Snicker’s Cupcakes
Posted by Katie on Apr 7, 2011 in Announcement, baked goods, cupcakes | 7 commentsFirst off, Happy Birthday to me!
For those of you who were following last year you will remember that my co-workers transformed my cube into a kitchen, and made recipes from my blog for lunch that day. It was awesome! I usually make tons of plans for my birthday and make it into a week-long celebration. Not this year. My husband has been working a non-traditional schedule for the past few weeks, and unfortunately he has to work tonight, so no going out with him. My parents work the evenings too, and most of my friends have kids, so going out after work isn’t going to happen. What will happen is attending the Food Blog Forum Seminar Friday night and Saturday day and night! I’m super excited about that, but I’m just “down in the dumps” about my birthday this year, and the lack of celebrating. It’s definitely not because I’m getting older–that part I don’t mind (yet)! So, I leave you with this amazingly awesome cupcake recipe in honor of my birthday!
Once again my go-to cupcake gal, Annie, did not let me down. I, like Annie, make cupcakes for my co-workers birthdays. These were by-far the sweetest cupcakes I’ve ever made. The frosting and chocolate cupcake complimented the caramel/Snickers filling well, and the added chunks of chopped Snickers were a nice touch to the top.
Whenever I make “stuffed” cupcakes I use a mellon baller to scoop out the middle. I find it works best and is quicker than cutting a cone on each individual cupcake. Make sure you read the directions carefully and make your caramel way in advance to making the inside filling. Unfortunately, my filling kind of melted together because my caramel was still a bit warm.
Making the caramel wasn’t all that difficult, either. But it was waiting for it to cool which was the difficult part. If I would have planned more in advance I would have made the caramel a day before.
Source: Annie’s Eats
Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Serves: 24
Ingredients for the Cupcakes:
- 1/2 cup Dutch-Process Powder
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp coarse salt
- 16 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1-3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cups sour cream, at room temperature
Ingredients for the Caramel Sauce:
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Ingredients for the Filling:
- 24 fun-size Snickers bars, chopped
Ingredients for the Frosting:
- 16 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1lb. confectioners’ sugar
- 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup caramel sauce
- pinch of coarse salt
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
Directions:
1. To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350? F. Line standard cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and the sugar over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally to combine, until the butter is melted. Remove the mixture from the heat and transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-low speed, 4-5 minutes, until the mixture is cooled. Mix in the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and then the cocoa mixture and beat until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, beating just until combined.
3. Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. To make the caramel sauce, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar begins to foam a bit. It will look and smell like it’s on the verge of burning. Remove from the heat and add the heavy cream. Stir until the sauce is smooth (you may need to return it to the heat to smooth it out), then mix in the vanilla and salt. Let cool. (This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.)
5. To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone out of the center of each cupcake with a paring knife or mellon baller. To make the filling, combine the chopped Snickers bars in a bowl with 1/3-½ cup of the caramel sauce, and mix to coat. Drop a spoonful of the filling mixture into each cupcake.
6. To make the frosting, add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed 1 minute until smooth. Blend in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla, caramel sauce and salt until incorporated. (Note: the caramel sauce should be just warm enough that it is workable, but not warm enough to melt the butter in the frosting.) Add the heavy cream and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
7. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip. Drizzle the frosted cupcakes with additional caramel sauce and garnish with chopped Snickers bars.
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. 
I seriously want these for breakfast! Today!
Oh yum! So sorry to hear about the lack of proper celebrating on your birthday. I'd be bummed too. I'm glad you have this weekend to look forward to, though!
Many happy returns of the day, Katie!
BTW, I would love it if you'd share some of your recipes in my recipe link up/contest/thingy. You can check it out here. http://bigklittlea.blogspot.com/2011/04/recipe-linky.html
~K
Happy birthday Kate — can't wait to see what your co-workers do for ya this year =)
Happy Birthday again Katie!! <3 I LOVE your birthday cupcakes–I wish I could have them monthly haha
Happy birthday, girl! I'm sorry to hear about the lack of celebrating, I feel your pain
The only people who really celebrate my birthday are my fiancee and my mama. I hope you still have a fantastic day, and a great time at the Food Blog Seminar… hopefully that will be a great belated birthday treat! And your coworkers sound awesome!
happy birthday! snickers cupcakes are a great way to celebrate!