DESSERT FOR A FIRST COMMUNION!

Last Saturday was first holy communion for our 8 year old boy/girl twin grand-babies and I was asked to bring a dessert for the celebration dinner afterwards.  I wanted to do something that was symbolic to the occasion and yet please the kiddos so I came up with a double caramel toffee cupcake with holy trinity cupcake wrappers.

This is the easy part - making the cupcakes. If you use a mix I recommend sifting - ignoring the instructions on the box I added the ingredients that I thought would make my "toffee" cupcake.

 Makes 2 dozen cupcakes.

Homemade caramel is very easy to make but having said that it might take a little time to perfect as you don't want it too thin or with crystals, or hard candy or worst burn the caramel.  I think the nose is very important when making caramel, not just the color. If you start to smell even the hint of a burned smell, get it off the heat now. If you are going to use store bought caramel then you can ignore all the caramel information - just make sure you purchase a thick caramel as the thin will not work and you might end up with a mess.

Cook the sugar and water until you get that nice rich color....

At this point you are going to add in the butter and finally the cream.

There you have it....a nice jar of yummy caramel, just four ingredients, that's all.

Since I had not tried this before my instinct was to bake the cupcakes the night before I needed them, let them cool and then top with the caramel and refrigerate over night. The reason you want thick caramel is because if it is thin it will just run off the cupcake and make them soggy.  I added caramel once, let them sit for awhile and then added the second coat before refrigerating them.

The final step is to make the caramel frosting.  This is another reason you need the thicker caramel because it goes into the frosting and once again if you use the thin caramel your frosting will not be stiff enough and adding more powdered sugar will diminish the caramel flavor.

Once the frosting is done, added some chocolate jimmies, a malted milk ball and 1/3 of a straw - to make them look like a "milkshake" cupcake.

Voila - double caramel toffee cupcake!  I am recommending serving these on a plate with a spoon as they are just a little gooey with the caramel. A note about cupcake wrappers - they usually have two slots at the back, a bit apart so you can make a choice about the size you want. They some times come apart, to avoid this once you have put the end into the slot take a piece of Scotch tape and place inside the wrapper to keep it held firm and therefore unable to come apart.

Cupcake Recipe

Package Duncan Hines cake mix, either French Vanilla or yellow, sifted
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp vanilla paste or 1/2 t vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup Heath Bar English toffee bits

Sift the cake mix into your mixer bowl then add the milk, veggie oil and sour cream and mix to combine, add the vanilla, the eggs one at a time, mix until the eggs are combined and then add the toffee bits.

Bake in a 350° oven 18-21 minutes

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

4 Tablespoons butter, softened
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or 1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup thick caramel, homemade or store bought
 4 cups confectioners sugar

Cream together the butter and cream cheese, add the vanilla and caramel and then gradually add the confectioners sugar.  Once it is all combined let it whip for a few minutes until nice and fluffy.  If too thick add a little cream, if too loose add some more sugar.

Caramel Sauce

1 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
1/4 + 2 tablespoons water
6 Tablespoons salted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream

Set all the ingredients beside your pan on the stove. I like to use my copper pan but if you don't have one use a heavy bottomed pan, heat the sugar and the water over medium heat, whisk constantly until the sugar is all dissolved, bring to a boil and stop whisking, allow the mixture to boil to a dark tawny color, if it starts to smell like it is burning take off the heat immediately - once the color is good, turn off the heat and add the butter whisking until melted.  Then, add the cream and whisk - it will bubble up - keep whisking until it is smooth.  Pour into a clean glass jar and let it cool.

To assemble the cupcakes:  I made the cupcakes the day before I was going to need them and once completely cooled I took some of the cooled caramel and using a spoon full, took the back of the spoon and spread evenly on the top of the cupcake.  Once the first layer has dried for a bit I came back and added a second layer and put the cupcakes, uncovered in the refrigerator.

Then using a Wilton 2D tip frosted the top of the cupcakes, added the chocolate jimmies, topped with a malted milk ball and added the 1/3 cut straw.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Resource

Brown & white striped straws, Brown Striped Paper Straws - 24 pcs
Greaseproof cupcake papers,64 Premium White Cupcake Liners / Bake Cups / Cupcake Wrappers - Greaseproof, No Muffin Pan Needed Cupcakes Papers - Free Recipe Ebook with Baking Cups - 100% Bobbi Jean's Guarantee
Christian Holy Trinity cupcake wrappers,Christian Holy Trinity Faith 3 Crosses Cupcake Wrappers- Set of 12 - Use Liners At Baptisms & Christenings
 Chocolate jimmies,Wilton 710-168 Chocolate Jimmies Food Decorative, 6.25-Ounce

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