We're Re-Starting The Cccc Please Join Us!
Baking By JessDesserts Updated 30 Oct 2010 , 12:52pm by ILoveDaffodils
Hello.............? Anyone...........? I feel so lonely, just wondering if anyone had a chance to make the cupcakes.
Big sigh............i'll continue to try and be patient. Its not often I have free time on my hands......bare with me. 
LOL ....Sorry Not yet ..no time for any "extra " baking ...
JessDesserts - this recipe sounds wonderful, but I'm a bit nervous about making the caramel. Do you think the cupcake is just as good without the filling? I realize this is about the sweet salt thing, but I was wondering if the cupcake/frosting is just as good without the filling? Thanks.
yay! sounds fantastic 
Thanks for getting this going again 
Jodi
msulli- um.....to be honest, yes. Yes, I think the recipe would be different without the caramel.
Without the caramel, it would just be a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
I totally understand about being nervous about caramel tho. Even though I have had a love affair with caramel my entire life, I never had the 'courage' to try it myself until pastry school. The first week in the kitchen, we started out slowly.....with cookies. By the end of the week, after making dozens and dozens and dozens of cookies, our instructor announced we'd be having a cookie contest. Sweet!! We could pick any recipe we wanted, from any source, totally up to us! Wow!! Iwas so excited. I had been saving a recipe for a very long time; chocolate sandwich cookie, filled with caramel.
Well, I mise en place all my ingredients and realize that I now have to make caramel, for the first time, in front of all my classmates and I have no clue how to do it. Ugh. What was I thinking?!?! So...... when in doubt, fake it! I followed the recipe exactly, taking deep breaths the entire time and ya know what? It came out AMAZING!!
I ended up rolling them in sea salt for that extra wow factor and they were just FABULOUS!.
I learned a valuable lesson a while ago: do one thing a day that scares you. The way you will feel afterwards is infectious. And its not dependant on the results. Good or bad, you tried, you went out of your comfort zone and it feels great!!
If you have any questions, ANY at all, please let me know, ill be happy to talk you through it or help you any way that I can.
I hope you decide to take a stab at it, its really one of the most amazing flavor combinations!!
i'd love to know what you decide.
jess
hopefully I can get back to baking this week and can try this recipe out. It sounds wonderful
welcome Sappy42 and crazyladybaker! We're so excited you can join us!! It's all about learning and having fun, so the more the merrier!!
Msulli10, im elated that you decided to give it a go. I dont want you to feel pressured, so I also wanted to offer you other alternatives to pourable caramel ( since it is my recipe we're trying)
1- you can simply use the old tried and try boil a can of sweeteened condensed milk. Although ive heard they dont recommend that any longer due to people not watching it carefully and/or not keeping it covered with water, so the can explodes. Yes, I said explodes.
2- the other choice is a variation of the 1st one, empty the can into a double boiler and heat for ~1hr-1 1/2 hours, or until the desired color is reached.
3- you can buy a bag of caramels ( for example Kraft; like the ones sweet old ladies always carry in their bags, or keep in a candy dish) and heat that with some heavy cream or half and half until pourable.
4- or ....( im all about choices) you can make dulce de leche and give that a shot. ill give you the recipe if you're interested.
Even with the above choices, I still think you should give it a shot. In my opinion, the worst that can happen is it doesnt work. From experience, as long as you brush the sugar crystals off the side with a pastry brush and keep an eye on it so it doesnt burn, it will be fine! Even better then that, you will be beaming with pride when you do it!!
If you get a free minute, take a look at my blog. I tried to take as many pics as I could while I was doing it and if you have any other questions, please let me know, we're in this together!!
Great topic - I just found it and thought about making the cupcakes but got worried about the caramel. JessDesserts, you covinced me to give it a try. I will make them this week - fingers-crossed.
I too am intimidated by the carmel, but I hope to give it a shot. I just got another order, but i might be able to squeeze it in this week. Thanks for starting this again, cupcakes is the area I really want to explore. I am tryin new recipies, so the timing is perfect!!!!
I made them this weekend (well almost, did not make the frosting) - to rave reviews...
But I have not actually tasted them - so I have to rely on my 'tasters' for the feedback.
I found the cupcakes easy and quick - apparently they tasted good. I followed the recipe to a tee and was pleasantly surprised that it took no more time the my usual cake mix with extender. The cupcakes were definitely darker and more chocolaty looking.
The Caramel was simple enough, once I got a new candy thermometer (busted #2 earlier in the week making toffee candy). The simple syrup mixture took longer to boil then I thought but my patience paid off - I had read the comment about only cooking to 330 degrees and it was fine. I left the caramel sitting for a few hours before filling the cupcakes - I was hoping it would assist in the caramel not absorbing into the cupcakes. It did not help, within a couple of hours of filling the cupcakes the caramel was all through out the cupcakes.
I did not add the sea salt on top of the caramel as previously suggested.
When I went to make the frosting I was thrown by the amount of chocolate required....so I just used my standard chocolate buttercream. I still topped them with sea salt and a drizzle of the caramel and I must say the looked awesome.
Everyone who ate them said they were tasty and a keeper. I think I would try the dolce de leche suggestion next time - I would like to see if that stayed as a filling better then the caramel.
Thanks for a great recipe and the early feedback. I made these for a Man Shower....baby shower for a father.... And they were great for the dessert.
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!
So glad you joined us jodi ( aka neelycharmed), dah12345 & mom2twogrlz!!
You'll be glad you decided to try the caramel, its a great addition to your repertoire, believe me!!
Yay GrandmaG!! Nice to see you again my dear!!
Ok, I wasn't getting my updates and here we are already on page three! I'm sorry for looking like I ditched you Jess!
I am SO with you on the caramel love affair Jess. When I die I want to be embalmed with it!! I know...that was not an attractive visual. Sorry. 
Anyway, I am hoping to try out the recipe tomorrow if at all possible.
I'm SO glad you pointed out the temp issue with the caramel. When I saw 360 I was like, WHAT??? I wouldn't go even to 350 personally. Any higher than that and it will turn into a brick the next day, from my experience. Or maybe that's just with the recipe I use. Hmmm. Maybe I should shut up! Hehehe. I am going to try my hardest to follow the rest of the recipe exactly because I know that's what we're supposed to do, but that's pretty hard for me. I'm a fiddler... I like to fiddle with recipes. But, just for you Jess, I'll behave this ONCE! hehehe. Do you SEE how much I adore you? 
Also, thank you for the compliment earlier in the thread. I can't believe I didn't see it before... the thing about me being helpful. That really means a lot to me to hear that. I really do try to be helpful, and approach everything with a sense of humor, so it feels really good to hear I have been successful at least a LITTLE bit!
Cake Central should have some honorary title for people like you that are always willing to help, always willing to share, who remain positive and kind even when others forget how to act properly and who I consider it a privilege to call a friend.
We used to. I was glad to see it go after one of the honorees used instructions I, and others, had given her, on another forum, to create a tutorial which she then shared here, without any acknowledgements to those who taught her the technique in the first place. Needless to say, she's no longer a member there.
Theresa
Hey Theresa, what are you talking about when you say 'we used to' hon? I'm really sorry to read about folks not giving props. I know how frustrating that can be, because I've been there. Sometimes you wonder if you're a horrible monster just because you'd appreciate a little appreciation, KWIM?? It's not like you're asking people to bow down and shine your shoes, or gush on about how they'd be useless if you hadn't come into their lives. But, it's like being a mom... you don't get as many thank you's as you think you should, but you love doing it nonetheless.
I made them tonight, did NOT read the 330 thing and have never made caramel in this way. Honestly, I tried to boil sugar to pull one time and I ended up with a terrible third degree burn, so normally I do the sweetened condensed milk in a double broiler. Well, anyhow, I went to 360, and I thought it tasted fine. Not burned, pretty in color... maybe my thermometer is wonky, I don't know.
Anyhow, the cupcakes were good, kind of soft, especially when they become one with the caramel. The icing was *very* soft. I really enjoyed the overall flavor of the cupcake, but would probably not sell it as is, but I'll sure eat it as is!
OMG!!!!! I am soooooo excited!! I have been soo busy the last couple of years (doing cakes professionally) that I haven,t been able to log on much. Now on the day I do, I have this amazing surprise waiting for me!!! yay!!! I love this site! I am home for a while (neck injury) and will be having surgery (date not yet set) so I will be able to play with my caking friends!!! woohoo!! This recipe sounds AMAZING!!! I am going to make em right now!! 
ok so I did something wrong
I think I used the wrong Cocoa powder. I am attaching pics of the cuppies and the cocoa that I used as well as Hershey's Cocoa. Please help me! What type of Dutch process Cocoa powder do you all use?
Thanks in advance for the help! You folks are great!!!
Ilovemy6boys, Im very sorry you had a problem & im happy to help any way that i can.
I dont see your pics attached and I checked your gallery and I dont see them either.
Would you mind trying again so I can take a look?
I haven't made the cupcakes yet but did try the caramel recipe. Sorry to say that I didn't care for it as far as caramel. Tasted kind of like sweetened condensed milk, which I love, but didn't have the caramel taste that I wanted.
The recipe did sound like it was going to be decadent and I think it would if we made a few changes.
I am so sorry, I couldn't upload the photos properly. I uploaded them into my gallery now. I hope you can view them
GrandmaG, im so sorry you didnt like it.
I feel terrible you made the effort but it wasnt worth it for you.
I think I said that even though it was my recipe, I never had a chance to make it before this. I thought it was the perfect opportunity.
Hopefully, you'll be able to make the cupcakes and enjoy them. If not, we can all work together to find ways to tweek the original recipe to make it better.
Thats what this is all about anyway, right?
I loook forward to reading everyone elses results
Jess, don't be sorry or worry about it. I think at least half of the cupcakes we have tried in the past on the CCCC we didn't care for. That's what this is all about! It's just fun trying new recipes. It's probably something I did wrong anyway.
Oh, no doubt! I picked some from a cupcake book that I had been dying to make and sounded SO good, and they were absolute garbage! But, such is life.
And why can't I stay subscribed to this dang thread? Boo-hoo!!
Ok, I'm working on this recipe today and I've had good luck with the cupcakes. I just finished the carmel and I'm not thinking it's right.
I cooked it to 330 degrees, added the cream and the salt and I just can't imagine using this as a filling of any sort. It's pourable.....and I do mean pourable. Kind of like pouring tomato sauce out of a can. I was expecting it to be more like the consistancy of instant pudding after it's set for about 5 minutes.
Any advice, comments or suggestions?
I am working on it tonight as well. I got the cupcakes made and I like them. They have a good flavor and texture and they were easy to make. They are really dark as well which I love. Is that because of the dutch process cocoa?
I haven't started making the caramel yet so I will be checking for any advice you have for MissLisa.
MissLisa, thats exactly what happened to me. I waited a while ( couple of hours I think) and when I poured it into the cupcakes, it totally sunk in and made mushy cake 
(
I didnt want to use all of it so I poured the rest into a squeeze bottle.
Fast forward to the next day and I checked in on my caramel. It was perfect! and i mean perfect!!
So, for me, time was the key. I suggest breaking the recipe up into 2days; caramel the first day and cake and frosting the second.
I hope this helps.
dah....im sorry I didnt see the msg until now, I would have responded sooner.
if youd like to email me outside of CC, please PM me and ill be happy to share my personal email address. I check that way more often then I check CC
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