There’s this phenomenon–I can’t really explain it–by which I suddenly become seized with the desire to make cupcakes, on an otherwise ordinary day. There is no rhyme or reason to it, but dang, when my mind decides it wants cupcakes, there’s no changing it.
For the most part, I give into my urge by buying this and this (only the rainbow chip frosting will d0) and within 20 minutes I am hearkening back to the childhood I never had because my mom was one of those annoying moms who only made from-scratch baked goods.
But this past week, I decided to grab heart disease by the horns and try a new recipe from a cookbook my roommate gave me for Christmas: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey, by Jill O’Connor.
And no, that jar of Hellman’s in the picture isn’t leftover from making turkey sandwiches. That’s the essential ingredient in these delicious chocolate cupcakes. Quite an easy recipe (below) that results in these simple, spongy little chocolate cakes, just ready to be slathered with the accompanying Caramel-Butterscotch Buttercream Frosting. You’d think a cupcake with mayonnaise in it wouldn’t be able to handle such rich icing, but on the contrary, they are so simple and un-rich that they need something wildly out of control on top.
Once my cupcakes were in the oven, I decided to tackle this obscenity. I’m glad I had nothing pressing in my evening, because I was quite unprepared for the hour-long jaunt I had with this recipe. To give you an idea of its ingredients, I’ll tell you that Monday morning my refrigerator housed:
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
6 eggs
6 sticks of butter
Monday night, the inside of my refrigerator saw:
-none of the above.
It was quite the ordeal, this Caramel-Butterscotch Buttercream. I made caramel. It seized up because I didn’t pour in the cream in one fell swoop. I double-boiled an egg and sugar mixture, while beating with a hand beater for 10 minutes. Then, I did this with the six. sticks. of. butter…
…and dropped this plastic-wrapped-rolled-out butter tablespoon by tablespoon into the sugar/egg mixture. And, unfortunately, it never really came together too well. It got grainy and in defiance of what the cookbook promised, it never de-curdled. I mean, don’t get me wrong, nothing with that much butter, sugar, eggs, and cream ever tastes bad, but I wasn’t impressed with the texture or the way the recipe was put together.
So, at the end of the night, my cupcake craving was satisfied. The rest of my dinner wasn’t very glamorous, or nutritious (Zatarain’s Red Beans and Rice is delicious, though) but the dessert was worth the two hours it took, I’d say… although next time I’m just going to Schnucks and buying the mix.
Chocolate-Mayonnaise Cupcakes
From Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor
2 cups bleached, all-purpose flour
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder (I am embarrassed to say that I only had 1/2 cup. That upset me, and then I realized I have 2 boxes of Swiss Miss packets left over from a Christmas party thrown last year in college, and I threw it in there. It worked fine)
1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mayonnaise (the cookbook says NOT low-fat. I think this goes without saying. If you are putting mayo in cupcakes, hell, use the real stuff)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups boiling water
Preheat oven to 350, line two standard muffin tins with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, sift together first four ingredients.
In another bowl, combine the sugar and eggs and beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Beat in mayo and vanilla until just combined. Reduce the speed tomedium and beat in half the flour mixture until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add half the boiling water and beat at very low speed until batter is smooth, 5-10 seconds (yes. This is what the recipe says. However, I beat it for 15 seconds and the world kept turning). Add remaining flour and beat 5-10 seconds (ditto). Add remaining water. The batter will be thin, very thin actually. You might panic, like I did. But don’t, it works.
Fill the cupcake tins, bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18-22 minutes. Cool, frost, take a few aspirin.
*I am not including the recipe for the frosting. I am going to try another “true” buttercream one day (not the butter/powdered sugar/milk kind that everyone makes) and then I’ll tell you about it.
The best part about this whole story is that, despite eating many of the above, me, my roommate, and many of my friends are still alive, tickers ticking. Hallelujah.
4 comments
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January 21, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Susan
I can’t believe that we actually survived after eating these. They’re delicious, but seriously, couldn’t you just have fed us lard and accomplished the same thing?
January 24, 2008 at 1:05 am
Jill O'Connor
I’m still laughing! Yes, some people bungee jump off bridges, drive race cars or jump out of planes with a parachute…I make cupcakes (we all take our lives in our hands somehow…) I’m so sorry your cupcake adventure was so harrowing (the cupcakes are easy–the buttercream is not for the faint hearted) I did mention that making the buttercream without a kitchenaid or other free-standing mixer was not easy (that is a lot of beating!) I have made this so many times, as a pastry chef and on my own, I forget how intimidating it can be the first time. I like to do it in stages–make the caramel first (maybe even the day before and leave it at room temp) and then tackle the buttercream. But I am so happy you gave it a try. If you want something equally rich but super easy (I swear!) try the Gooey Caramel Butter Bars (one of my friends swears they are the crack cocaine of the dessert world.) Remember–a fearless baker is a happy baker!
All the Best,
Jill O’Connor
January 24, 2008 at 4:45 am
Biscuit Rising
Jill, you are absolutely right…I tried this recipe while trying to cram everything in my tiny apartment kitchen, with the dinkiest of hand mixers and minimal experience past the “powdered sugar/butter” icing variety. When I “upgrade”–both my skills and my equipment–I can’t wait to try it again. Thanks for such a fun cookbook! It’s beautiful, and I’m eager to try the rest of the recipes (and I think my “taste testers” would concur).
February 14, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Tempered Woman
Well welcome to the city and here’s to hoping you have many many more cupcake journeys. There are a lot of us here who happen to be obsessed with them! And we all have kitchenaid mixers that we refer to as children.
😉