Thursday, October 11, 2007

Butterscotch Cupcakes


Never before has a cupcake seemed so decadent. So much butter, cream and sugar couldn't be anything else right? It was recently Foges' birthday and workplace tradition stipulates you bring cake for eveyone else to enjoy. Our workplace is getting so big now that 2 cakes are needed. As Foges had her sister visiting she didn't have time to cook, so I volunteered to make cupcakes to supplement a bought cake. Now call me noble (go on...) but really I just wanted an excuse to make cupcakes again. It's been a while.

Butterscotch cupcakes are simply a burst of cream and caramel in your mouth. As directed by a 2006 Donna Hay magazine I whipped butterscotch flavoured liqueur into cream and drizzled messily with caramel sauce. Incase you're wondering, yes that bottle of cheap butterscotch schnapps you bought to have CS Cowboys will do. That's what I used, it was left over from a cocktail party, honest.

These cakes have surprisingly few ingredients. As they emerge from the oven and you snatch a warm one for eating then and there, you will be worried that they're not cooked enough. Give them a little time (overnight) and they seem to bind together. My greediness and impatience led to a self destructing sticky mess of cake, cream and caramel. This got me a little worried however the next day at work they were near perfect texture. Phew. I had visions of caramel stickiness forever on the office floor, people eyeing me darkly whenever they got stuck.

Give them a go, I think you will be amazed at the delicateness of flavour in a seemingly rich cake.

Butterscotch Cupcakes (Donna Hay, May/June 2006)

250 g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

For the Caramel:
25 g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup single or pouring cream

Butterscotch Cream:
2 cups double (thick) cream
3 Tbsp butterscotch flavoured liqueur

To make the caramel, place the butter and sugar in a saucepan over high heat and stir until dissolved. Add the cream and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 min or until slightly thickened. Set aside and cool completely

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour and baking powder and beat until combined. Fold through the milk and spoon the mixture into 2 12 hole, 1/2 cup capacity muffin tins (lined with pretty paper cases of course). Bake for 15-20 min or until cooked through. Cool on wire racks.

Beat cream and liqueur together until soft peaks form. Spread the cream over the cupcakes and drizzle with caramel.

10 comments:

claire said...

Mmmm, such tasty looking cupcakes! And the recipe is dead easy, you say? Methinks I shall be trying it soon... :)

Ali-K said...

Yup, surprisingly easy. Don't put the cream/caramel on top too long before you want to serve them (you can make the caramel and cream sooo far in advance and store in the fridge). I think I also failed to mention to make a "nest" with the cream for the caramel to sit in.

Oh for the love of food! said...

Ali-k,
These cupcakes are really pretty, well done!

Ti said...

looks Yummm, i love cup cakes since i moved to Australia 2 years ago,and i started baking my own cuppies since then :)

Anonymous said...

These look fabulous. I'd like to try them. Do you have any idea whether the pouring cream is more similar to American whipping cream or half and half?
Thanks :)

Ali-K said...

Hi Tanya,
I hope I'm not too late in answering your comment. I'm not familiar with American creams...cream sometimes confuses the hell out of me to tell you the truth. The cream that I used, or pouring cream, is also called pure cream and has between 35-45% butterfat in it. Therefore it whips very easily. You could also use what is called thickened cream which is very similar. It has 35% butterfat but is enriched with gelatin so it whips even easier.
Hope that helps.

Tanya said...

Yes, it does help, thanks... and definitely on time. I'm hoping to make them for my boyfriend's birthday on the 26th.

It sounds similar to whipping cream, here. I've never seen cream fortified with gelatin, but it sounds like a brilliant idea.

On a side note, I *really* miss Australia. Where did you move from?

Ali-K said...

Hey Tanya, I only moved from interstate...Canberra (before that Sydney, before that the country).
It's always sad leaving places behind but I guess you always find something new and exciting.... Although at least when you only move interstate all the cream still looks pretty much the same!

Tanya said...

Haha, true that. I lived in Melbourne for almost a year for school, and I *loved* it, but your government isn't very excited to take in all the people who love your country and want to stay.

Ali-K said...

Perhaps the new government will provide different opportunities...?