Last weekend, I went out of town on
girl’s weekend. It was the first time
I’ve ever been away from my 1 year old for more than a couple hours. It was also the first time I’ve gone on a vacation
by myself since marrying my husband 5 years ago. Did I also mention that was my first time
driving in a big city, by myself or otherwise?
Needless to say, this was a big step for me!
Since I knew I would be missing my
husband and boys, and would be stressed out about the driving situation, I also
knew that I would need some chocolate therapy.
Plus, what better way to kick off girl’s weekend than with a couple
boxes of decadent Snickers Cupcakes and a bottle of wine? I was even a nice thoughtful wife, and left
some cupcakes behind for the boys (plus a Tater Tot Casserole and Creamy Chicken Taquitos—I couldn’t have my boys eating out all weekend!)
All in all, girl’s weekend was a
blast! My college girlfriends and I
traveled from 3 states for a weekend of catching up and shopping. My boys did great without me (but were very
happy when Mama came home), and I even managed big city driving, at rush hour
to boot! And, of course, the cupcakes
were a hit!
Snickers Cupcakes
Adapted from Annie’s Eats
Cupcakes
1 box of Devil’s Food cake
mix
Eggs, oil, & water as directed on the packaging
24 bite sized Snickers
bars
Caramel Buttercream
Caramel
Sauce
4 tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup heavy cream
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter,
softened
4 cups (1 lb)
confectioner’s sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup caramel sauce
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp heavy cream
Additional Snickers bars,
chopped, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350
degrees and line 2 muffin tins with paper liners. Mix the Devil’s Food cake as directed on the
packaging.
Fill each muffin liner
about half full of cake batter (approximately 2 tablespoons). Place one bite sized Snickers bar on top of
the batter in each liner. Top the
cupcakes with an additional 1 tablespoon of batter until the all of the cupcake
liners are filled and the batter is gone.
Bake the cupcakes for 30 minutes or as directed on the cake box.
Once baked, cool the
cupcakes on wire racks.
While the cupcakes cool,
make the caramel sauce by melting the butter in a small sauce pan over medium
heat. Add the sugar, stirring and
cooking until the mixture begins to form and starts to darken. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the
heavy cream. Once the mixture is smooth,
stir in the vanilla and salt. Let the
caramel cool to just over room temperature (warm enough to be workable, but
cool enough so as not to melt the butter in the following step)
Once the cupcakes are
completely cooled, begin the Caramel Buttercream. Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric
mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the confectioner’s sugar until smooth and
combined, and additional 1-2 minutes.
Turn the speed to
medium-low and stir in the vanilla, caramel sauce, and salt. Add the heavy cream and beat on high speed
until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
Place the buttercream in a
piping bag fitted with a large tip and pipe the icing onto each cupcake. Garnish with additional Snickers bars.
Makes 24 cupcakes
Enjoy!
YAmy