Turtle Cupcakes
Turtle cupcakes start with a recipe for chocolate cake or a chocolate cake mix.
To start, combine equal amounts of soft caramel candies (werthers makes a good soft caramel) and heavy or whipping cream in a saucepan over low heat. Depending on how big a bag of caramels you purchase, this could total between 1 and 2 cups. Stir frequently until the cream and caramels are integrated into a caramel ganache. Add 1 full teaspoon of good sea salt, preferably grey. Allow to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, make the cake batter to the directions in the recipe or on the box. Integrate a 1/4 cup of your salted caramel to the cake batter, before portioning out.
While the cake bakes, prepare a chocolate, caramel frosting:
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. Margarine
2 oz. unsweetend chocolate, melted
1/4 c. of salted caramel
Sifted powdered sugar to proper consistency, perhaps 2-4 cups. Sifted sugar is hard to use volumetrically.
Mix the fats together until whipped evenly. Add the caramel and melted chocolate together. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add sifted powdered sugar until you reach the thickness you desire.
While cupcakes cool, place 1/2 c. of whole pecans into a ziptop bag and hit them with a rolling pin until they are roughly the size of peppercorns.
After frosting the cupcakes, add a whole pecan to the center of the cupcake. Add 6-10 chocolate chips to the top, and sprinkle with the crushed pecans. Drizzle with remainder of the salted caramel.
Keep in a cool place, or refrigerate if out for more than a few hours.
~DJ~
To start, combine equal amounts of soft caramel candies (werthers makes a good soft caramel) and heavy or whipping cream in a saucepan over low heat. Depending on how big a bag of caramels you purchase, this could total between 1 and 2 cups. Stir frequently until the cream and caramels are integrated into a caramel ganache. Add 1 full teaspoon of good sea salt, preferably grey. Allow to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, make the cake batter to the directions in the recipe or on the box. Integrate a 1/4 cup of your salted caramel to the cake batter, before portioning out.
While the cake bakes, prepare a chocolate, caramel frosting:
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. Margarine
2 oz. unsweetend chocolate, melted
1/4 c. of salted caramel
Sifted powdered sugar to proper consistency, perhaps 2-4 cups. Sifted sugar is hard to use volumetrically.
Mix the fats together until whipped evenly. Add the caramel and melted chocolate together. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add sifted powdered sugar until you reach the thickness you desire.
While cupcakes cool, place 1/2 c. of whole pecans into a ziptop bag and hit them with a rolling pin until they are roughly the size of peppercorns.
After frosting the cupcakes, add a whole pecan to the center of the cupcake. Add 6-10 chocolate chips to the top, and sprinkle with the crushed pecans. Drizzle with remainder of the salted caramel.
Keep in a cool place, or refrigerate if out for more than a few hours.
~DJ~