Chocolate & Ale Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

WE INTERRUPT YOUR PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM (COFFEE TALK) TO BRING YOU SOMETHING HIGHLY DELICIOUS THAT YOU REALLY MUST MAKE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE IRISH OR WEARING GREEN TODAY.  THANK YOU. 

I wrote that in my very best old-timey radio announcer voice.

So here's the deal.  It is Friday, which means that we should be coffee-talking, but I threw a stray bottle of ale into my chocolate cupcakes the other day and it happened to be incredible.  Coffee Talk will be coming to you tomorrow, but for today, on this very verdant March 17th, we need to talk about the magic of ale and chocolate baked together and covered in caramel. 

I have no doubt that you have noticed my lack of holiday-themed treats.  I do, in fact, make Mr. Pedantic heart-shaped egg-in-hole breakfasts come Valentine's Day, and you will not find me without a batch of peanut butter eggs at my side in April, but here, in this little space of internet, I like to keep things a bit less...Pinterest-y?  I'll leave that to Martha Stewart. 

However, I just could not resist sharing these very holiday-appropriate cupcakes, because while they are quite festive, they are equally delicious. 

They are also the quickest cupcakes you will ever make.  You do not even need to break out your stand mixer for these guys. 

I wish I could properly describe the aroma of these cupcakes baking, but you will just have to bake them yourself to find out.  All I can say is that the scent of rich chocolate baked with yeasty ale is pure heaven. 

While the cupcakes cool, we need to tackle the frosting situation.  Salted caramel and cream cheese just felt right. 

See how smooth that frosting is?  Doesn't it make your eyes so happy? 

The key to a super smooth frosting is soft cream cheese and butter.  If you try to use butter or cream cheese that is even slightly cold you will end up with little cold bits strew throughout the frosting. 

It's been pretty cold these days around Norwyk Manor so I placed my butter and cream cheese atop my stove while the cupcakes baked, flipping them every so often so that the warmth was evenly distributed.  Cheat code for the impatient. 

A super simple homemade caramel goes into the frosting and the leftovers are used for drizzling. 

I also sprinkled a bit of edible gold sugar over these little cakes because the neighborhood leprechaun told me too. 

Let's forgo the pinching and shamrock necklaces and just eat cupcakes.  Cool?  Cool. 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Chocolate and Ale Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

makes 2 1/2 dozen / cake recipe adapted from Food 52

for the cupcakes

2 cups pure cane sugar 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose 

3/4 cup cocoa 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

2 eggs 

1/4 cup whole milk 

3/4 cup amber ale 

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/4 cup boiling water 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray muffin tins with nonstick spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine sugar, all-purpose flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add eggs, milk, ale, oil, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth; about two minutes.  Then, whisk in boiling water.  The batter will be quite thin but do not worry! 

Divide the batter evenly amongst the 30 muffin cups, filling each only half way.  These cakes will rise significantly!

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cakes spring back when tapped lightly in the center.  Do not open the oven during the baking time else the cupcakes will fall. 

Place the cupcakes on cooling racks to cool while you prepare the frosting. 

for the caramel

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a small sauté pan combine sugar, butter and water.  Place over medium heat and stir until the butter melts and the sugar begins to dissolve.  

Once the sugar has dissolved, cease stirring, and boil for 5-7 minutes, or until amber in color.  Swirl the pan occasionally so that the caramel browns evenly, but do not stir or scape down the sides while the caramel is cooking.  Once the color is correct, remove from heat and add vanilla, heavy cream, and salt.  Be careful as the caramel will bubble and may splatter.  

Once the cream has been stirred in, return the pan to the burner and whisk until the caramel is smooth.

Allow the caramel to cool to room temperature.   

for the frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 cups confectioner’s sugar 

1/2 cup salted caramel, cooled 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter.  Beat on medium speed with an electric hand-mixer until smooth.  Reduce the speed to low and beat in heavy cream. 

Continue mixing on the lowest speed while you gradually add confectioner’s sugar; scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.  

When the frosting is smooth, slowly beat in caramel and vanilla extract.  

Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes and drizzle with the excess caramel.  Store in airtight containers and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Enjoy! 

Proper Josephs with Ale & Brown Sugar

We are adults.  It's a new year, a clean slate, and we should try to resist eating popcorn and cereal for dinner for at least a couple more weeks.  With a whole year in front of us, there is no better time to begin arming ourselves with solid, dependable, realistic weeknight dinners. 

I know it looks like all I do is take pictures of cookies and drink tea beside the Christmas tree.  But sadly and probably thankfully, we do not eat Lobster Macaroni & Cheese for dinner every night. Sometimes, I just need to use up my leftover ground beef. 

That whole "necessity is the mother of invention" thing ain't no lie.

I heated some oil in the frying pan, tossed in some garlic, and browned the beef.  

My grievance with sloppy joes has always been related to the sweetness factor.  In my mind, this humble, homey classic requires some degree of brown-sugary sweetness, but at times it goes a bit too far.  

I still like my dinner to maintain its savory integrity.  Oh, and do not even get me started on the whole bell pepper thing.  No, just no.

I wanted these sloppy joes to strike the perfect balance between sweet and savory, and It turns out that a leftover bottle of ale was just the ticket.  

The ale brings a welcome depth of flavor and unmistakable yeasty tang to this sloppy joe filling.

After the first bite I knew the remnants of my refrigerator had inspired something truly special. Something that had far too much sophistication of flavor to be called "sloppy." 

While these are not exactly the most elegant of sandwiches, Mr. Pedantic & I both agreed that in the world of sloppy joes, these were the Hapsburgs.  Hence the updated, and more deserving title - Proper Josephs.  

The ingredients are far from fussy, save the indulgent brioche buns, but the final reward is a true delight. 

Go ahead, put a little faux-fancy in your week. 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Proper Josephs

serves 2 (or 4 smaller sandwiches) 

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 large clove garlic 

- 1/2 lb ground beef (I used 80/20)

- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

- 1 bay leaf 

- 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 

- 8 ounces tomato sauce

- 1/4 cup amber ale 

- 2-3 tablespoons dark brown sugar 

- 2 brioche buns 

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

In a medium, nonstick frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat until it begins to shimmer.  Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, until it just begins to brown.  

Add your ground beef and use a spatula to break up the meat, then add the salt and bay leaf and cook until the meat is evenly browned.   

Once the meat has browned, add ale and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Reduce heat slightly and add Worcestershire and tomato sauces.  

Allow the mixture to simmer on low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.  Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar, then taste and add an additional tablespoon if needed.  Whether or not this is necessary will greatly depend on the sweetness of your tomatoes. 

Remove the pan from the heat source and allow to cool slightly while you prepare the buns. 

Set your oven to the broiler setting and slice buns lengthwise.  Spread 1/2 tablespoon butter on each side of each bun and place on a set pan, cut-side up.  Place in the oven and toast until golden. 

Serve immediately.  Enjoy! 

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Pretzel Dogs - a love story

The words were still leaving my cousin's lips when I turned to my fiancé and said, "We have to, I need to taste that."  

Several days after Christmas we were with yet another group of family members, and my cousin began telling us about a new place downtown where everything was made into a pretzel.  Stuffed pretzels, pretzel pizzas, pretzel calzones (I died) and...pretzel-wrapped hot dogs.  

Now, you know that I'm a highly snobby, slightly pretentious food snob, but I do love and thoroughly enjoy a good hot dog.  It's my #1 guilty pleasure food.   Load it up with sweet pickles and I'm close to fainting with joy.  

So, it is no surprise that when I heard the words "pretzel-wrapped hot dogs" I grabbed my keys and begged someone to help me find this heavenly establishment.  I ordered without hesitation and, after a few, long moments of anticipation, I was holding a bag of happiness.  The greasy, sweet, butter leaked through the brown paper bag and the perfume of freshly baked, yeasty dough consumed my senses.  This was going to be good.  

I ate it all.  Well, I had to share a little bit with my fiancé, but he got no more than a small bite.  It was everything I had dreamed it would be, and at that moment I knew I was going to create my own version of this delicacy at home. 

The task was really a simple one, and I am no stranger to pretzel-making.  I began by making a batch of my favorite pretzel dough and then waited eagerly for it to rise.  I chose the fancy all-beef, no nitrate hot dogs because that is the only kind I can will myself to buy, but if you would like to go for something a bit more traditional - well, I won't tell. 

The hardest part of this recipe is wrapping the hot dogs.  It is not overly difficult, but the hot dogs do tend to resist being wrapped up at times.  I dried mine a bit to remove any excess moisture that would prevent the dough from clinging as it should.  

This video shows the simplicity of the wrapping process, as well as my mad dough-rolling skills.  Ha. Haha.  Kidding.  Oh, and that bench scraper is also my highly sophisticated kitchen ruler.

 After the dogs have been swaddled, they are boiled for thirty seconds in a baking soda bath.  The reason for this is threefold.  First, the baking soda will assist with browning and give the pretzels that deep, mahogany color.  Second, the baking soda will also give our pretzels that pretzel-y taste we all love.  Lastly, the boiling will give the bread a lovely, chewy texture.  

Do not even think about skipping this step!  An unboiled pretzel is not a pretzel.  

After their bath, these pretzels receive a coating of egg wash and a heavy sprinkling of kosher salt. 

I once tried to make pretzels with regular old table salt.  The result was less than pleasing.  It's gotta be the coarse stuff.  

While the pretzels were baking, I turned my attention to a dip.  The dog I ordered was served with honey mustard and it was fantastic, but I wanted something different.  At the time, I was also thinking that these would make pretty amazing game day food and then I thought of a bunch of guys screaming on the couch, and then I thought of beer and cheese, and then I made this wonderful mess. 

As soon as the pretzels come out of the oven they are brushed with melted butter to make them just a little bit more wonderful.  

Portion the dip into little bowls, there is no way around double-dipping when it comes to hot, melty cheese dip.  

Classically succulent hot dogs enveloped in soft, salty, buttery pretzels.  Could it get any better?  I think not.  

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Pretzel Dogs with Smoked Gouda & Beer Dip

pretzel recipe slightly adapted from Alton Brown / makes eight

for the pretzels

• 1 1/2 cups warm water

• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 package active dry yeast

• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, roughly 4 1/2 cups

• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

• vegetable oil, for greasing

• 8 all-beef hot dogs

• 10 cups water

• 2/3 cup baking soda

• egg wash (1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon of water)

• course-ground kosher salt or sea salt

In the bowl of your stand mixer combine 1 1/2 cups warm water, sugar, and kosher salt.  Sprinkle yeast on top and allow to sit for 5 minutes or until foamy. 

Add the flour and melted butter to the yeast mixture and fit your mixer with the dough hook attachment.  Mix on low speed until the flour and butter are well incorporated.  Change the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  This will take about 5 minutes.  

Remove the dough gently and place in a large bowl greased with vegetable oil.  Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. 

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine baking soda with 10 cups of water.  Bring to a rolling boil.  

Turn the dough out unto a floured surface and portion into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece of dough into a 15-inch rope.  Wrap the rope around each hot dog, twisting tightly to form a case. 

Place the pretzels in the boiling water, one at a time, for 30 seconds.  Transfer the boiled pretzels to the prepared sheet pans.  Brush each pretzel with egg wash and sprinkle with salt.  

Bake the pretzels until they are deep golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.  While the pretzels are baking, prepare the dip.  

for the dip

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons ground mustard

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 cup dark beer

• 3.5 ounces smoked gouda, shredded

• 3.5 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and cook, 1-2 minutes, until the flour has just started to brown.  

Whisk in salt, mustard, and milk.  Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, until the milk has thickened, then add the beer.  Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and the beer has cooked off slightly.  

Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheeses.

Pour the dip into an oven-safe pan and place under the broiler for 5-7 minutes, until the top has browned.  Serve immediately with freshly baked pretzel dogs.  Enjoy!