My latest cupcake creation. This is my take on a pub favorite of pretzels and beer. I call it “The Dark Ale PubCake”. This is a dark chocolate cupcake infused with Young’s double chocolate stout beer. This cupcake has a pretzel bottom crust and is topped with a bittersweet ganache and drizzled with a homemade salted caramel. The garnish, a pretzel. These are available through LRBK for $30 per doz. (1 doz. minimum).

Look at that caramel sauce with it’s dark amber color and it’s salty sweet charisma. He’s such a FLIRT! I can’t help myself. This caramel sauce is just that good. If we were left alone in a room together, I’m not sure what might happen. But at least I know I will always be able to make this desirably delicious sauce whenever I want, until empty jar do us part. 

Ever since my last salted caramel post I’ve searched and tried different variations and methods and it stops here. Pinky promise. Cross my heart. So, you’ve seen how gorgeous the sauce came out, the taste is out of this world and you can make it in a snap. So go on… flirt with your sugar sauce in that hot pan.

Salted Caramel Sauce   (Yields about a 1 to 1 1/2 cup(s) of sauce–double if you dare)

• 1 cup of sugar
• 6 tbsp. of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. coarse salt 

Method:

1. Add the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a medium sized heavy saucepan. Heat the sugar over medium-high heat, whisking it as it begins to melt. You’ll see that the sugar will begin to form clumps, which is normal. Just keep whisking and the clumps will melt back down. Stop whisking once all of the sugar has melted, and swirl the pan occasionally while the sugar cooks.

2. Continue cooking until the sugar has reached a deep amber color. It should look almost a reddish-brown, and have a slight toasted aroma. This is the point where caramel can go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds, so keep a close eye.

3. Add the butter all at once when desired colored is achieved. Be careful, as the caramel will bubble up when the butter is added. Whisk the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the cream  a little at a time into the caramel and begin whisking continuously. Again, be careful because the mixture will once again bubble up. Whisk until all of the cream has been incorporated and you have a smooth sauce. Add the coarse salt and whisk to incorporate.

5. Pour the sauce into a glass jar or container and let it cool to room temperature. You can refrigerate the sauce for up to 2 weeks.

Some tips from the Little Red Bird

• It is important to have the butter at room temperature. If you put in cold butter into boiling hot sugar, your sugar will seize up and you will have a crystallized mess. Forgot to take the butter out of the fridge? Here’s a great way to bring it to room temperature. Heat up a cup of water or so in a glass bowl for 30 seconds. Pull it out and stick your finger in it. If it’s too hot, add some tap water until it feels about room temp. Once water is at the right temperature, place butter in the container for about 10 minutes or until softened. Don’t leave it for too long! You may end up with liquid butter.
• Same goes for the heavy cream. You want to slowly temper it in. When you temper, that means that you are slowly bringing up the temperature so that the sauce does not seize and become crystallized.
• Sugar burns are the worst. Trust me. I’ve had my fair shares. Whatever you do, DO NOT submerge your burn in ice! That will only make pulling the sugar that is (now) sealed to your skin, that much more painful. Place burned area under running water to help cool the burn. Leave it there until the sugar dissolves some and treat it with aloe vera, a pain reliever of choice and some ice cream with some of your salted caramel sauce to make you feel better.

The family and I have been on vacation in North Carolina the past few days visiting my husband’s parents. Ben’s parents have a farm up near Asheville with goats, cows, chickens, sheep and pigs. We always look forward to taking time from our hectic schedules to slow down in the mountains.

I remember the very first time that I ever went to visit his parents in North Carolina. Ben’s parents had a beautiful home up in the mountains that originally had been a barn. The house was warmly decorated with country chic decor and vaulted ceilings that brought a modern feeling to the once barn home. There were beautiful flowers blooming all around the house and bushes of wild berries growing carelessly across their property. After arriving from a long and tired car trip, we ate supper. Even though I can’t remember what we ate for dinner, I definitely remembered dessert. Ben’s mother, Kathy, made a peach and blueberry pie. Growing up I had never had much pie other than maybe apple so I was curious to try this combination. This pie was absolutely divine. It was the best pie that I had ever eaten. It wasn’t too sweet and the crust was perfectly golden brown and flaky. Perfect, perfect, perfect pie.

On our last night on our most current trip, Kathy made her blueberry peach pie for good ol’ times sake. It was just as good as I remembered. There was just something so magical about being in the country mountain setting and eating a warm peach blueberry pie that gave me a feeling of being relaxed and not so focused on time. A feeling of home away from home.

We made it back home to Florida a day before the 4th of July. We were expecting family over the following day to celebrate Independence day with us and I was obviously in charge of dessert. There is the usual red, white and blue flag cake but I wanted to make something different. Something simple yet homey. So I decided to make a Blueberry Peach cobbler. I found a recipe in a cookbook that I had purchased in Asheville while visiting this past week and thought it would be the perfect dessert to celebrate with. It’s summer time and peaches and berries are at their peak which makes for a fresh and inexpensive dessert to make.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and your 4th of July holiday.

Blueberry Peach Cobbler

(adapted from Sunny Point Cafe recipe book, “Breakfast and Beyond- comfort food from dawn to dark, By April Moon)

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and dried
• 1 1/2 lbs of  fresh peaches, peeled and sliced –about 3 large peaches
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour and 1 tbsp. white wheat flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg + a pinch of ground cardamom

Topping

• 1 c. all purpose flour and 1 c. white wheat flour
• 1 tbsp and 1 tsp. of baking powder (non-aluminum, if desired)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. raw sugar
• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. heavy cream + 1/2 c. half and half
• 2 tbsp. raw sugar for sprinkling on top

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix together blueberries, peaches, flour, sugar, nutmeg and cardamom. Turn fruit into a well greased 2 quart baking dish.

2. Make the topping. Place flours, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut butter into small chunks and work into the flour with fingertips or a pastry cutter until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Using a tablespoon drop batter over the top of the fruit until entire surface is covered. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

3. Place cobbler in the preheated oven and bake 30-40 minutes. The top will be golden and the center bubbling when done. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Some tips from the little red bird:

• If you only have all-purpose flour, omit the white wheat and  use all-purpose throughout the recipe. I like to integrate whole grains when ever I can. And by halving the all-purpose, this will help bring more fiber and nutrients.
• If you choose to use the white wheat, remember, it is a much heavier flour so the “batter” that you end up spooning over the top will be thicker due to the fact that it absorbs more moisture than the all-purpose flour does.
• Raw sugar can be substituted for regular. Raw sugar is sugar that has not been processed or bleached, therefore, it has a golden look to it due to the molasses which is a by-product that come from the fiber of the stem of the sugar cane.
• Ground cardamom is optional. The reason I added it was because of the fruity aroma it provides and how it gives this dish a little something special.
• I peeled the peaches but you can leave the skin on. I love to leave the skin on but also want to make sure that when you bite into a peach, there isn’t a long string of skin connected from your mouth to your fork. Not very visually appealing.