Stacey Makes It

I think that the buttercream turned out kind of heavy, so I would probably add more half & half and powdered sugar and beat it a bit longer next time. Cupcake Ingredients 5.5 oz flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 stick butter, melted 45 ml (by weight) sunflower oil 6.1 oz granulated sugar 2 eggs 1.5 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 cup buttermilk Buttercream Ingredients 1/2 stick butter  1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tbs half & half  1.5 sticks butter 1-2 cups of powdered sugar 2-3 tbs half & half Chocolate sprinkles (optional)  Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk all the wet ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients and stir gently until just incorporated (don't overmix or it will build up too much gluten).  Pour batter into cupcake tins lined with cupcake liners (about 3/4 to 4/5 full).  Bake for 15-20 minutes rotating once at the halfway point. When cake springs back from the middle of the cupcake, it's done....

This is a modification of a recipe I found on allrecipes.com for My Amish Friend's Caramel Corn . Stacey's Caramel Popcorn Ingredients : 5-6 quarts plain popped popcorn, organic 2 tbs sunflower oil, organic (for popping) 1-2 tsp salt 2 cups dry roasted almonds, local (optional) 1 cup dark brown sugar, organic, loose and unpacked 1 cup white sugar, organic 1/3 cup light corn syrup, organic 6 tbs butter, organic 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 tsp vanilla bean paste First I popped the popcorn in my Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper (which I love for popping popcorn). It took 2 batches to make all the popcorn and I used 1 tablespoon of oil for each batch. Probably 1/3-1/2c of kernels for each round.  Just enough so that 80-90% of the bottom of the pot is covered with kernels with no overlap. Overfilling is bad. Then I preheated the oven to 275F and spread the popcorn and the nuts in a jelly roll pan and a 9x13 metal cake pan lined with foil.  I really wish I had a ...

I took a break in November to try to do Nanowrimo (and failed again, sigh ) but I'm back! I thought I'd try a little caramel variation. I made my regular caramel recipe and then I covered it in a mixture of white chocolate couverture and some matcha green tea powder. I can't remember exactly how much green tea powder, but I think I could have gone a little stronger. I think it was something like this: 2 cups Guittard white chocolate couverture discs 1-2 tsp matcha green tea powder, organic Hawaiian Black Sea Salt Caramels El Rey Semisweet dark chocolate I put a layer of the dark chocolate on the bottom so it would be easier for dipping (like in the original recipe). Then I tempered the white chocolate, gently mixed in the matcha powder, and dipped some rectangles of caramel in it with a dipping fork.  I finished them with a sprinkling of Hawaiian Black Sea Salt.  It was pretty yummy, but I definitely think more matcha next time.

For those few of you who have gotten to try these caramels, yes, this is THE caramel recipe. I had debated publishing this recipe, but then I decided that I'm never going to make money via my food creations, and really I want to be an author instead, thus exchanging one impossible dream for another. :)  So, without further ado... Stacey's Caramel Recipe : 1.5c heavy cream, organic 2.25c whole milk, organic 3c sugar, organic 1 vanilla bean 1.5c glucose 3/4 stick (6 tbs) of butter, organic Oiled parchment paper in 7x7" and 10x10" cake pans Candy thermometer First, a WARNING : Caramel takes forever to make.  So be ready to have at least 2 hours to do the first part.  Since I needed extra caramel, this is 1.5x my normal recipe where I would only fill the 10x10" cake pan.  I should also note that you need the really sturdy cake pans that won't warp.  If you use cake pans or jelly roll pans that warp, your caramel is going to be all different thickne...