Week 29, August 19, 2014 ~ Ooey Gooey Toffee Cupcakes

I am not entirely sure I would call these cupcakes, they are more like individual cakes (but I guess that's all a cupcake is). I did find that this cupcake was best served warm straight from the oven so maybe they would be better for serving them at a dinner party. Either way they were an explosion of toffee goodness! I topped them off with a salted caramel mascarpone whipped cream; which has quickly become my go to cupcake topper! And now that Market Basket is back up and running I can stock up again since it is half the price there than anywhere else! I got the idea for this cupcake from a list I saw on BuzzFeed for the best recipes from Disney World that you can make at home. This one stood out to me because I had never heard of it before but that's probably because I don't go to many of the full service restaurants and this Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake can be found at Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom...adds that to places to visit next trip. The only thing I would have done differently is used foil cupcake liners or just sprayed the cupcake tin with nonstick spray instead of using paper liner because it was hard to peal off since the cupcake is so sticky. 

This recipe made 16 cupcakes

For the bottom layer:

1 cup granulated sugar

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 stick butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare cupcake tins

2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

3. Add the egg and melted butter and mix all the ingredients together-I found it easiest to use my hands. The mixture should be like wet sand.

4. Distribute evenly amongst the cupcakes tins and pack firmly-about 2 tbsp per tin. Set aside and prepare top layer.

For the top layer:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 + 2 tbsp powdered sugar

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup Heath bar pieces

1. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. 

2. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar, a cup at a time, beating to make sure it's well combined.

3.  Slowly drizzle in the melted butter. 

4. Fold in the chocolate chips and Heath bar pieces. 

5. Distribute the mixture evenly amongst the cupcake liners and make 20-25 minutes. the cupcakes should be gooey but not liquidy.

6. Let cool completely before frosting.

For the salted caramel mascarpone whipped cream:

• 8 oz Mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup caramel sauce
• 1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 cup of sugar

1. in a bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the mascarpone cheese, heavy whipping cream, caramel sauce and salt. Gradually increase the speed over a few seconds till on medium-high.  Slowly pour in the sugar. Beat on medium-high until soft peaks form--this should not take more than a minute or 2...gradually lower the speed until you turn off the mixer.
2. Frost the cupcakes and top with more Heath bar bits.