MangiaMore: TRICK or TREAT cupcakes

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RER 11.1.13

The final cupcake in the Halloween Cupcake Wars, was crunchy, chocolaty, salty and caramelly, the Trick or Treat Cupcakes. Refined caramel cake, with smooth chocolate buttercream frosting and a fun topping of crunchy homemade caramel corn with savory surprises. Trick or treat, sweet or salty.

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The moment I saw this recipe on The Cake Blog, I knew I needed to make it. It wasn't for the caramel cupcake, or the caramel batter, or the caramel frosting, it was definitely because of the caramel corn. And in the blog post featuring these cupcakes, the caramel corn was littered with another one of my most favorite things, candy corn. I HAD to have it.

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See, the thing with me is, anything with popcorn is simply irresistible. My sister and I went to the Izod Center this weekend to see Mr. JT (!), but once I saw the concession stands offered popcorn, that was my focus. I found myself more fixated on my box of popcorn than his smooth moves. When I'm bored I eat popcorn, when I'm sad I eat popcorn, when I'm happy I eat popcorn. Sweet, spicy, salty, buttery, it doesn't matter. It is literally one of the only things I crave. So when I saw this recipe, and sweet, delicious, salty caramel popcorn parading in the images, I knew it was going to be a contender.

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There was nothing particularly difficult about the recipe, though preparing the popcorn (melting down the butter, sugar and corn syrup until it was that amber color) was the most intimidating. Tossing some sunflower (salty) seeds and candy corn (sweet) on the hot caramel corn right after the oven seemed delicious and intriguing in theory, but in practice the extra toppings did not stick. But no worries, the popcorn won’t last long. 

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 note: I would highly recommend making a full batch of the popcorn, even for half a batch of the cupcakes. It is super addictive.

Instead of making another layer of caramel, caramel frosting, I decided to whip up a quick batch of chocolate frosting to counter the salty sweetness of the popcorn. The chocolate frosting broke up the monotony of caramel, and added another adult flavor to the cupcake’s profile. As it turns out, it was pretty tasty. The caramel cake was not very sweet, and it almost tasted like plain cake with a hint of browned sugar and caramel. The popcorn added a fun texture and a pretty decorative element. All the pieces came together nicely, for a festive treat that can be adapted for any holiday.

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note: do not put popcorn in the freezer or fridge, it turns into a soggy mess (learn from my mistake).

And that wraps up this year’s Halloween Cupcake Wars! Stay tuned for more food fun and check out our facebook and twitter!

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11.8.13

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