Martha Stewart Cupcake Club Entry #1

Hi Sweet Readers!

Well, here I am just back from seeing the movie "Julie and Julia" and it has inspired me to begin my blog entry on the challenge I have decided to take on. The movie was fun and entertaining and Meryl Streep is fantastic, by the way. So why am I inspired? Well, as Julie cooked her way through "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", I have committed with other fellow bloggers to bake through Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes". Now, I realize that it is not quite the undertaking that Julie took on, but it's fun for me and I am looking forward to it. I hope you will enjoy following in the sweet journey.

We are going to bake our way through this delicious cupcake book one cupcake at a time...and once a month! There are 175 cupcake recipes, so it will take some time to get through it. Stick with me, please. At some point, I will get to choose the cupcake we make, as will each of the other bloggers. There are currently 34 fellow blogger bakers working our way through it. For the whole list of other fellow bloggers who are taking on this challenge, go to http://bettyheartcupcakes.blogspot.com/ and check them out! I know I will!

Today is our first due date. We baked the CHOCOLATE SALTED-CARAMEL CUPCAKES. Here are some photos to document this delicious endeavor:
Here are the chocolate cupcakes cooling. They were beautifully dark and rich in color.

Here is the salted caramel. Yes. It is delicious as it looks. It was perfectly sweet with a wonderful salty hint..more than a hint, but fabulous.Here is the salt I used. The recipe called for fleur de sel or Maldon. At the gourmet food store I went to, the sales person recommended this. It had flakey large crystals. I like salt and this stuff is great. It doesn't melt too quickly and will stay whole when not exposed to heat. I think it is essential that this salt or the fleur de sel be used in this recipe. Otherwise, you won't taste the salt and it will melt right into the top of the cupcake.

Here is the beautiful dark cupcake filled with the luscious caramel.

Here is the chocolate I melted for the frosting. A pound and a half of chocolate, dear readers! What could be wrong with this recipe now?

Nothing! The recipe turned out fantastic! I loved the moist and tender crumb of the cupcake. The caramel was creamy and delectable, with just the right hint of salt. The frosting, well, incredible. It was a chocolate lover's delight.
Here is my completed Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcake. MSC Challenge #1 done!
And here is an inside shot. Look at the caramel oozing out! This was freshly made so the caramel was still in a liquid form. After the cupcake sits a bit, it does solidify. Still tastes great, though!

By the way, I had made these before about a month ago. I didn't make the chocolate cupcake recipe that it called for, so I thought I should remake them for this posting. You can see them here: http://smileyssweetsandcreations.blogspot.com/2009/07/decadent-chocolate-and-salted-caramel.html. I must say, the caramel came out much better this time. I think I made sure to really wait until the sugar syrup became clear before it came to a full boil. Last time, however, the frosting came out more glossy and much prettier. Go figure!

I hope you enjoyed the entry. I can't wait to see what cupcake comes next!