recipes

Mama’s Salted Caramel Cupcakes with Candied Bacon

~ mammawood ~ Leave a comment

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

(makes 12 muffin sized cupcakes (I always prefer) or 24 regular cupcakes

2/3 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 whole vanilla bean- scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, or 1 teaspoon vanilla (if you cannot find the others)

2 cups granulated white sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter – melted

1 cup water

2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees for convection oven)

In standing mixer, using paddle attachment, mix sour cream, baking soda, salt and eggs until combined

Add sugar, vanilla bean paste, to the egg mixture. Mix until well combined.

In a small bowl,  microwave/melt the butter in with 1 cup of water

With mixer on low speed, alternate adding the butter/water mix with the flour in to the egg mixture.

Scrape down the bowl as needed and continue adding until all of the flour and all of the butter/water mixture is incorporated

Fill cupcake liner 2/3 full of batter

Bake 26 minutes for muffin sized cupcakes, 22 minutes for regular cupcake size. (I turn the pans around halfway through baking to make sure they get evenly baked. Every oven is different, and elevation /humidity also play a part in baking times, so when a toothpick comes out clean, the cupcakes are down. I like to take my finger and gently push in and if it bounces back, they are done

Let cool completely before icing

Mama’s Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted Caramel Sauce

  1. 1 cup sugar
  2. 1/4 cup water
  3. 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  4. 3/4 cup heavy cream
  5. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  6. 1 1/2 teaspoons gray sea salt, crushed
  7. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil over high heat until a deep amber caramel forms, about 6 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream, butter and salt. This can be a little tricky sometimes.  If it get too hard, just scrape all in to a Vitamix or blended and put on hi until it is smooth and creamy.  Let the caramel cool to room temperature.

Salted Caramel Frosting

1 ½ cup (3 sticks) of chilled butter (cubed)

4 ounces of chilled cream cheese

4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.

1 cup of your homemade salted caramel sauce (chilled)

In a standing mixer with paddle attachment, add butter and beat until smooth. Add cream cheese, and beat until fluffy.

On low speed, gradually add powdered sugar Mix until fully incorporated.

Gradually add the chilled salted caramel sauce.  If mixture looks a little too soft, add another  ½ cup powdered sugar.

Place icing in piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes. (or icing cupcakes with a knife to your liking

Place in fridge for 30-45 minutes

Candied Bacon

Ingredients  

1 pound thick cut bacon (Maple would be good)  (If you buy the peppered bacon, eliminate adding more pepper)

1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

1 cup light brown sugar packed

Instructions 

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Place a wire rack on a foil lined baking sheet with sides. (see example below))  Arrange the bacon on the wire rack and sprinkle with the black pepper. Lightly pat the brown sugar on top of the bacon to create a thin layer. (I put my bacon between 2 sheets of parchment paper and gently press down to get the bacon coated with brown sugar)
  3. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the brown sugar has melted and the bacon is crisp.
  4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the bacon to a parchment lined baking sheet and allow to cool to room temperature.
  5. Once cooled, break into bite sized pieces to put on the cupcakes
  6. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

To Finish!!

Remove cooled cupcakes from the refrigerator.

Drizzle caramel sauce over the icing  on the cupcakes and add bits of the candied bacon.

Place back in the refrigerator until ready to eat. I like to use plastic bins with lids.

Remove from fridge about ½ to 1 hour before eating, depending on how hot it is. You want to eat the cupcakes at room temperature.

Mama’s Egg Rolls

~ mammawood ~ Leave a comment

Mama’s Egg Rolls

These egg rolls are my huge families favorite. We all get in the kitchen and make these. Its so much fun!!. We have rolling contests to see who wraps the prettiest egg rolls, then have eating contests to see who can eat the most egg rolls!! Fun family times. Everyone is picking up specialty mustards to try for the next visit. Last week when we had them, I think we had 12 different mustards out!!! Our favorite? Amish dill mustard, champagne dill mustard and classic Dijon.

We usually quadruple this recipe, but we have a really big family. And these taste so good cold for a midnight snack or breakfast in the morning. You may think theres a lot, but they will go fast!!

The rule pretty much is 1 lb of ground pork to one package of egg roll wrappers (20) but it really depends on how much Bean Sprouts you put in. so, heres the basic recipe, you try it ands add more onions if you like, add less if you think its too much, etc for sprouts too. But try it this way the first time.

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork

1 package egg roll wrappers

1-2 bunches of green onions

1 cup soy sauce

2-3 cups of fresh bean sprouts (chopped finely) or 1 can if you cannot find fresh ones.

Handful of shredded carrots (optional)

Canola Oil

Parchment paper

Spray oil

Mustards of choice

Jams or jellies of choice, our favorite for over 20 years is Smuckers red plum jam

Process

Brown pork in a skillet, separating all clumps

Add chopped green onions until wilted

Drain off grease in a strainer

Add back to the pan and add 1 cup soy sauce, stirring occasionally to get fully incorporated. Let sit 5 minutes or so while you get your rolling station ready. (it doesn’t matter if it sits longer)

Drain off soy sauce

Add chopped bean sprouts and mix until fully incorporated

move total mixture back to the strainer and sit strainer on a bowl or pan to catch the run off

tear off a large piece of parchment paper. Spray with oil until fully covered. (this keep the egg rolls from sticking and tearing when you move them to fry.

Find a plate or a pie pan large enough for the egg roll wrapper to lay on the flat bottom

Add a few tablespoons of water to the plate, lay a wrapper on the watered plate, then flip it over. should be all wet. (getting it all wet helps keep the wrapper from tearing)

Put a heaping tablespoon or more in the middle of the wrapper see picture on rolling)

As you roll them you will figure out how much you can put on each one.

Put rolled egg rolls on the oiled parchment seem down (to further seal it)

Once all rolled, heat canolaoil on high until hot, them move to med high. Add egg rolls one at a time until you have a semi full pan.  They are hard to flip (they want to roll back over) so you may need to take a large spook and baste the top with oil, or just take your tongs and hold it under for a second or two.

Remove and lay on a sided cookie sheet covered with paper towels or a cooling rack to remove any extra grease

Let cool and serve with your favorite condiments. I used to serve with sides, but you really don’t need any!!

This is super easy!! Once you make them you will make more and more.

You can take pie filling and make desert egg rolls

You can fill with anything and everything. I once used left over pulled pork, chopped it up. Once used left over beef roast. Add shredded carrots or whatever you want.

If I cannot find sprouts, I use broccoli slaw. You can wilt in a pan or use it chopped up. It adds a fun crunch to it.