Foodie Friday ~ Starbucks Carmel Frappucino Cupcakes!

14 eggs
6 sticks of butter
5 1/2 cups of sugar
2 hours
2 trips to Starbucks
10,000 calories?

Found this amazing recipe and on Pinterest from Kimz Kitchen's blog!   Go check out her blog to see how many of these she made for her brother-in-laws wedding.

For the Cupcakes:

3/4 cup whole or low-fat milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 package of Starbucks Via Instant Coffee
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

1 pack of Starbucks Via Instant Coffee
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cup white sugar
4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
Makes 24 cupcakes

Heat the milk in the microwave or on the stove until hot – stop short of a simmer. Stir in the instant coffee until well blended. Add the vanilla and set aside.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, soda, salt, ground coffee and cocoa.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment until creamed. It should be slightly fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.

Add 2/3 of the flour mixture and the sour cream. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk. Beat until smooth.

Scrape all the batter out into a separate bowl and wash the mixer bowl thoroughly.

Switch to the whisk attachment and beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. They will hold a stiff peak but they will still slip around a little in the bowl.

Fold the egg whites into the cake batter gently, folding the batter around until well combined.
Fill cupcake liners with batter and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

For the Coffee Mousse:

(I should have cut this recipe in half!  You will end up with tons of leftover Mousse! So cut in half if you just want mousse for the cupcakes)

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
6 large egg yolks
1/3 cup water
1 package of Starbucks Via Caramel flavored coffee

2 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream

Whisk sugar, yolks, water and Starbucks via in large metal bowl - I had to use my kitchen-aid mixer bowl.  I need to go buy some small metal bowls for the future.

Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bowl to touch water); whisk until candy thermometer registers 160°F, about 8 minutes.

Remove bowl from over water. Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture until cool and thick, about 5 minutes.

Beat cream in another large bowl until stiff peaks form.

Fold cream mixture into egg mixture.

For the Homemade Caramel Drizzle :

(You can also cut this recipe in 1/2 - either way you will end up with a ton of caramel sauce leftover for ice cream!)

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cut butter into evenly sized cubes and melt over low heat in large 3-4 quart saucepan.

Once butter is fully melted, add brown sugar, being careful to avoid the sides of the pan.

Once butter and sugar are fully combined, add corn syrup and condensed milk. Clip on candy thermometer to side of pan.

Cook mixture on low heat (still continually stirring) for about a minute or two. Increase heat to medium and continue to cook/ stir until mixture reaches 225 degrees. Once the mixture is removed from heat, stir in vanilla extract.

For Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

3/4 cup sugar
4 egg whites
3 sticks unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Heat sugar, egg whites, and salt in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisking until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.

 
Return bowl to mixer, and whisk, gradually increasing speed from low to medium-high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add butter, a few pieces at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Switch to a paddle attachment and beat until air bubbles are gone, 2 to 3 minutes more.

To assemble the cupcakes:

Once cupcakes are cool, core out the center of each one - I used an apple core tool.  Drizzle a bit of caramel sauce in bottom of hole.  Then, pipe the coffee mousse into the center.


Once all cupcakes are filled, pipe swiss meringue buttercream onto each one.

Then drizzle more caramel sauce on top.  I got green straws and only 3 small hot Starbucks cups from my local Starbucks.  Cut the green straw into 4ths and stick into the cupcake.  Then cut open the small cups and trim off the top and bottom. Wrap the cups around the cupcake wrapper and tape the seam in the back.

I don't even want to know how many calories these cupcakes have OR how much they cost to make!  Ignorance is bliss!