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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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| RER 11.1.13 |
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| RER 10.29.13 |
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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| RER 11.1.13 |
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| RER 10.29.13 |
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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| RER 11.1.13 |
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| RER 10.29.13 |
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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| RER 11.1.13 |
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| RER 10.29.13 |
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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| RER 10.29.13 |
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| RER 11.1.13 |
note: do not put popcorn in the freezer or fridge, it turns into a soggy mess
(learn from my mistake).
RER
11.8.13
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| RER 11.1.13 |
