Mad Scientist Cupcakes

For R’s birthday this year, I wanted to combine everything he loves: cheesecake, chocolate, and sea salt caramel. I proposed a Friday happy hour at Mia’s, which provided an additional challenge: how to transport via bike and easily serve to the masses in a public place. After many hours of research, I mad scientisted together the perfect birthday dessert.

Note the creative use of shoelaces as no bungee cords could be found

Credit for my inspiration came from the following three locations: Annie’s Eats, Bake or Break Recipes, and Brown Eyed Baker

With these, I created…. Drum roll please!

Fudge Bottomed Cheesecake Cupcakes with a Pecan and Salted Caramel Topping

Yes, this one was a wee bit complicated, and I have to admit, I got distracted just now with starting to write this and burnt my pecans… Grrrr… gonna have to redo that bit. My first attempt at making caramel, using the recipe I found, was an absolute disaster! And silly me. I left that for last and then was rushing around at the last minute to finish things up and not be late. I swear I have made caramel before and not had it be so hard. I am not sure if it was the recipe or the high altitude or both. I had to start over because it was this awful crystallized sugar mass. I found this recipe MUCH more successful and yes, don’t touch it! I kept poking at it with my whisk and ended up with rock candy on my whisk, which even with being nonstick was a horrible pain to remove.

Fasten your seatbelts, kiddos, this one, takes some time. Set aside an afternoon, put on some fun danceable music (My selections were Vampire Weekend and Caravan Palace). It is worth it, though. They were a smashing hit and got rave reviews. I am soooo proud of my new invention!

Yield is 24 cupcake sized cheesecakes (Note: the original recipe said it would make 32. I only had enough crust mixture for 24, but I did have leftover filling.)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs (or 1 ½ cups if you don’t want to use pecans)

¼ cup ground pecans

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

For Fudge Bottom:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

¼ cup cream

½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the Cheesecake Filling:

2 lbs of cream cheese, room temperature

1 ½ cups of granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature

For the topping:

24 toasted whole pecans

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp of corn syrup (whoops, just realized I used 1 Tbsp, but it didn’t hurt it)

¼ cup of water

½ cup heavy cream

1 tsp of vanilla

Sea salt

Directions:

For Crust:

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. I ground my graham crackers and pecans separately in the food processer then processed them together to combine. In a small bowl, combine the crumb mixture, melted butter and sugar. I started by melting my butter in the microwave in the bowl and then adding the rest. Stir together with a fork until well blended and all the dry ingredients are moistened. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner. (I used my bottle of vanilla, but a small drinking glass would work to easily and evenly press the crumbs down). Bake until just set, 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Not pressed

Pressing the crust

Baked golden brown

Close Up!

For Fudge Bottom:

Put chopped chocolate into a bowl with the cream. Microwave in 30 second increments until the chocolate begins to melt and stir together to combine. Add vanilla and stir. I put about 1 ½ teaspoons of the fudge into the bottom of each cheesecake and used the back of the spoon to spread it out. Let set for about 15 or 20 minutes.

NOTE: You could definitely taste the chocolate, but it wasn’t quite as prominent as I hoped. I might bump up the amount next time, which would require an increase in ingredients.

For Cheesecake Filling:

To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy. Blend in the sugar until smooth. Mix in the salt and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. To assemble, put about 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter in each liner. Bake until the filling is set, about 22 minutes. Rotate the pans about halfway through baking. They will look puffed when you remove them, but will deflate some as they cool. Set on cooling racks to cool to room temperature. Then, transfer to the refrigerator and let them chill, ideally, for about 4 hours until serving.

Ready for the oven

For Caramel and Pecan Topping:

Stir together sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Let boil until amber in color, about 3 minutes. PICTURE Don’t touch it! No, seriously, don’t. You will want to stir it and check and make sure it is not sticking. It won’t be. You will just end up with rock candy on your whisk. Remove from heat and whisk in cream. It might seem like it is going to explode, boil over, or lump together. Don’t freak – just keep whisking! After it gets to the consistency you like, whisk in the vanilla. Let cool to room temperature (or for 5 minutes if you are running super late like I was). Put about a tablespoon of caramel on each cheesecake and top with a toasted pecan and a wee sprinkle of sea salt.

What cooking caramel SHOULD look like

Sometimes There is a Down Side to New Adventures

It is no secret that I love to travel. I could easily rattle off about 20 places I want to visit and could probably come up with another pretty long list of places I think I might like to live, too. But, it can be hard having that passion and drive to always keep moving around. Transiency can be fun, but it is also not all it is cracked up to be because you are always leaving great things and people behind. I think it is on my mind because yesterday was my birthday. Just about anyone could tell you that I am fairly indifferent when it comes to my birthday. I appreciate the love and attention that I receive, but I am rarely counting down the hours to my “special day.” Probably my fondest memories come from my 30^th birthday party where my friends quietly stole control of the planning from me and gave me an unforgettable bash. Of course, it is memories like these that perhaps are making me a bit blue and nostalgic today.

First, let me clarify, I had a lovely day yesterday. I got an awesome Camelback backpack and some funny socks from Robert. I was strongly encouraged to not study and to enjoy my day. I did this, however, I am regretting it a wee bit today as I have stacks of reading to finish before tomorrow. We had a fun afternoon together cooking my birthday dinner. I know that may not sound fun to everyone, but I picked out some of my favorite dishes to share with some Flagstaff friends, and R and I really enjoy cooking together. We have not done it a whole lot since moving here because our counter space is about 2 feet long, which is not conducive to two people working side by side unless you are very patient or careful! We made hummus and baba ganoush with pita chips and carrots for dipping. We made spinach pie (like one giant spanokapita, only easier) and grilled fennel couscous salad. At my request, Robert made me a banana cake with caramel frosting.

We shared this feast with A and J, who as you can tell are already frequent flyers in my life here, B that I work with and her little son L, and two new friends from my SUS program, C and T. It was exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday, so I was happy and content at the end of the day. I also received phone calls and texts from family and friends as well as a million facebook messages. I think it is the last bit that makes me a bit sad and lonely right now. In particular, I miss my family. Some might find that a little weird as I am not super tight with most of them. My most regular contact is about weekly phone calls with my mom, and talking with my siblings is sporadic at best. The thing is, that up until three years ago, I saw them about once every few months. Consider my travelling history, that is pretty good. Life has made it pretty fortunate and easy for me to make my way back to Madison and Louisville either through proximity, job perks, or my desire to keep my relationship alive with my significant other after moving to Dallas.

After R and I got married and he moved to Dallas, my trips home dropped off tremendously. Suddenly, with two of us, it meant driving instead of flying, and of course, he had been a part of my motivation to keep returning so regularly. Instead of being there every three or four months, it dropped to about twice a year. It is now September, and I have not been back since December and it looks likely that I won’t be back until this December. This is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my family. The trip is no longer drivable (well, in a reasonable person’s world, anyways), and we are definitely poorer than we were before with me being a grad student and all!

The hardest part about leaving an old life behind and starting a new one is that the old life keeps trucking on without you. I know that is very elementary, but until you experience missing out on significant events like your baby sister’s high school graduation, friends’ weddings and birthday parties, and the birth of your niece, it doesn’t completely hit you. I had no idea how much I would hate not getting to be a full time aunty. How can you love someone so much you have never even met?!? Thank goodness for the electronic age and quick access to pictures, but it isn’t quite the same. I suppose, it is time to get off the “woe is me” bandwagon. I know I made the choices that brought me here, and I hope it is evident from all my other stories, that I am really happy here. Today, though, I just missed my old life with my circle of friends and my family back in Madtown and the Ville.