Our resident bearded baker Mr Mom’s shares one of his favourite cupcake recipes, this recipe is for Pretzel and Beer Cupcakes. Time to mix American sweets with salty.
This is our recipe for Pretzel and Beer Cupcakes, they are drunkenly awesome!…
Pretzel & Beer Cupcakes
Makes 12
Pretzel and Beer- surely an ideal combination close to any man’s heart? Originally crafted for Father’s Day the requests for these have lasted long after. Salty crispiness paired with sweet creaminess, and the unexpected addition of beer give you a sure fire winner. Ideal for sharing with your mates – go on crack them out during the game, or for yourself during a midnight fridge raid. Believe it or not they really too go well with an ice cold beer straight from the fridge. Try adding some more pretzels to the top to add extra crunch! You can also read more on a guide to baking at Buttercream bakeshop.
Ingredients
Beer Cupcake batter
240g plain flour
280g caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
80g unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
100ml whole milk
140ml pale Beer (eg Kronenberg 1664)
Salted Caramel sauce
250g Caster sugar
60ml Water
50g unsalted butter
140ml Double cream
1 teaspoon Sea-salt flakes
Caramel Frosting
300g icing sugar
150g salted butter, softened.
30ml whole milk
3 tablespoons caramel sauce
To decorate
Salted Pretzels
Sea-salt flakes
Method
To make the caramel sauce:
- Place the caster sugar and water in a saucepan.
- Heat over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Don’t stir! I’m not being bossy by saying this I have your best interest in mind. If you stir the solution you may cause the sugar to crystalize and end up with a gritty, grainy sauce rather than a smooth, luscious one. If you need to you can gently swirl the pan to move the water about.
- Once the sugar has dissolved increase the heat and bubble for 4-5 mins until the solution starts to color to an amber brown. Carefully remove from the heat- the caramel with continue to cook.
- Working quickly, and again carefully, add in the sea-salt flakes, butter and cream. There will be a lot of hot steam caused here so please take care.
- Whisk to incorporate until you have a smooth caramel sauce.
- Leave aside to cool while you get on with the other jobs.
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas Mark 4
- Whilst the oven is heating line a 12 hole muffin tray (or 2 x 6 hole) with 12 cupcakes cases. You could also set out your ingredients within easy reach. You won’t believe how many expletive outbursts this saves during baking- trust me!
- In a stand mixer combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter and with the paddle attachment on a slow speed mix until the mixture resembles dry sand in texture.
- Whilst the mixer is doing its job, In a separate jug/ bowl you can combine the milk, eggs and beer and lightly whisk to combine. (Any remaining beer can be used to reward yourself for a job well done).
- With the mixer still on a low speed, pour the liquid ingredients in a steady stream until about 100ml remain in the jug.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium and continue until all ingredients are well combined and smooth. Scrape down the bowl sides and add in remaining liquid mixture from the jug.
- Continue to mix on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and even.
- Pour finished batter into cupcakes cases to ¾ full level. Any more may result in the dreaded “Muffin Top”!
- Bake in the middle shelf of the oven, for about 20 mins (this is dependent on your oven- I normally check after 15 mins) or until a skewer comes out clean when pushed into the centre of the cakes. The cupcakes should have risen. Don’t worry if they’re uneven, the frosting can hide a myriad of baking failures.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in tin for 10 mins, then them remove from the tin(s) and transfer to cool completely on wire rack
- Whilst cakes are cooling, you can make the frosting.
To make the frosting:
- In a stand mixer bowl, add the icing sugar and butter and, with paddle attachment, mix on slow until combined, and sugar stops billowing. Continue until it starts to clump together into a ball.
- In a jug combine the milk and cooled caramel sauce.
- Increase speed to medium and drizzle in milk mixture until fully incorporated. If the frosting becomes too slack (runny) add in a little more icing sugar to stiffen it.
- Increase to a high speed and beat for 3-4 minutes to give a fluffy frosting.
To assemble:
- Using a cupcake corer make a hole in the centre of each cupcake. If you don’t have a cupcake corer you can use an apple corer, or if you fancy being a bit MacGyver you can use a knife.
- Get rid of the body of sponge but keep the hard crust lid as you’ll be placing this back on.
- Pour some caramel sauce into each hole and replace with the crust lid.
- Pipe or swirl the frosting on top of each cupcake, hiding those earlier unsightly flaws and the caramel hole.
- Top the frosting with a pretzel and sprinkle with sea-salt flakes.
- Now you can sample your handy work – they go rather with that remaining beer from making the sponge earlier.
This recipe is courtesy of MrMomskitchen.wordpress.com If you enjoyed this recipe, please feel free to share with your friends and check out more recipes here.