Food testing

Customize your cupcakes!

Cupcakes are so hot right now. Everywhere I look there are gourmet cupcakes. This is an easy thing to do for the home cook. A few dramatic garnishes and, voila! super fancy cupcakes. This last weekend, I made two different cupcakes, Smores and HOT cakes.

S'mores - Bake some chocolate cupcakes. When they come out of the oven, place a piece of chocolate on top. I took chocolate squares and broke them into triangles. I stuck the tip of the triangle into the hot cupcake so it would melt just a little bit. Let the cupcakes cool. Really. Frozen would even be good. Take a jar of marshmallow fluff and scoop it on top of each cupcake. It is best to grease the bowl AND back of the spoon that you are using to do this. After your marshmallow fluff is on top, you can throw on a few mini marshmallows. Take out your Brulee torch and toast the tops. Of course, be careful of the cupcake papers. They catch on fire. Top each cupcake with a piece of gram cracker. Warn people that the cupcakes are messy.

HOT cakes - Make white or vanilla cupcakes. When mixing in the sugar, add about 1 tbs of cinnamon. (if you are using a cake mix, mix it into the dry ingredients) Bake. Cool. Mix the glaze. 1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of cayenne. Mix the dry ingredients 1-2 tablespoons milk and a table spoon of vanilla. Start with less liquid, otherwise you will end up with too thin of glaze. You can add red food coloring if you would like to let people know that this is hot. Put the cupcakes upside down on a foil lined jelly roll sheet and scoop the glaze over the top. The glaze will be messy. Place a few cinnamon candies on the top. After about 15 minutes, the glaze will set. Move the cupcakes to a plate and enjoy!

What ideas do you have to fancy up cupcakes?

posted by watterflower @ 9:22 AM