Caramel Kisses

So I know I said I was going to bake as many cupcakes as I possibly could, but I’ve already deviated from that plan. This weekend is my boyfriend Daniel’s grandfather’s birthday, so I decided to make some caramel kisses to add to the feast. I don’t know if anyone has ever been to a Greek celebration but to say there is enough food to feed an army would be an understatement. I love going to Daniels Yiayia and Papou’s house because not only are we surrounded by amazing people, but we get to feast on some of the best food I’ve ever eaten.  I’ve never actually made this recipe before and hadn’t even heard of it until I did a bit of googling. I guess there’s a first time for everything, I just hope everyone likes them / actually eats them!

Recipe:

1 x 250g pkt Arnott’s butternut snap cookies

30g butter

1 x can condensed milk

3 tbs golden syrup

90g melted butter

200g dark chocolate

150ml pouring cream

As always I made some changes to the recipe, I only used about 70mls of cream and I used milk chocolate because my darling boyfriend wanted milk chocolate instead is dark. Also, the recipe I used didn’t specify which lot of butter to use in the biscuit and which to use in the milk. Me - being a novice at the baking, just added the 90g of butter to the biscuits. Huge mistake! So I’d like to say a BIG thank you to my biggest fan and saviour, Andrea (The caramel kisses Queen). If it wasn’t for you saving the day, these would have been a total disaster!

My super quick directions are:

·        Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees.

·        Process bikkies and 30g butter until combined well (I used a mortar and pestle as I don’t have a processor).

·        Butter a mini cupcake tin and press the biscuit mixture into the moulds.

·        Bake in oven for 8 minutes or until golden brown.

·        Meanwhile heat the condensed milk, golden syrup and 90g butter in a saucepan until glossy and smooth.

·        Let the base cool, then spoon milk mixture into the moulds (about ¾ full) and bake for another 12 or so minutes (until golden).

·        Once cool, remove from tin and cool completely.

·        Heat chocolate and cream over water until glossy.

·        Spoon chocolate over the caramel and refrigerate for 30 mins.

These were really easy and fun to make, and they look adorable! Give them a go =]

 

 

Some Party Food

Note: I didn’t get to actually try these until we were at the party, but oh my god they were delicious. Everybody loved them! They tasted like Pods but better! I will definitely be making these again. (and again, and again).

Red Velvet

So this was my very first attempt at making cupcakes from scratch! That might be a bit shocking to some as I bake often, but I usually just stick to the Donna Hay cupcake mix (with a few added ingredients) because it’s so amazingly delicious; albeit quite expensive. So with the help and persuasion of my boyfriend Daniel and good friend Jess, I have decided to make cupcakes as often as I can, and to find the best cupcake recipe!

So to begin, my first attempt was full of blunders and setbacks (hand mixer died, ran out of red food colouring, icing didn't set first time round) but in the end the cupcakes turned out great! The recipe I was using made a crapload of cupcakes. I was going to half it but I had all the ingredients so I just went for it. In the end I had 24 normal sized cupcakes and 24 tiny ones. I was planning on making some vanilla cupcakes to start off (simple and easy) but i was craving some red velvet cupcakes at the time, so i thought id give them a go! I like doing things backwards anyways.

Here's the recipe I kinda used:

3 1/2 cups plain flour

3/4 cup unsalted softened butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs at room temperature

6 tablespoons red food colouring (I used a whole bottle of colouring)

3 tablespoons cocoa

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used about 2 tablespoons)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2cups buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

(note: if you're thinking of leaving out the vinegar or baking soda because it seems a bit odd, or such small quantities or you just forgot like i originally did- DON'T. These two ingredients really make the cake, so to speak).

Icing:

450 grams of philly cream cheese (in the block is best)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into squares)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 cups sifted confectioners sugar (I only used 3 1/2 cups because I didn't want it to be too sweet, but if you're not a massive fan of the cream cheese icing, i'd put it all in)

In the end the cupcakes turned out great!

 They were really yummy, super moist and looked great too!