CupcakeQueen to self: Can we...the royal we... figure out how to make an ice cream cupcake? Well, "we" haven't eaten these yet...they're still in the freezer until after dinner tonight...so we'll have to let you know that part a little later...but the experiement does seem to be a SUCCESS!
You have to admit that this is a novel sight to find when you open the freezer door...it's definitely been making eveyone smile this afternoon. The cupcakes are based on Martha Stewart's Brownie Cupcakes. Very easy to make!
Once the cupcakes are cool, get out the Edy's Ice Cream and let it soften a bit. Meanwhile, use a small spoon or a small ice cream scoop to remove the middle of the cupcake and make a hole. Save what you take out...well, you can eat some of it if you want. You won't need it all! Put a small scoop of the ice cream into the cupcake's hole.
Smush it down into the cupcake and then put part of the top you scooped out, back onto the top of the cupcake and flatten it out a bit. Frost your cupcakes right away and then whisk them into the freezer until dinner time. If you take them out just before you eat dinner, they should be thawed out when it's time for dessert and the ice cream will have begun to melt!
As you can see, Layla...as usual can't wait!
Here's the recipe:
MARTHA STEWART’S BROWNI CUPCAKES:
INGREDIENTS
Serving: Makes 12.
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
11 ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, (optional)
Nonstick cooking spray
Mrs. Milman's Chocolate Frosting
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-count muffin tin with cupcake liners, and spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and 8 ounces of chocolate. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat, and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Add flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Stir in the melted chocolate until combined. Stir in remaining 3 ounces of chocolate and nuts if desired.
Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop, fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake until a firm crust forms on the cupcakes, about 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan, and continue to cool on a wire rack.
Ice cupcakes with a generous amount of chocolate frosting.
Mrs. Milman's Chocolate Frosting
While this frosting is cooling, you'll need to stir it as instructed; otherwise, the frosting around the edge of the bowl will harden and the frosting at the center will remain liquid. The finished frosting should have a consistent texture. Lois Milman, the creator of the frosting, always uses Nestl; morsels and makes only one batch at a time. Spread the icing on Moist Devil's Food Cake as soon as it is sufficiently chilled; it holds its shape well on the cake.
INGREDIENTS
Serving: Makes 6 cups.
24 ounces Nestlé semisweet chocolate morsels
4 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
DIRECTIONS
Place chocolate morsels and cream in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until combined and thickened, between 20 and 25 minutes. Increase the heat to medium low; cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Remove pan from heat.
Stir in corn syrup. Transfer frosting to a large metal bowl. Chill until cool enough to spread, about 2 hours, checking and stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. Use immediately.
Hope you enjoy them!
Have a great week, CQ
More Than One Reason to SMILE: Martha Stewart's Brownie Cupcakes Packed with Edy's Slow-Churned Vanilla Ice Cream
Where Are Those Cow Tales: AKA Apple Caramel Cupcakes Topped with Homemade Cows Tales
This cupcake project took about 4 hours from beginning to end...and that includes the run I had to make to Whole Foods for some dried apples...which turned into a $56.24 excursion! I had a little piece of paper with three items on my list when I went in the store and walked out with two shopping bags of "other duties as assigned" products. At first I was just walking around holding stuff in my arms and soon realized that my stay was going to be much longer than I planned. oh well...it was a cold and rainy Sunday in Washington, DC!
This was going to be a simple...key word here is simple....project, because I wanted to spend some time on my design for my another web site I'm working on. Well, that didn't happen and I just had to let it go. I found a recipe in a cupcake book that's called Cupcakes and Other Goodies, which is sort of dorkie looking and is shaped like a cupcake. Okay, I dealt with that. I found just what I was looking for...and that's when I had to go shopping for the dried apples. I wanted to combine the apple cupcakes with caramel frosting and I wanted to make some Cows Tales to go on top. 
I found a simple recipe for the Cow Tales and they were really easy to make...just caramels, butter, half and half, and confectioners sugar...and some marshmallows. The photos above show (1) the caramel ready to be rolled around the marshmallows, and (2) the rolled up "log," and (below) the final product beng sliced after "the log" was in the fridge for a couple of hours. Whew!
Everything turned out pretty much the way I wanted it to go. The vanilla butter cupcakes (from a cake mix) with the diced, dried apples were good...not great...but acceptable. The caramel frosting was so amazing...it tasted extraordinary. The cows tales...or tails...well, they worked. And, one could eat them separately...without even making the cupcakes...or one could just make the cupcakes with the caramel frosting...or one could just go to Whole Foods. It's really up to you! You can see more of the Cows Tales Cupcakes photos HERE.
And, THIS is the newest baby in our family: Aiden Steele (born April 12) with his daddy, Jason (who will be leaving next week for a another tour of Iraq). Jason, Kristi, and Aiden are from Spokane, WA, and are living in Las Vegas....so, say "Hi" to Aiden....and to his daddy and mommy, too. Stay safe, Jason.
Below are the recipes for the cupcakes and the cows tales!
Cows Tales Ingredients:
• 1/2 lb. Light caramels
• 1/4 c. half & half
• 2 tbs. butter
• 2 c. confectioner sugar
• approx. 17 regular size marshamallows
Directions:
• Combine caramels, half & half, and butter in saucepan.
• Heat until caramels melt.
• Once melted, take saucepan off heat and stir in sugar.
• Pour mixture onto buttered wax or parchment paper.
• Spread into a 16x5 inch rectangle.
• Lay the marshmallows end to end along one of the long sides of the rectangle.
• Working with the side of the caramel rectangle that is under the marshmallows, gently
detach the caramel from the paper and roll it over the marshmallows to form a log.
•Wrap the log in paper and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
• When chilled, cut into 1/4 inch slices.
• Try to serve chilled, because once warm, the candy loses some of its dense, sticky
texture.
Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting
Yield: Makes 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) butter or yellow cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix
1 cup chopped dried apples
Caramel Frosting (recipe follows)
Chopped nuts (optional)
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 standard (2-1/2-inch) muffin pan cups with paper baking cups.
2. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Stir in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 full.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpicks inserted into centers come out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes to racks; cool completely.
Caramel Frosting
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Melt butter in 2-quart saucepan. Stir in brown sugar, evaporated milk and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; cool to lukewarm.
2. Add powdered sugar; beat until frosting is of spreading consistency. Add vanilla; beat until smooth.
Rock on!
CQ
Hershey's Reese's Chocolate-Covered Cookie Cupcakes: Too Good to be True!
 | |
| I found these new cookies at CVS...who'd have thought...and they inspired this cupcake experiment. And, really the coolest thing about them is the bottom...and it says Reeses! So cute! I really had no idea that it would happen. | |
 | |
| So, I came home, found a box of dark chocolate cake mix, some mini-chocolate chips, and one cup of sour cream. Followed the cake mix iinstructions, dumped in the extras and mixed away. | |
 | |
| I twisted the top of of each cookie and put the bottom with the peanut butter filling on it in the bottom of each cupcake liner. Then I poured the batter the batter in! Baked it for 17 minutes. | |
 | |
| Everyone agreed...they these tasted awesome! | |
| LAST YEAR ON THIS DATE: Week 50: Midnight Madness Cupcakes! | |
Chocolate Chip Cookie and Brownie Cupcakes: What Could Be Better?
Okay...so I thought I would make some chocolate chip cookies the other day. I saw a cool/funny recipe in the local paper and wanted to try it out. This recipe said to make the cookies and then let the cookie dough stay in the fridge overnight...could I wait...hmmmm...okay I waited until 7:00 a.m. the next morning and made a batch. Pretty good! So good that I wanted to figure out how to use them in a cupcake. I've already done one with cookie in the bottom. But, could I make it work on top? Stay tuned~!
I used brownie mix for the cupcakes (which I've done before...they are so nice and chewy...), so I mixed up a batch and put one ice cream scoop in each cupcake liner...what a funny name...and then I rolled enough of the cookie dough into a ball and flattened it out and it fit right on top of the brownie batter and into the liner. I was nervous about how long it was going to take to bake, so I started with the timer at 12 minutes...that was way to soon. The cupcakes ended up taking about 22 minutes to bake!
When they came out, I turned down the liner to the place where the cookie met the brownie and it ended up looking like it had a tutu on...so funny...but different! One thing to remember is that with this recipe, you have, have, have to spray the cupcake liners, or the brownies won't want to come out and the liner may stick to the brownie part. I topped the cupcakes off with vanilla or chocolate frosting and everyone loved them!Here is a link to the chocolate chip cookies recipe: The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie by Brian Patterson, Gazette.
