How in the world can you mix salt and chocolate to get a yummy dessert?" Oh, you'll see.

The first problem I encountered with this recipe, and usually "fancy" recipes in general, is that it called for an obscure ingredient that a normal person who shops at walmart can't find. Dutch processed cocoa powder. I wasn't sure if there was a difference between that and regular cocoa powder, so, being the great researcher that I am, I googled it. Dutch processed cocoa is processed differently which makes it alkalized (or doesn't react with baking soda). The alternative I found was Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder. It is a mix between regular cocoa powder and the fancy Dutch processed cocoa powder, as seen behind the cupcake liners in the picture below!

The batter recipe is pretty straight forward. Combine Dry ingredients.

Then you add in the wet ingredients (of which I don't have a picture because my camera started dying) and mix it all up. PS- this recipe calls for buttermilk. If you don't want to go buy a quart just to use a part of it for this recipe, you can make your own! Just mix in 1 Tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to 1 C of milk, and bingo! You've got yourself some buttermilk! Then just measure out the amount the recipe calls for.

At this point, you fill the liners 2/3 of the way with batter and stick em in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes!

The liners in this picture produce jumbo cupcakes, so normal liners will make a few more than you see pictured.

The second problem with this recipe came when we attempted to make the caramel sauce that goes inside the cupcakes. I had made a caramel apple pie a few months ago and had problems then making caramel sauce, so when I was gathering ingredients, I picked up a bag of the pre-wrapped caramel squares. We ended up just melting them and using that as the filling. It worked just as well as a home-made caramel sauce would and it was 234983 times easier.

The last part of the recipe was the frosting. I'm a huge fan of dark chocolate so when I saw this frosting recipe I jumped for joy! We added more powdered sugar to the frosting to take away the bitter bite that dark chocolate has, but it was still delicious!

Now for assembly:
1. Take a cooled cupcake and hollow out the center, about the size around of a quarter and just as deep.
2. Eat the holed-out piece.
3. Fill the hole with the caramel.
4. Pipe (or plop, depending on your tools!) some of the dark chocolate frosting on top of the entire cupcake.
5. Sprinkle a little bit of the sea salt on top.
6. Repeat and devour.

I'd love feedback from you guys!

Here's the recipe!

-Elise

Chocolate Salted-Caramel Cupcakes
-Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 C Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
3/4 tsp. Baking Powder
3/4 tsp. Salt
2 Large Eggs
3/4 C Buttermilk

3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3/4 C Warm Water

25 individually wrapped chewy caramel squares, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  Add in wet ingredients, beating together until smooth and combined. Divide batter evenly into the liners, making each about 2/3 full. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before assembling the cupcakes.

Dark Chocolate Frosting-

1/4 C plus 2 Tbsp Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder

1/4 C plus 2 Tbsp boiling water

1 1/2 C (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 C Confectioner's Sugar

pinch of salt

1 pound semi sweet chocolate melted and cooled

Combine cocoa and boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. With and electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Reduce speed and beat in cooled, melted chocolate, beatine until combined and making sure to scrape the sides. Beat in cocoa mixture. This frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days.