Love, the King and Queen of Far, Far, Away a.k.a. Mum and Dad

Do you know what is really difficult?  Stopping in the middle of the cooking to take pictures.  Some may even call that obnoxious.  Especially when you have a very basic camera and what very well could be the most unsuitable kitchen-as-photography-studio in the world.  Don't get me wrong, I like the kitchen just fine, but the colors, lights, and window location make it look like a cave in photographs.  Also, I may have put my memory card in a safe place after the last entry, and of course, that safe place was not back in the camera, so I have absolutely no idea where it is - but it is safe!  And so, even though I have made any number of yummy things in the almost four months since I last posted anything, I have not been photo-documenting, and so, no blog, because lets be honest, the photos are the best part of food blogs.  But I have complaints from my "fans" (a.k.a. my Mom and Dad), so here goes.

Of the many yummy things I have made recently, the yummiest by far have to have been what was called "the Brice."  "The Brice" is a salted caramel truffle.  They're amazing.  I made them for a bridal shower I threw for my former roommate with the assistance of my current roommate and her former roommate.  I actually do have pictures of the bridal shower.  What I do not actually have pictures of are the truffles.  There was also a  coffee-hazelnut truffle known as "the Kelly," and it was also very good.  In fact, I feel a little bad for "the Kelly," because everyone kept raving about how much they loved "the Brice," and it seemed like "the Kelly" was just an afterthought, even though it was very good.  And now that I have mentioned the truffles several times, and talked about how delicious the truffles were, I feel compelled to tell you this post is not about truffles.  In fact, this post is not even about chocolate, because I now know four (four!) people who do not like chocolate, which I still do not understand, because chocolate is amazing.  However, this post is about salted caramel, which is pretty amazing on its own.  Of course, it is more amazing when combined with chocolate, but it was not meant to be.  This time.

This weekend, Roommate and I went to visit a friend who recently moved to Louisiana.  I was asked to bring cupcakes.  I asked what type of cupcakes I should bring, and I was told "white cupcakes, white frosting.''  There are a lot of people who love white cake with white frosting.  I am not one of them, but it was what was requested, so I was all set to make white cupcakes with white frosting.  And then Pinterest came to the rescue, with this photo:

Yes, that is salted caramel frosting.  It looked and sounded amazing, and I really wanted to try it.  And fortunately, I got the go-ahead to replace the white frosting with salted caramel frosting.  

The first step in making salted caramel frosting is to make salted caramel.  Now, making caramel can be a tricky business, and until I made the truffles, I had never made caramel before and had no idea how it would go.  Fortunately for me, and everyone at the shower, it turns out I am a natural at making caramel.  I could just tell when it was done, and it turned out beautifully.  If you do not turn out to be a natural caramel-maker, you could also just melt some of those square soft caramels you buy in the store and stir in some salt.

To make caramel, start by dissolving a lot of sugar in a little bit of water, which is accomplished by stirring it over low heat.  Once the sugar is completely dissolved, stop stirring, and let the sugar come to a boil.  It will look more like foamy spit than like water boiling:

A word of warning: sugar gets really hot while it is cooking.  You should never, under any circumstances, attempt to touch/taste the caramel while it is cooking.  It will not end well - do not do it.  Plus, it is just water and sugar, it is nothing exciting taste-wise (at this point).     

A second word of warning: once the sugar starts boiling, do not, under any circumstances, walk away from the stove.  If you walk away from the stove, the mixture will burn, and you will die.  Well, you probably won't die.  You will however have to suffer through the horribleness that is burnt sugar.  It will smell, it will be a disaster to clean up, and most importantly, it will not lead to caramel.  So, to reiterate, do not walk away.  

Once the boiling sugar turns amber-colored, remove it from the heat, let it cool for 30 seconds, and pour in some cream.  Do this carefully, because boiling sugar-water plus cold cream can bubble pretty boisterously. Mine did not, but that is probably because the cream had been sitting on the counter for awhile, so it was not cold:

Once the bubbling dies down, stir to combine the cream with the sugar-water mixture.  Once the cream is incorporated, stir in the butter, lemon juice, and salt.  And voila, salted caramel sauce!

Once the caramel cools, proceed with the making of the frosting, frost the cupcakes, and enjoy!

White Cupcakes
from Your Cup of Cake

1/2 c oil
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
3/4 c buttermilk
3/4 c sour cream
1 T vanilla
1 box white white cake mix

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line pans with cupcake liners (or spray with baking spray).
2. Combine all ingredients except for cake mix in a large bowl.
3. Sift in cake mix, stir until combined.  
4. Fill cupcake pan 3/4 full and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.

Salted Caramel
from Kimberly Taylor Images via Blooming on Bainbridge

1 c sugar
4 T water
2 T light corn syrup
1/2 c heavy cream
2 T butter
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt or sea salt

1. Combine water, sugar, and corn syrup in a large pan, and stir with a wooden spoon over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
2. Cover the saucepan and let it cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
3. After 3 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
4. Do not stir from this point on, instead, swirl the liquid around the pan so the caramel does not burn.
5. Continue to cook until the caramel turns an even amber color then remove from the heat and let stand for about 30 seconds.
6. Pour the heavy cream into the mixture.  It will bubble up and it is very hot.
7. Stir the mixture, then add the butter, lemon juice, and salt and stir until combined.
8. Measure 1 cup into a glass measuring cup.  Stir occasionally, allow to cool until thicken and warm to the touch, about any 20 minutes.  The remaining caramel can be stored in the fridge in a covered container until you find another use for it.

Salted Caramel Frosting

from Kimberly Taylor Images

2 sticks butter, room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

3-4 c powdered sugar, sifted

1 c salted caramel

1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.
2. Add 2 c of powdered sugar, beat to combine.
3. Add the salted caramel, beat to combine.  
4. Add additional powdered sugar until the frosting is the sweetness and consistency you desire.

The Verdict:

The cake part of the cupcake was very good, but I think the frosting needs a little work.  The salted caramel sauce did not taste overly salty, so I added a little more salt.  It still did not really have the salty taste I was expecting, but I did not want to add too much salt and have it be inedible.  Later, while cleaning up, I discovered a lot of the salt had clumped together on the bottom of the pan, so it might have been better to add the salt after the caramel has cooled a little longer.  Also, probably because of the lack of salt, the lemon flavor was much more prevalent than I was expecting, especially when the cupcakes were at room temperature (vs. chilled).  However, the cupcakes were very well received by the people they were made for, so all in all they were a success.