Heath Cupcakes

My grandpa's favorite blizzard flavor was always heath with vanilla ice cream. I took that one step further and made my favorite blizzard flavor heath with chocolate ice cream. Heath and chocolate are such a wonderful combination. I can down multiple Skor bars in one sitting. I really need to commit to running a full marathon to keep up with my food habits.

These cupcakes were based on this version from Baker's Royale. They were a hit with my co-workers and make my top 10 list of favorite cupcakes.

Heath Cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 cup (4.5 oz.) all purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (7.3 oz.) sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (1.5 oz.) unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and warm
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. instant coffee
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup chocolate-covered toffee bits
Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
8 Tbsp. butter, divided
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
Chocolate Drizzle
1/2 cup melted chocolate chips, cooled to room temperature

To prepare cupcakes, preheat oven to 350˚F. Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, instant coffee and salt in a bowl, and mix thoroughly to combine. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute. Add the butter and egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the warm milk. Beat for 20-30 seconds until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thin enough to pour. Beat in toffee pieces. Divide batter evenly among the lined cups. Bake 18 to 22 minutes just until a toothpick inserted into a few of the cupcakes comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool.

To prepare frosting, heat 4 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan until melted. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Cook over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Cool the mixture to room temperature. Meanwhile, beat remaining 4 Tbsp. butter with 2 cups powdered sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Add cooled caramel sauce, and beat until desired consistency, adding more powdered sugar if necessary.

Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes, and drizzle with chocolate. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Caramel Apple Scones

I still have a bag of apples from my parents' farm that I'm slowly baking my way through. It's taking a while, though, since most recipes call for only a couple apples unlike when I made the two giant feed sacks of apples into applesauce.

These scones from Recipe Girl are a good use for a few apples. I adored the caramel drizzle but found the scones themselves to taste a bit too much like baking soda. Perhaps some tweaking to be done there. Or I'll just make the drizzle.

Caramel Apple Scones

Apples
1 Tbsp. butter
1 large Gala or Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped finely
1 tsp. cinnamon
Dough
3 cups Gold Medal® All-Purpose Flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
1 cup Greek vanilla yogurt
Caramel Icing
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 to 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper. To prepare the apples, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the apples. Stir and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until apples are softened. Stir in the cinnamon, and set the apples aside to cool (or to speed up the cooling process, remove them from the heated pan and into a bowl).

In the bowl of a mixer, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Add the butter, and mix again until coarse crumbs form. Stir in the yogurt and apples until the dough comes together. (It will be dry, so you may need to eventually use your hands.) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form roughly a 14 x 4-inch flattened log. Use a sharp knife to cut triangle-shaped scones (11 or 12). Gently pull the triangles apart, and set them on your prepared baking sheet in the same rectangular shape, leaving about 1/2-inch between scones. When they bake, they'll have some room to spread and crowd into each other.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they are cooked through and no longer doughy in the middle. Let the scones cool for a few minutes, and then gently coax them apart with a knife and move them to a rack over a baking sheet.

In small saucepan, heat butter until melted. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Cook over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Transfer to a mixing bowl, and cool the mixture slightly. Stir in the vanilla and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended. If necessary, add up to 1/4 cup more powdered sugar for desired consistency. Drizzle icing over warm scones. Makes 11 to 12 scones.

Cake Batter Ice Cream

So cake batter is a craze now. I've seen recipes pop up online, including one for making your own cake mix to avoid buying one from the store (gasp!). I've seen cake batter ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, including chocolate cake batter ice cream. That right there justifies the fact that I converted Annie's Eats's recipe to be Chocolate Cake Batter Ice Cream. Oddly, I had about 5 (expired) chocolate cake mixes in our cupboard and no white or yellow. Weird. Oh wait, it's not if you know me.

Cake Batter Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1/2 cup cake mix
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sprinkles (optional)

In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of the heavy cream with the cake mix, sugar and salt. Heat over medium heat until warmed through. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks in a medium bowl, and whisk until smooth. Combine the remaining cream, vanilla and whole milk in a large mixing bowl with a fine mesh sieve set over the top.

When the mixture in the saucepan is warm, slowly pour a small amount into the bowl with the egg yolks to temper them, whisking constantly. Continue pouring the cream mixture in a steady stream, whisking continuously until completely combined. Return the mixture to the saucepan over medium heat. Continue heating, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the mixture thickens slightly and reads 170-175˚F on an instant-read thermometer.

Immediately pour the custard mixture through the mesh sieve into the bowl with the remaining cream and milk and mix to blend. Cover and chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.  Once the mixture is chilled through, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions adding sprinkles at the end.  Store in an airtight container in the freezer. Makes about 1 quart.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie. Don't get me wrong. I'll eat it, covered thoroughly in Cool Whip, of course. I'm not opposed to the pumpkin flavor, but I prefer it in other venues like this Pumpkin Ice Cream from Brown-Eyed Baker. This goes perfectly with pumpkin cupcakes, but I'm betting it would make a piece of pumpkin pie even better!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. brandy (optional)
3/4 cup cooked pumpkin

Make an ice bath by putting some ice and a little water in a large bowl, and nest a smaller metal bowl (one that will hold at least 2 quarts) inside it. Set a mesh strainer over the top.

In a medium saucepan mix the milk, cream, granulated sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and salt. Warm the mixture until hot and the edges begin to bubble and foam.

Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl, and gradually whisk in about half of the warm spiced milk mixture, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back in to the saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.

Immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the bowl nested in the ice bath. Mix in the brown sugar, add the cinnamon stick back in, then stir until cool and then chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.

Whisk in the vanilla, liquor (if using) and pumpkin. Press the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Makes about 1 quart.

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

I couldn't not bring pumpkin cupcakes to work on Halloween, so I reached into the Betty Crocker Big Book of Cupcakes for these treats. I modified the frosting recipe a bit, and I could devour that with a spoon. They are great served with pumpkin ice cream (or on their own).

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes
Cupcakes
2 1/3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3 to 4 Tbsp. milk
4 cups powdered sugar
Garnish
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
3 Tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 24 cupcake tins, and set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter 30 seconds on medium speed. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 2 more minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour mixture.

Fill cupcake liners evenly. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes, and then cool completely on wire racks.

To make garnish, heat a skillet over low heat. Add the pecans and 2 Tbsp. sugar. Stir often, and cook until sugar melts. (Note: I added a sprinkling of water to help the process.) Transfer onto wax paper, sprinkle with remaining sugar and cool completely.

To make frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add vanilla, pie spice and 2 Tbsp. milk. Beat well. Gradually add powdered sugar. Add more milk as needed to reach desired consistency. Pipe frosting on top of cupcakes or spread on cupcakes. Top with candied pecans. Make 24 cupcakes.