Wolf's Den

Oh we had such plans, you and I. Such wonderful plans. Earl Grey and Meyer Lemon, what could possibly go wrong?


Apparently, once one thing goes wrong, it cascades. And when something goes wrong, boy it does it spectacularly.



These poor innocent cupcakes. One of you was doomed to become failcakes, the other, the recipient of fail frosting. One will never be made again, the other, often and eaten plain.

First, the failcakes...



When I saw the recipe for Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes with Lemon-Earl Grey Buttercream Icing, I thought, hey! That sounds good! It does still sound good, honestly...

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 tbsn. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 bags of earl grey tea, just the leaves ( I used Republic of Tea Earl Greyer)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Fill a cupcake pan with liners. Beat the butter until creamy, then add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure that they are incorporated thoroughly. In a bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients, including the tea leaves. Next, add half of the dry mixture. Add the milk then the remaining flour, stir until combined. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, rotating halfway to ensure even baking*. Let cool completely before frosting.

* I didn't rotate, but mine didn't need it, nor did mine collapse in the center. Mine took 15 minutes to bake.



Lemon Earl Grey Buttercream

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tbsn. lemon juice (I used a Meyer Lemon both for the juice and the zest)
1-2 teaspoons of earl grey tea leaves

Cream the butter until nice and smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Next, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and tea, making sure it is well incorporated. Frost cooled cupcakes and enjoy.



Enjoy. That's the key word here. The cut cupcake? That was the 'test' cupcake. The hubby got half, I got the other half. I hadn't even tried it yet and he, having shoved the entire half of a cupcake in his mouth (he's a man, what else would you expect?), said, he didn't like them. And don't make again.

Well then. *I* hadn't tried it, so while I generally take his word on most baking experiments, this time, I had to try it too. I took a bite. Hmm. Ok. Well, the frosting is rather sweet, almost too sweet. Pulled off the bottom of the cupcake. Ate that. Hmm. Ate the rest.

Frosting was rather sweet, with a nice lemon flavor, but still, sweet. Cupcake itself reminded me of cornbread, of all things, in flavor.

I hate cornbread.

Yeah, this recipe won't be made again.

That should have been my warning that the rest of the baking wasn't going to go well either. But hey, I'm an Aries, I'm stubborn, dammit. I pressed on.



Now these cupcakes. These poor unassuming cupcakes.

This recipe was most definitely not a failcake. Oh this recipe was delicious, moist, yummy dark chocolate deliciousness. Super moist, with a delicate crumb.

The buttercream, however, was most definitely a fail.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with cupcake papers.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared cupcake pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.



Now, I've made this particular buttercream before, with awesome results. This time, not so much.
The egg whites whipped up beautifully. The butter incorporated wonderfully. The caramel tasted great. Everything was going good- until I added the caramel and tried to beat the frosting for the 4-5 minutes it calls for.


Salted Caramel Buttercream
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp + 2 tsp (40 mL) cream
2 egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Put 1/4 cup of sugar and water in saucepan over medium-high heat. Do not stir of you will get sugar crystals, but you can swirl the saucepan gently. It will bubble itself into a deep amber. Remove immediately from heat and add cream (careful - it will bubble up furiously). Stir until smooth and set aside.

Put the egg whites, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture reaches 140 degrees. Transfer to bowl of standing mixer. Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Add butter a bit at a time, and continue beating on medium. Reduce speed to low, add vanilla extract, and then caramel (you may need to gently rewarm the caramel in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it is workable but not burning hot). Beat for 4-5 minutes.



The buttercream essentially melted. For all intents and purposes, it was basically similar to a ganache in texture. I ended up shoving it in the freezer and since it was already 10pm, going to the store for store bought 'buttercream' icing. Which was good, but so not what I really wanted.

Even after freezing overnight, then setting in the fridge long enough that I could stir it and scoop a bit onto cupcakes, it still melted. It ran over the sides and everywhere. You know it's bad when you slice a chilled cupcake and the frosting closes back together over the knife.

I made the hubby take half of the failcakes to work with him this morning. He also took half of the wonderful Cupcakes. The failcakes made 18 total, the Dark Chocolate cupcakes made 30. He said the Dark Chocolate, even with store bought frosting, were gone in an hour. The failcakes? Took all day.

Well then, my guinea pigs have spoken.

Here's hoping that next time, the Salted Caramel Buttercream doesn't fail. Now, I have Dark Chocolate Cupcakes to eat. Plain, of course.}:P