Happy Halloween everyone!!
Hope everyone had a great time celebrating this weekend.
The husband and I went to a bar with some friends.
I dressed as a mail order bride, and he was Billy Mays.
No, those do not go together in some weird way.
lol
I took an older white skirt and shirt that I had and covered it in fragile stickers and foreign stamps that I printed on sticker paper from Staples. I also wore my veil (from my wedding), and some flats and pearls.
The husband dressed in a blue shirt, did his hair like Billy Mays (he already has a beard just like him!), and carried around a container of Oxi Clean and a little baggie filled with cocaine confectioners sugar. He also wore a name tag, just in case people didn’t get it.
We almost didn’t go because of the lovely weather (crazy snow and rain), but I’m glad we did – we had a blast!
Then yesterday, I came home and finished these awesome cupcakes!
“Broken Glass” cupcakes w/ blood.
Got this out of a Martha Stewart Living Magazine.
That oddly comes to the husband.
That has to be a joke someone is playing on him.
He despises Martha Stewart.
I’m glad we get these magazines though – so many great ideas!
We just got the Thanksgiving issue and I can’t wait to dive in. 
For the broken glass (caramel), make sure you cook it long enough.
I didn’t the first time and it never set.
I let it cook for a good 10-15 minutes the second time until it started to turn a little gold on the edges (like it says in the directions), and it worked out great.
For the blood, I used strawberry topping (that you find by the sprikles, etc. for ice cream), and it was delicious.
Lastly, I didn’t realize that the recipe called for some unsalted butter in parts, and just used salted instead. They tasted great to me, so I don’t know how much of a difference that made.
The recipe says that they make 3 1/2 dozen (42), but they ended up only making around 36. Maybe I filled the cups too much.
All in all these were adorable Halloween treats (the icing is DELISH – i kept squeezing it directly from the pastry bag into my mouth), and people seemed to enjoy them.
I think next year, I’m going to make them with chocolate cupcakes. I feel like it will make the icing/glass/blood stand out more.
“Broken Glass” Cupcakes
For the cupcakes
- 4 1/2 cups cake flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- salt
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 7 large egg whites, room temperature
For the caramel
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
For the frosting
- 1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Garnish: 1 cup cherry preserves, strained
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make the cupcakes: Line cupcake tins with baking cups. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and 3/4 teaspoon sale into a medium bowl. Combine milk and vanilla in a measuring cup.
2. Beat butter with mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium, and gradually add granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream. Beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
3. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold one-third of the whites into the cupcake batter. Fold in remaining egg whites in 2 batches.
4. Divide batter among baking cups, filling each halfway full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely in tins set on wire racks.
5. Meanwhile, make the caramel: Bring granulated sugar and water to a boil in a small high-sided saucepan, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-high, and cook until mixture just starts to turn pale gold around edges. Remove from heat, and immediately pour caramel onto a rimmed baking sheet. Working quickly, tilt pan to spread caramel to edges to make a very thin layer. Let cool to harden.
6. Make the frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy and spreadable.
7. Frost each cupcake using an offset spatula. Twise pan to release and break caramel in order for it to resemble broken glass. Place a shard or 2 of caramel “glass” in the center of each cupcake. Drizzle or pipe cherry preserves where caramel has entered the cupcake.
