Katie may be a whiz kid at scrapbooking, but she admits that she is awful at cooking. "I think I put my mom to shame because she is amazing and can make whatever, even without a recipe at hand, but I just catch pans on fire." However, that doesn't keep her from baking every now and then and Katie passed on a recipe from Grace's Sweet Life for Candied Hazelnut Cupcakes that she wanted to make.
Now I'm not going to lie. This recipe intimidated me to no end. Cake flour? What am I going to do with cake flour after I make this recipe? I'm the only one in my family who can eat it! Candied hazelnuts? That looks scary. I never claimed to be a gourmet chef. I firmly believe that baking should not be scary or frustrating. Baking should be fun!
So I improvised on this recipe for those of you out there who are like me.
Adaptation No. 1:
I used the hazelnuts and almonds, but I mixed them in with boxed vanilla cake mix. Save yourself the time and the money. The nuts taste just as good in an 89-cent boxed mix.
Adaptation No. 2:
I used marshmallows instead of homemade frosting. All you do is buy a bag of jumbo marshmallows. When the cupcakes have about three minutes left to bake, pull out the cupcake pan and place one marshmallow on top of each cupcake. Return to the oven for the remaining time or until marshmallows are slightly melted but still fluffy.
(I wish I could remember where I read to do this because it's certainly not my own idea.)
This is so delicious. After the marshmallows have cooled, they add a nice, gooey texture on top of the nutty cupcakes. Really fun! And you can buy marshmallows in different flavors, too, so you could try chocolate marshmallows if you wanted a chocolate "frosting".
Now, if you're feeling adventurous, by all means try out the original recipe. And then let me know how it was. I'll be here, eating my delicious and easy cupcakes.
Note: These cupcakes are not gluten-free. I asked my husband if he would eat them if I made them gluten-free and he wasn't interested. So I did not try to adapt this for those with Celiac. Sorry!
Now I'm not going to lie. This recipe intimidated me to no end. Cake flour? What am I going to do with cake flour after I make this recipe? I'm the only one in my family who can eat it! Candied hazelnuts? That looks scary. I never claimed to be a gourmet chef. I firmly believe that baking should not be scary or frustrating. Baking should be fun!
So I improvised on this recipe for those of you out there who are like me.
Adaptation No. 1:
I used the hazelnuts and almonds, but I mixed them in with boxed vanilla cake mix. Save yourself the time and the money. The nuts taste just as good in an 89-cent boxed mix.
Adaptation No. 2:I used marshmallows instead of homemade frosting. All you do is buy a bag of jumbo marshmallows. When the cupcakes have about three minutes left to bake, pull out the cupcake pan and place one marshmallow on top of each cupcake. Return to the oven for the remaining time or until marshmallows are slightly melted but still fluffy.
(I wish I could remember where I read to do this because it's certainly not my own idea.)
This is so delicious. After the marshmallows have cooled, they add a nice, gooey texture on top of the nutty cupcakes. Really fun! And you can buy marshmallows in different flavors, too, so you could try chocolate marshmallows if you wanted a chocolate "frosting".
Now, if you're feeling adventurous, by all means try out the original recipe. And then let me know how it was. I'll be here, eating my delicious and easy cupcakes.
Note: These cupcakes are not gluten-free. I asked my husband if he would eat them if I made them gluten-free and he wasn't interested. So I did not try to adapt this for those with Celiac. Sorry!
I never thought about putting a marshmallow on top! Genius!!! And your comment about me cooking up a storm made me laugh, because I actually haven't been. I have made those dishes over the past few weeks, but have set the auto-post function to post a new blog item each day this week. I've been feeling run-down and like I might be catching a cold, so these auto-posts are wonderful!!! :)
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