Sunday Night Cupcakes for Fiona
Last year, I got to visit King Arthur Flour's Baking Education Center with a slew of other bloggers. I'd never met any of them before, but there's something about baking together that will make a group of folks instantly feel like family.
Fiona from A Boston Food Diary is one of the bloggers I got to know at Blog & Bake. It's been a little more than a year since we've seen each other, but this is what I can tell you about Fiona: She's sweet, and welcoming to people who may be more socially awkward than they'd like (read: me). She likes to laugh, and she's passionate about food.
Today is Fiona's birthday. Fiona's friend, Jen from Beantown Baker, has organized a virtual birthday party so that we can all celebrate the gorgeous foodie that is Fiona.
Fiona, I hope you don't mind, but I made you pretty much the most delicious cupcakes ever. You're going to be ruined for all other cupcakes. Between the rich fleur de sel caramel in the frosting and bright cinnamon notes in the cake, they're simply perfect. They're named after the Sunday Night Cake recipe in Baked Explorations.
Happy Birthday, Fiona!
I hope that it is your best yet.
Sunday Cupcakes with Fleur de Sel
Caramel Frosting
adapted from Sunday Night Cake in Baked Explorations.
Makes 24 Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cakes
1 ¾ cups King Arthur Self Rising Flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
½ cup Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites
For the Frosting
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup vegetable shorting (1 stick)
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 heaping tablespoons salted caramel sauce (I used Trader Joe's, but have linked to Williams Sonoma as they are more readily available nationwide.)
Directions
For the Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners, then lightly spray the liners and the pan with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, combine the flour and cinnamon. Whisk to evenly distribute the cinnamon, then set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat room temperature butter together with both sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl before each new addition.
Add the sour cream and mix again.
Add the Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites to the wet mixture and allow the batter to rest for about 5 minutes.
Add the flour mixture in 3 increments, mixing on low after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl often.
All the batter to rest again, for another 5 minutes. This softens the Flav-R-Bites so that they maintain their intense pops of flavor, but they won't be crunchy when you bite into a cupcake.
There is exactly enough batter to fill 24 cupcake wells with batter ⅔ of the way full. If you find yourself short of batter, delicately spoon teaspoons from your most-filled wells into the empty wells. (I had to do this with my 24th cupcake well.)
Bake for 22-24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool slightly in the pan, then remove them to a wire rack. They must be completely cooled before you attempt to frost them.
For the Frosting
In a large bowl, beat together butter and shortening on high speed until light and fluffy.
Add powdered sugar and beat on low until incorporated enough that you won't end up with a giant powdered sugar dust cloud, then move to a higher speed.
Add the vanilla extract and beat again, then add the caramel sauce and mix thoroughly.
If the frosting seems too tight, add milk or half and half one tablespoon at a time and mix until you reach your desired consistency.
To create the strands of caramel sauce, dip a small fork into the sauce and allow strands to drip down onto the frosting while swinging the fork back and forth. You can also put the sauce in a decorating squeeze bottle and decorate that way.
If not serving immediately, refrigerate the cupcakes until you are.
Note: If you don't have cinnamon Flav-R-Bites, you can substitute in more cinnamon (to your liking) or not. They provide a pop of flavor, but they aren't integral to the cake. They just make it taste mighty fine.
Check out all the other bloggers celebrating Fiona's birthday!
Aimee from The Apron Archives made Carrot Raisin Scones.
Erica from In and Oround Town posted Ocean Views at Legal Harborside's First Floor.
Jen from Beantown Baker made a Happy Birthday Cocktail.[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Sunday Night Cupcakes for Fiona - - - [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
These look absolutely delicious. The frosting literally had my mouth watering!
That's what I like to hear, Rosie!
Oh my! The cupcakes sound incredible but the frosting is to die for! How gorgeous are these cupcakes. Great recipe, Amber!
Thanks so much, An!
Happy Birthday, Fiona. These cupcakes look amazing, Amber! You know I am a sucker for anything with salted caramel!
Oh my... These cupcakes do look really fabulous. I'm a big fan of caramel!
These cakes look and sound fab!! Hope Fiona had a great birthday!! 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by, Emma. By all accounts, I think she did!
That frosting sounds unbelievable!
Jen, thanks so much for your comment. I'm pretty proud of that frosting.. I totally let my taste buds guide me, and they did not disappoint. I hope you try it, even if it's on a different cupcake.
Trader Joes has a Salted Caramel Sauce!?! How did I not know this! These are at the top of my to-do list this week!
I did not know until Tracy from Sugarcrafter made us all buy some on a post Big Summer Potluck field trip to Trader Joe's. She is a troublemaker, that Tracy. The stuff is addicting.
Oh my goodness, these cupcakes look insane - in a fabulous way, of course!! I'm glad you linked to the Williams-Sonoma caramel sauce that I didn't know they made, since I don't have any more from Trader Joe's left. Love the drizzle on top, too!
Cupcakes are my favorite!!!! (well maybe cookies) but they are second favorite - thankyou for sharing these wonderful cupcakes!!!!
Happy birthday, Fiona! Eating that frosting straight out of the bowl would be birthday present enough for me.
Oh my word-these look beyond amazing and honestly if I had to pick a cupcake-these sound exactly right!!!!!! Thank you so much for participating and for your unbelievably kind words....such a wonderful birthday treat!
Fiona, I'm so glad you were surprised and that you love these cupcakes. We haven't had a chance to chat or hang out much since last year, but you left an impression, my dear. I wish we lived nearer to each other!
These look amazing! I had a salted caramel cupcake in Seattle and am dying to try and recreate it!
Shelly, I should take you into NYC for the Salted Caramel Cupcake at Hill Country BBQ. That was a slight inspiration for this one, though the Hill Country cupcake is chocolate, and has a huge chunk of salted caramel in the middle of it.
... I may have just drooled a little thinking about it.
Yes! Let's do it 🙂
These cupcakes sound amazing especially that frosting...
Yes yes yes. That frosting is SO crazy good.
These cupcakes do sound like the best cupcakes ever! They'd be perfect for any birthday celebration.
Thanks, Jen! We kind of couldn't stop eating them. They're dangerous!