Caramel Popcorn Cupcake

I attended my cousins birthday over the weekend and it was a "carnival" themed party. She really outdone herself with decorations, games and food. Below are some pictures of similar themed parties to hers. Being the great blogger that i am i forgot my camera so i had no photo's to share with you but you can get an idea of what it would of been like! It transported me back to the old time carnival and i felt like a kid again... especially at the lolly shop stand! Gumballs, sherbet, rainbow lollypops..... very cool!

Popcorn, floating duck games, lolly shop, streamers and flags!

     

Lollyshop similar to her's!

 She even had a cupcake competition which i was especially excited about. I entered my Caramel Popcorn Cupcake, which i did a lot of research on in the weeks leading up to get it just right! The cupcakes were being judged on Appearance, Flavour and Originality. I got 2nd prize for them which i was very happy with... my mum one first prize with a ice-cream cone cupcake which was very well done! Here they are....

Click Here To Download & Print Recipe

 Makes 12

Ingredients:

Caramel Butter Cake:
125g Butter
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp Golden Syrup
1 Cup SR Flour
½ Tsp Cinnamon
½ Cup Milk

Salted Caramel Filling
1 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp Water
½ Tin Condensed Milk
½ Tsp Salt
¼ Cup Icing Sugar

Butter Cream Icing:
(You will have extra icing – suitable to freeze)
250g Butter
250g Copha
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
750g Icing Sugar (approx)
1 ½ Tbsp Pavlova Magic (you can omit this)
1/4 cup of water

1 Packet Caramel Corn

Method
Salted Caramel

-    Place brown sugar, water & salt into a saucepan and simmer over a medium heat until mixture starts to darken and thicken. Take off heat and add ½ tin of condensed milk & icing sugar and stir through. Place back on heat and simmer for 3 – 5 minutes – stirring constantly. Mixture should be a thick runny consistency – if not add more icing sugar. Set aside to cool.

Caramel Butter Cake

-    Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Set out muffin papers in muffin tin.
-    Beat butter, vanilla and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy.
-    Beat in eggs one at a time; beat in golden syrup. Fold in sifted dry ingredients and milk.
-    Fill the cupcake papers half way and make an indent in the mixture. Spoon a teaspoon of salted caramel in the indent and place the rest of the mixture on top.
-    Bake for about 25-30 mins. Set aside cupcake to cool.

Butter Cream

-    Soften copha in microwave until pliable. Be careful not to melt. Place both copha and butter into mixing bowl, add vanilla essence and beat for 1-2 minutes until combined.\
-    Add icing sugar 1 cup at a time until you’re happy with the consistency. You may not need the whole 750g.
-    Add pavlova magic and water. Leave to mix for about 10 minutes.

Assembling

-    Ice cupcakes with butter cream icing and carefully place popcorn pieces over the icing to cover the top of the cupcake, trying to keep gaps to a minimum.
-    Use pieces of popcorn with dabs of icing on it to fill in gaps and create a uniformed top.

 These cute little cupcakes sound harder than they really are. They assemble quickly and make a fantastic statement and they may even win you first prize in a cupcake making competition too!

Simply Tea Recommendations: I would recommend serving our Vanilla flavoured black tea with these cupcakes. It is a China and Ceylon tea blended with the finest natural vanilla flavour, aroma enriched by vanilla pieces from Madagascar. The vanilla tea won't compete or overpower the caramel flavour in these cupcakes. They require something mellow but still complimentive and i think the vanilla tea will do that. You can purchase our Vanilla Tea for $11.00/100g or $2.00 for a sample bag.

Vanilla Tea.

 Happy Sipping...


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