Chocolate Toffee Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

So, for the past year about, I have been taking Amitriptyline for my fibromyalgia (yay, comorbidities!) which doesn't do much for the fibro, but does work as an antihistamine, so I am no longer reactive to baking soda or baking powder (amongst other things, like corn), which means, OMG CUPCAKES!

I missed cupcakes so much. I mean, sponge cakes are fine and dandy, and pound cake is all right, but it isn't a soft delicious cupcake.

So I made some cupcakes today. It took me four days to build up the motivation to do it, but they are way delicious, and beautiful!

I used a regular boxed cake, but if you know that baking powder doesn't work for you, there are plenty of cake recipes out there (and in this blog), to choose from.

And I also totally didn't use measuring cups when I made this, so my measurements are approximate. You can do that with frosting. Not so much with cake recipes.

Ingredients:

-Cake-

Boxed chocolate cake mix (I used german chocolate) + the stuff it says you need to make it (likely oil, water, eggs)

1 cup chocolate toffee chips (you can find it on the baking aisle near the chocolate chips, or just break up toffee bars)

-Frosting-

8 oz. cream cheese

1 stick butter

1 12 oz. jar of caramel (I used Smucker's Hot Caramel sauce at room temperature- you can make your own but I have no energy to do that)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 cups or more of organic corn-free powdered sugar (to taste... I really didn't measure, so just keep tasting it and add slowly to get sweet but not too sweet) 

Directions:

Make the cake according to its instructions, mix in toffee chips at the very end and portion into lined cupcake tins (makes 24), about 3/4 full. Bake according to package instructions. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream together the cream cheese and butter. Whip in the caramel and salt. Add the powdered sugar to the frosting at low speed, taste and add more as needed. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and continue to whip until it is all incorporated and a pleasing consistency (you know, like frosting and neither like soup, nor like a lumpy mess of sadness). Place in a piping bag, or a ziplock if you are super fancy like me, and pipe frosting onto cupcakes.

Garnish with extra toffee chips, or perhaps some fancy salt.  

Penuche - Brown Sugar Fudge

When I was a little girl, living in Southern California, my family used to take weekend trips to Tijuana Mexico every once in a while. My greatest memory was visiting the candy shops during the Autumn when they had displays full of Dia de la Muerta (Day of the Dead) candies: little sugar skulls,  bright colored marzipan figures, and cubes of buttery caramely brown sugar fudge that had a bit of a salty finish. I had no idea what it was but I loved it, and I got some every time we went. 

This recipe is an homage to the candy I had and loved as a child. 

If you don't have a candy thermometer, which I highly recommend having if you make candy with any frequency, you can use the cold water method to check the state of your candy.  With a bowl of very cold water (throw a piece of ice in there for good measure) once the mixture has been boiling for about 10 minutes (this is totally an estimate, look up water method if you've not used it before, please) over medium to medium low heat, drop a small bit of sugar mixture into the cold water and create a ball, it should smoosh like a pancake when you take it out of the water hence “soft ball stage.”

Peanut Butter Cream Pie - For Mikey

This morning, I read about "Peanut Butter Pie Friday" and it broke my heart.  After crying for a bit, I decided that I needed to participate.  Two years ago, my husband woke up unable to walk, having suffered a stroke during the night, and it was one of the most terrifying events in my life.  I was so scared I would lose him, and I still am, though he has healed completely, and is well medicated and closely watched now.  My heart goes out to Jennie of "In Jennie's Kitchen," and her family, and though I don't know her and had never visited her food blog before today, I wanted to add to Mikey's memory, for my Mike.  So here is my version of Mikey's favorite Creamy Peanut Butter Pie. The loss of a loved one is a great fear of so many, but we must also remember that we need to live, as fully as we can, every day.

Old Fashioned Fudge

Fudge is so very delicious but so expensive when other people make it for you, which seems silly when one understands how easy it is.  Of course, there is the chance of burns and the fear of not getting the temperature just right, but, with how cheap the ingredients are, you can always start again, or enjoy some chocolate caramels. This recipe is an old-fashioned fudge.  Simple, salty, sweet and delicious. If you want to add nuts or  marshmallows, or anything else to it, go for it... just add it towards the end of the last stirring stage.

Cream Cheese Cutout Cookies

This is a delicious slightly tangy cookie.  It is not too sweet and stands up to decorating well.  Make sure the dough is still chilled before you put them in the oven or they tend to spread and make you shapes look a little mutated. Great with Royal Icing!

Key Lime Pie

This just happens to be gluten-free thanks to the rice check cereal crust.  And furthermore it is delicious.
It makes a BIG pie, so you can easily half the recipe and make it in an 8" pie pan.

Chocolate Covered Salted Toffee Almond Matzo

I was looking for matzo cookie recipes and came across this recipe from about.com and adapted it to create a super delicious treat.  I'm even posting it early to give you a chance to make it before Passover is over, because it is really amazing.  It tastes very much like a Skor bar, which is one of my favorite candies ever. It is relatively easy to make and I hope you will!

Cream Puffs

Pate a Choux (pronounced patty-shoo) is the French name for cream puff dough. Cream puffs are one of the quintessential French desserts.  Using this recipe you can make eclairs and cream puffs, as well as funnel cakes (by simply deep frying the piped batter in hot oil).  Fillings can vary from sweet, like the banana foster variation in the picture, made by mixing mashed banana and caramel syrup with whipped topping and freezing, and covering with a caramel sauce thickened with powdered sugar or a traditional ice cream and chocolate topping, to savory, by filling with cream cheese mixtures or even chicken or tuna salad.   Whatever, they are delicious and a great bread-like option.


Should your puffed shells have a habit of falling, poke the side of them with a tooth pick as they are removed from the oven to allow the air inside to cool more quickly.

Mini Deep Dish Apple Pies

This makes 6 mini pies but can easily be doubled to make a full tray. You can use excess scraps of the dough to create cute decorations for the top of the pies if you are feeling creative.  Be sure to peel the apples thoroughly and rinse them as the skin has quite a bit of yeast.

Product Recommendation- Haagen Dazs Raspberry Sorbet

Haagen Dazs Rasberry sorbet is a great dairy-free sweet treat.  It comes in little single serves for about a dollar.  They are quite convenient when you don't want to clean a bowl, or a spoon, or eat directly out of the big carton because it makes you feel like there might be something emotionally wrong with you.  I like it a lot, and it causes no ill effects.

photo by random letters 

Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

My sister wrote me an email asking for a peanut butter cookie recipe.  She doesn’t like cooking like I do, and so I gave her this recipe and she replied that I knew her well.  With just 4 ingredients, it cannot get much easier. If you like, you can use just one kind of sugar, bringing it down to just 3 ingredients, but I like the variety of the two sugars. This can also be done by hand, if you do not have an electric mixer, or don't feel like cleaning it. It can also be halved easily for a smaller batch.

Product Recommendations- Arby's Chocolate Turnover

When I want a rich delicious dessert treat while out and about, one of my favorite safe goodies is Arby's Chocolate Turnover. There is no yeast, no leavening, just light flaky puff-pastry and creamy rich chocolate. In fact, I just devoured one before remembering that I intended to take a picture of the next one I got, so I have this stock googled picture.

At just a dollar, it is a wonderful deal and so tasty!

For the record, although Arby's makes two other flavors of turnovers, this is the only one that is yeast free.

Perfect Waffles

It is important to give the eggs enough time to inflate and to fold them carefully, as that is what leavens this sweet fluffy waffle. Top with strawberries, sliced and macerated with sugar over night, and whipped cream for a special breakfast, or your favorite syrup for every day. Extras can be frozen and reheated later.

Product Recommendation- Nutella

Nutella is a great treat made of cocoa and hazelnuts. It is wonderful by the spoonful, or on a cookie, or piece of pound cake, or even with ice cream. It can also be used to make chocolate turnovers using pre-made pie crust or a chocolate hazelnut croissant by rolling it in puff pastry!

I used to eat Nutella as a kid and am glad I can still enjoy it. 

And here is a link to a dollar off coupon for it!

Chocolate Sponge Cake

This recipe requires folding. Folding means cutting through the batter with a large rubber-type spatula to gently mix one ingredient into another, usually whipped egg whites or whipped cream. You have to be very careful when you do this or it will deflate the batter and you end up with something quite flat and uncake-like. If you are too timid though, and don't fold in the dry ingredients completely, you get big gross chunks of unsweetened cocoa powder, which, I know from experience, is not very enjoyable. Take the time and care and it really makes a delicious naturally leavened cake.  And yes, it really does cook completely in 10-12 minutes!

When preparing a pan with parchment, you can spray the pan lightly with non-stick spray to make the parchment cling to the pan. Take care not to get any of the spray on the top side of the parchment as the cake needs the be able to hold on to the paper to bake correctly.

Caramel Fudgy Brownies

This is a basic leavening-free brownie recipe.  It is very rich and fudge-like.  Of course, you can add toasted nut, candy bits, or different flavored chips in these.  I've made them with white chocolate chips, with heath bar pieces, and with a vanilla coffee frosting.  The yeast content of your additions is the only thing that should limit the many ways this can be personalized to your taste!

Simple Cheesecake

I like to make the crust with a sweetened cocoa rice cereal, but you can use any type you like (or have on hand) for your crust, just check labels to make sure there is no cornstarch.  Vanilla powder can be found in specialty cooking stores or online and is used to avoid the alcohol in extracts which often times contain yeast.  It can be replaced with vanilla bean paste or “safe” vanilla extract made without ethyl alcohol.
If you wish to cut the recipe in half for a mini cheesecake, use a 6-7 inch springform and lower baking time to  about 30 minutes.  (see information on safe products here)