Creme Brulee Cupcakes!

Cupcakes!

Today I made some Creme Brulee Cupcakes. I saw the recipe on Jamie's Green Kitchen.

I am not one for keeping cake mixes around the house, so I had to look for a recipe for the caramel/french vanilla mix. I found both, and after considerable searching, and modifying this is what I ended up with.

Caramel French Vanilla Cupcakes

Caramel

1/3 c Sugar

Boiling water

Cake Batter

1 1/3 c All-purpose Flour

3 c Cake Flour

1 sm. packet French Vanilla Pudding (instant)

1 1/2 T Baking Powder

1 t Salt

2 1/4 c Sugar

1/2 c Butter, room temperature

3 Eggs

4 Egg Yolks (save the Whites)

1/2 c Oil

1 t Vanilla

Sprinkle 1/3 c sugar in a shallow sauce pan over medium heat. When the sugar is half melted, swirl the pan so that the rest melts evenly. When all the sugar is melted stir until it begins to boil and turns a rusty red color. Remove from heat and add 1/3 c boiling water. Return to medium heat and stir until the caramel has dissolved. Pour into a glass measuring cup. Add more water and repeat, getting more caramel to dissolve. Pour into the measuring cup until liquid level reaches 1/2 cup. Let cool until just warm.

Sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, pudding mix, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until fluffy. Add the eggs and yolks, and beat well. Next add the oil and vanilla, and beat until smooth.

Mix the flour into the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the caramel mixture. When adding the final batch, mix just until smooth. Fill baking cups about 2/3 full, do not over fill (as in the photo) the batter sticks to the top of the muffin tin and is very difficult to remove.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 350*F. Remove onto a rack and let cool completely. This recipe needs to be modified for high-altitude, but should be fine for low. Every single one of my cupcakes fell. I guess that means more frosting, right?

The following frosting recipe is taken from Jamie's Green Kitchen.

Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1 c Light Brown Sugar

4 Egg Whites

¼ t Salt

1 c (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, room temperature

Put sugar, egg whites and salt into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees). Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes total. Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and continue beating 1 minute to reduce air bubbles.

Garnish with some natural sugar crystals and melted sugar chips. Put a thin layer of sugar on parchment paper under the broiler until it melted and browned. When cooled, crack it into little pieces to simulate the "crack" on top of creme brulee.