The Submission

This weekend I finally gave in, after weeks and week of requests from those living with me (husband and stepson) I submitted to their will and baked my caramel pecan fudge brownies. I had thought about making them into individual cupcakes but for the sake of time and the requester's I made a huge pan. I am not a huge fan of making caramel so I rarely do it, and I never follow instructions, I just kind of made it all up as I went along. The caramel itself turned out wonderfully and I couldn't have asked for better flavor. 

My fellow sweet tooth's out there BEWARE, this is so decadent, I had to take a break halfway through my square. The pecans offered the crunch, the fudge brownies offered well, fudge and the caramel topping really pulled everything together in a love nest of nutty, buttery, chocolate goodness! 

Fudge Brownies
(Makes 24 Servings)

2 cups unsalted butter

8 (1 ounce) squares of unsweetened chocolate

4 cups white sugar

8 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1-2 tbsp coffee (optional and to your liking)

5 3/4 cups Pecans or Walnuts or a nut of your liking (optional) (I only added Pecans to the topping but you can add it in the batter if you really love them)


Preheat oven to 350° F and grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. 

Slice butter into 1/2 inch squares and combine with unsweetened chocolate squares. Micro wave in 20 second increments, stirring after each reset, until butter and chocolate is melted together. Remove from microwave and combine sugar immediately. Allow the mixture to cool for a bit, add vanilla extract, salt and eggs one at a time. Slowly stir flour into the mixture until all is combined, add chocolate chips, coffee if using and nuts at this point. Pour batter into baking pan. 

Bake in oven 30-35 minutes. Brownies are done when a tooth pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. 

Pecan Caramel Topping

20 oz. heavy whipping cream 

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups 0f Pecans 

Combine all ingredients into a sauce pan. Place on medium-high heat. Stir constantly until mixture thickens and turns to a caramel color. Remove from heat and stir Pecans in immediately and pour mixture over semi cool brownies. 

Cut and enjoy! 

Official Review

YUM! 

I did find that after everything had cooled I had to warm the brownies up in the oven again to cut through the caramel but it was worth it. Who doesn't like warm brownies and caramel anyway? 

The Great Cupcake Disaster of 2013

As you can probably tell from the title of this post,  this weekends cupcake creation didn't exactly turn out as planned. I will get to that in a little bit. Let us first begin with last week. 

Last week school started up again, the hubby returned home from the states, and it was my precious niece's first birthday! I was also working on a group project for school that was due Saturday. As many of you know, we are anticipating a move back to the United States in late June and the closer we get to that moving date the busier we seem to be every day. I am  totally trying  not to complain in this post, it has just been a hectic couple of weeks. 

 I wanted to make something extra sweet because Friday was my niece Sydney's birthday and being in another country has made me quite sad. I figured this was a good way to celebrate her birthday here, even if we couldn't be with her. 

Sydney Rose 1 year old!

Another thing I have noticed is since starting this blog, I have not done a single chocolate cupcake recipe. It's about time we remedy this situation! I love pairing chocolate and fruit together and one thing that I love and the hubby loves is chocolate covered strawberries. This recipe isn't exactly chocolate covered strawberries, it has been a late spring here and I cannot find decent strawberries ANYWHERE. so I improvised. 

I should have known this weekends cupcakes were going to turn out disastrous. My first inkling should have been that I didn't have time Saturday morning to make my cupcakes. My group project for school was due Saturday and I had to combine all of the work into one working document. This weekend turned into Sunday morning cupcakes and apparently the cupcake gods are not happy with my schedule change. 

If you have been following my blog lately, many of you know that my last couple of homemade cakes have been dense. For me, this has been frustrating because I haven't been able to fix the problem. I admittedly wanted a cupcake that was light and fluffy this time around. Also, I haven't made a chocolate cake from scratch since culinary school and I was oddly intimidated. I broke one of my golden rules, I used a box mix. Box mixes are a sure thing for light and fluffy cupcakes so I broke my rule and was punished severely for it. I did change a few things with the suggested ingredients and then I topped these disasters with berry cream cheese icing. 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Berry Cream Cheese Frosting

(Makes about 20 cupcakes)

Chocolate Cake 

1 chocolate box mix 

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup milk (the box called for water but I like using milk whenever I can)

1/4 cup chocolate chips 

Follow box instructions and remember to only fill the cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full. 

Berry Icing 

2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened 

1/2 cup butter, softened 

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/3 cups raspberry preserves 

1/3 cup strawberry preserves 

This icing is extremely loose! I don't mind it because I like the drippy look. 

So, why do I consider these cupcakes a disaster? They turned out light and fluffy and tasted amazing, not exactly disaster material. I filled the cupcake tins way too full and they popped up so high and they spilled over onto the cupcake pan. They just looked pitiful, I took a few pictures before I cut the tops off. 

After those were messed up, I just pretty much said screw it! I cut the tops off and iced them all. I am going to post the best looking ones because trust me, the ugly ones are UGLY. Other than looks, these cupcakes were delicious! 

Lessons Learned

Buck up and make a chocolate cake from scratch! 

Remember to only fill the cupcake liner 3/4 full!

Bake cupcakes on Saturday morning! 

Relax & Breathe, Breathe, Breathe! 

What is that Smell?

I have a friend that used to live here in Germany that moved almost a year ago to Florida. Her name is Angie, I worked right across the office from his husband Rick who basically became my work husband. When I hear certain songs come on the radio, all I can think is the two of us singing at the top of our lungs in the middle of the office. We were totally professional! Before they moved Angie became a Scensty consultant and so of course I had to support her business. She had a special that was basically, the highest buyer gets free product and if anyone knows me, I am fiercely competitive. A competition for free products on top of that, everyone better watch out! When her special came to an end, I was the lone winner and was given the most perfect gift. Angie knew how much I loved cupcakes and she couldn't have been more spot on.    

This beautiful cupcake warmer joins me every morning as I make breakfast, bake cupcakes, or just drink some coffee. Every time I look at it, I instantly think of two great friends that I sorely miss and hope that one day we can all see each other again! 

It's Finally Spring!

I'm back after a weekend off to visit the wonderful island of Majorca, Spain! We had a fabulous time but I must say that I missed baking my cupcakes and writing about them! If I had to make a cupcake last weekend in Spain, it would have been, Sangria inspired cupcakes. I was sad to notice the lack of cupcakes in Spain, I think if I ever become the American ambassador to Majorca, I will first go to the beach for about a month and then I will open a cupcake store! Anyhow, onto this weekends edition of Saturday Morning Cupcakes! 

The weekend was truly the first taste of spring we have gotten this year! The sun is shining and it's finally warm enough outside not to need a parka and ten layers of clothing. Also, it hasn't rained yet today, but wait five minutes and that could change. Yesterday we went to a house warming BBQ at our good friends house and the theme was bacon and Belgium beer! Our gracious hosts  had bacon wrapped hot dogs, bacon mac n cheese, bacon potato salad, and jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon! Everything was completely decadent and amazing because bacon was of course involved. I decided that there was only one clear way to go with my cupcakes and that was to make French Toast Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream and Bacon Bits sprinkled on top. These were truly amazing cupcakes and probably the best buttercream I've ever created. It was so sweet and maplely! (is that a word)? I used my largest star tip that I have for the frosting but then decided since bacon was going on top it would look great no matter what the outcome.  

So here's the recipe I used: 

French Toast Cake

Makes about 24 Cupcakes

3 sticks of butter, softened 

2 cups of sugar

3 cups flour, sifted 

3 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 cup milk, room temperature

3 tsp vanilla extract 

2 tsp cinnamon (I just sort of sprinkle until I'm happy, I probably put more than the recommended amount.)

1 tsp nutmeg 

1/2 tsp cloves (most people probably don't use cloves in their French toast, but I love it, so please omit if you do not like it, everything will still taste wonderful!)

6 large eggs, room temperature 

Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine butter, sugar, extract, and eggs, stir thoroughly. Combine all dry ingredients, slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 15- 20 minutes or until tops spring back.

Maple Buttercream 

4 sticks of butter, room temperature 

5 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted 

4 tsp heavy cream 

1 1/2 tsp maple extract 

Using a stand or hand mixer, combine butter and sugar thoroughly. Add cream 1 tsp at a time and all of the maple extract. Whip until light and fluffy! 

Bacon Crumble 

I cooked 1 pound of thick bacon, with a few pieces set aside for breakfast. Crumbled all the bacon and put on top of each cupcake.

Review

These cupcakes were a hit! Everyone at the BBQ thought they were amazing and that the bacon really cut the richness of the cake and frosting. I found the cake itself to have delicious flavor but again, they turned out very dense, I don't know if it's something I'm doing wrong or my oven or what! The buttercream was amazing, I could make it every day and dip all my food in it! I hope that you all enjoy this recipe as much as I and all of the party goers did. 

Here are a few pictures from our vacation, I hope you enjoy!