Hidden surprise cupcakes

This post is a little late. I was trying to think of things to do with leftover Halloween candy. I had a bag of mini Twix bars that I wanted to use up.  I decided to try to hide the candy inside of a cupcake. While delicious, they didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped.

The best thing about these cupcakes was that I learned how to make caramel.

Twix-filled Vanilla Cupcakes
with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
(Doesn't that sound healthy?)

First, place the mini-twix bars in the freezer.

Then, start out by making the Salted Caramel Frosting so it can cool in the fridge while we're making the cupcakes.  This is the part where you learn how to make delicious caramel.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil without stirring, until mixture turns yellow in color.  The original recipe says dark amber, but I ended up having to make 2 batches because I burnt the first one. The sugar goes very quickly from yellow to dark amber and if you are too slow pouring the cream in, it tastes burnt. I'll show you what I mean.

Batch #1

I think my problem was also that my saucepan wasn't over the heat evenly, so as you can see the sugar started to burn in that one corner way earlier than the rest of it. I quickly poured the cream in, but it was too late. You can see how dark the first batch of caramel turned out here.

Looks like chocolate, tastes like... burnt sugar. Blech.

Try #2.

Took it off heat at this point and added the cream...

Yum... creamy caramel. Keep stirring until completely smooth. You'll get little lumps of sugar stuck to the bottom like this:

Set aside to cool for about 25 minutes while you make the rest of the buttercream.

Combine the softened butter and salt and beat on medium-high speed until light in
color and fluffy for about 3 minutes. 

 Reduce speed to low (or you'll end up with a powdery mess), add powderedsugar, and mix until completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

 Once cooled,  add your caramel and beat frosting on medium-high speed
until airy and thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes. You can use immediately after this. The original recipe calls for refrigeration after this, but I found it extremely too hard to spread or pipe onto the cupcakes.

Onto the cupcakes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and fill a cupcake pan with paper liners. I only made a batch of 12 cupcakes. Use a mixer to combine the butter, brown sugar and eggs, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl, alternating with the milk. Don't overmix, just get the ingredients to be just incorporated. Then mix in the vanilla.

Fill the prepared cupcake pan 2/3 full with the cupcake batter.

Take the frozen mini Twix bars and place one on each mound of batter.
The batter will bake up over the bars.

Bake at 350 for 16-18 mins. I actually had to bake mine a little longer. Take them out of the oven when the edges are a golden brown. I took mine out too early and after a few minutes the centers collaped into gaping holes. I put them back into the oven for a few more minutes and they came out fine.

Right out of the oven, but too early. Notice no browning at edges.

Much more golden brown on the edges. Notice the remnants from the sunken areas. They pretty much filled back in after re-baking. No worries, that gets covered with the frosting.

Time to frost. I tried to use the frosting straight out of the fridge, like the recipe says, but it was waaaaay too thick and hard to pipe out, or even spread with a knife.  I let it thaw a bit and it made it much easier. You don't need much frosting though, it is very sweet.

Added some sprinkles for fun.

Time to dig in!

The result is a super moist cake with a salty, sweet topping and a crunchy surprise inside! I was sad though because the bar melted so much despite the freezing.  I think it has something to do with the caramel. Some didn't melt all the way through to the bottom.  The cookie from the Twix bar was a nice crunchy addition to the very moist cupcake.  You can try this with any mini-candy bar.

What would your surprise be?

Salted Caramel Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup powdered sugar

1. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil without stirring, until mixture turns yellow in color. 

2. Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring

with a wooden spoon until completely smooth. Set aside until cool to

the touch, about 25 minutes.

3. Combine butter and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with

the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until light in

color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add powdered

sugar, and mix until completely incorporated.

 4. Turn mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add

caramel. Beat frosting on medium-high speed until airy and thoroughly

mixed, about 2 minutes.

For the cupcakes (makes 12):

1 1/2 sticks softened butter

3/4 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Place mini-Twix (or other candy bars) into freezer.

2. Line cupcake pans with paper cups. 

3. Combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Mix in the eggs and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir together to blend. 5. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending

with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated.  Mix in the vanilla.

6. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full with the batter. Place a frozen candy bar on the top center

of each cupcake.

7. Bake at 350 for 16-20 mins. Let cool completely before frosting.