Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes and a Surprise Addition

Our church has a ministry to cancer patients and every year, right around Valentine's Day, we host a banquet for those patients who are well enough to attend, along with their caregivers. It's a night of encouragement, fun, and, of course, food. This year, the colors are black and gold, so I wanted to create a special dessert that showcased those colors. This is what I came up with. 

Chocolate Salted Caramel cupcakes. This was a test subject I made ahead of time, hence the polka dots. For the banquet, they'll have plain black wrappers. I'll tell you more about these in a minute.

So, you may or may not remember that we lost our sweet Golden Retriever Dixie back in October, leaving us with just our little Maddie. But Friday, this little guy wandered up to our house, hungry and thirsty. 

Met Marvel. He looks bigger here than he really is. He only weighs ten pounds and the vet tells us he's about two years old, so he's done growing. 

We have no idea where he came from. He had no collar, no microchip. Then again, out here in the country,  people rarely choose their pets. Instead, pets usually choose their owners. Uncaring people have dogs and cats they don't want, so they often take them for a ride and dump them somewhere, which is what we suspect was the case with this little guy. So, it looks like he's here to stay.

Maddie isn't all that thrilled, however, she is coming around. She just wants everyone to know that she's still top dog. 

Now back to the cupcakes. Since I knew I was going to use the salted caramel, I wanted a nice rich chocolate cake and this one was perfect. Lots of chocolate flavor.

Then I topped it with my usually buttercream icing, which is 4 cups sifted confectioners sugar, 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 1-2 tablespoons milk to thin as needed.

Now for the salted caramel. 

I found  this recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction and you can get it here. It's not difficult to make, though it does take time, more than the ten minutes stated in the recipe. But the result was a beautiful and delicious salted caramel which was then drizzled over the cupcakes.

Simple and delicious with a pretty presentation. Exactly what I wanted.

The banquet isn't huge, but it's an event meant to take the attendees minds off of cancer and treatments, have some fun and mingle with others. It also serves to inspire hope and share the good news of Jesus Christ. And those two things are something the world could use a lot more of.

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.

 

Cookies-and-Cream-Filled Cupcakes

Mindy here, and between deadlines and preparing to head off to the annual ACFW Conference in San Antonio, I have not done a lot of cooking. And definitely no baking. But that doesn't mean I don't dream about it. Since I've been dreaming of cupcakes, I thought we'd revisit these indulgent Cookies-and-Cream-Filled Cupcakes I share a few years ago.

I started with my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. You can find that recipe here. Once the cupcakes have cooled, core out a little belly button in the center of the cupcake. You can use a cupcake corer (which you can see at the back of this photo - they're inexpensive and easy to use) or apple corer or a knife. Whatever works for you. 

For the filling, you will need:

• 8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
• 4 oz. butter, salted or unsalted (I only had unsalted, so that's what we went with)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 12 Double Stuff Oreos, pulverized

First, to take care of the Oreos. And no, that does not mean eating them. The recipe only calls for 12, so there are plenty left in the package for eating. Preferably with a nice cold glass of milk. :)

I put the 12 in my food processor and pulsed them until they were where I wanted them. Nice and crumbly, but not powdered. If you don't have a food processor, a zip-top plastic bag and a rolling pin can achieve the same results. Not to mention remove any pent up frustrations you might have.

Next, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla. Then slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

 

Fold in the crushed cookies.

 Sample the fruits of your labor.

Mmmmm...

Now the recipe says to use the filling immediately or refrigerate until ready to use. Of course, if you do this, it will get stiff. Since our cupcakes were waiting to have their tummies filled, I spooned the filling to a disposable decorator bag with the tip cut off to give me an opening that was just the right size for the holes I was filling. This didn't take long and got the job done with no mess at all.

However, once they were filled, I had to figure out what to frost them with. I mean what kind of frosting goes well with cookies and cream filling. My son suggested cookies and cream frosting, but I asserted my veto power. Instead, I opted for the chocolate frosting Ruthy touted in one of her posts. (recipe here)

Yet for as wonderful as the frosting was, it was a little overpowering for the filling. Next time, I think I will just dip the tops in a simple layer of ganache. Because, after all, the filling really is the star of the show.

I gotta say, the filling really is amazing. And what a way to wow your friends. So what do you think? Are cookies-and-cream-filled cupcakes worth a try?

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.

Chocolate Cupcakes So Good, the Frosting is Optional

Yep, you read that right. A cupcake so moist, so delicious, that you might not even want frosting. I stumbled onto this recipe several years ago when two of my kids and I were craving cupcakes. You know, the fancy kind they make on TV. An internet search led us to this recipe that had a chocolate ganache coating and a marshmallow frosting. Except we ended up loving the cake so much, that nowadays it's referred to as "those chocolate cupcakes that don't need frosting."

One of the other things I really like about this recipe is that while it is made from scratch, it's still has the nice, fluffy texture of a good box mix. There's nothing dense about this cake.

Here's what you'll need to make them:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

By the way, this recipe came from www.thefoodnetwork.com/cupcakewars.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two regular size cupcake pans with liners.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the eggs, half-and-half, oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Stir in the boiling water until fully combined. (FYI, batter will be thin)

Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full with batter and bake until the cupcakes spring back when touched with your finger, 10-15 minutes. Let cool in the pans for a few minutes, and then removed to a wire rack to cool completely.

These were from my oldest son's birthday this past weekend. They are his all-time favorite cupcakes.

So last week I told you about the baby birds that had hatched in the bucket outside of our dining room window.

This picture was taken the day after my post. Would you believe that when I went to check on them the next morning, they were gone? Hatched, grown, feathered and gone all in ten days or less. Nature is truly amazing.

And since we're in the dog days of summer, I just can't help but share a gratuitous grandbaby picture to brighten your day.

Don't you wish you could rock pink sunglasses like that?

Well, I'm gearing up for RWA next week, but first I have a proposal to finish up. Then I'm New York City bound and praying there won't be another blackout.

What exciting, or mundane, things are going on in your world?

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.