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Samoa Cupcakes

To distract myself from officially making the biggest decision of my life (I think I know where the best fit is but I just can't quite commit), I am baking. A lot. Nothing to drown the overwhelming thoughts of my overactive brain, like loads of sugar. Good thing we upped our time at the gym. The day I made these we actually used our free training session at the fancy gym, so perhaps we burnt off a few of these extra calories!

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I wanted to make something with a lot steps to really drain the minutes away when I saw the box of caramel delights (I prefer to call them samoas) sitting on the counter, and I knew that was the right flavor combination to tackle today.

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First I made chocolate cupcakes to represent the samosa bottoms. I wanted to make a fairly small batch of cupcakes, so I searched and found a simple enough small-batch recipe that I slightly adapted from Dollhouse Bakeshoppe that served 8 (large!) cupcakes. My batch actually had enough for 9 :)

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While the cupcakes were cooling, I made a quick caramel sauce and added it to a simple vanilla buttercream. Finally, I toasted some shredded coconuts on the stovetop for about 10 minutes on medium heat until nice and browned, making sure to constantly keep the coconut moving so it doesn't burn.

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The 3Cs: Chocolate + Caramel + Coconut = Life's Problems Solved (at least until there aren't any crumbs left).

Samoa Cupcakes

yields 9 cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup strongly brewed coffee
  1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
  2. Line a cupcake pan with liners.
  3. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  4. In a small bowl combine the buttermilk, egg, canola oil, vanilla extract, and coffee.
  5. Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix until smooth.
  6. Use a cookie scoop to divide the batter between the 9 cupcake liners
  7. Bake cupcakes for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out cleanly.
  8. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove to cooling rack. Allow to completely cool before frosting.

Caramel Buttercream

  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened and divided  (1 tablespoon + 7 tablespoons)
  • hefty pinch of salt (the salt really punches this cupcake up!)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  1. In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, heavy cream, and one tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
  2. Bring to a boil (still stirring) and cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla extract and salt. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  4. In a large bowl, whip the remaining 7 tablespoons of butter with a hand mixer until fluffy.
  5. Slowly add in and incorporate the powdered sugar 1/3 cup at a time.
  6. Pour in the caramel sauce into the frosting. Add additional powdered sugar if the buttercream needs thickening.

Assembly

  • 1/2 cup toasted coconut
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate sauce or melted chocolate chips
  • 4 samoa cookies, broken in half (for garnish-- not absolutely necessary if it's not Girl Scout Cookie season)
  1. Frost the cupcakes with the caramel buttercream.
  2. Sprinkled tops with toasted coconut.
  3. Dip the tines of a fork into chocolate and drizzle over the top.
  4. Top the cupcakes with half of a samoa cookie.

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