Samoa Girl Scout Cupcakes

I've been dying to make these cupcakes since the girl scouts at Misawa Air Base started selling them a few weeks ago.  I already made my dulce de leche sauce for my carmel component and I have the best chocolate cake recipe for the cake portion.  

Many thanks to one of my friends and his wife for sharing his moms chocolate cake recipe.  Which is one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever baked, I received the blessing from him today in order to share it on my blog.  the way I came to have his moms recipe was his wife messaged me asking if I would make him a cake for his 23rd birthday since she wouldn't be able to be here in Japan to celebrate and I said of course I'll make him a cake.  So she sent me his moms recipe because its his favorite and we came up with the brillant idea of also incorporated cheesecake into the birthday cake since it was his other favorite flavor.  So I'll be sharing a chocolate cake cheesecake soon.  but for now lets just drool and savor these samoa girl scout cupcakes.  

Samoa Girl Scout Cupcakes
Oishii Treats original creation and
a friends family recipe adapted slightly.

Yields: 24-26 cupcakes

Ingredients for the Chocolate Cupcake

Sour Milk
1 cup Milk + 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 eggs

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and insert paper liners into your cupcake pans
- Make your sour milk: In a separate bowl add your milk and vinegar and set aside while you make the batter.
- In a large mixing bowl add flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix together with a whisk.
- In a small mixing bowl add your cocoa powder and boiling water and whisk until the cocoa powder is nice and smooth, let it cool down for about 6-8 minutes.
- add your cocoa mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk together, add the milk, oil and eggs and mix until fully incorporated.
- Fill your cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.

*You can either used store bought carmel or dulce de leche or you can make your own the night before with this simple and easy recipe. Crockpot Dulce De Leche

Dulce De Leche filling 

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons dulce de leche
1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened might be best cause the dulce is sweet, but you can use sweetened coconut as well)

Directions

- Create a whole in the middle of your cupcake
- Combine the ingredients together in a small bowl and fill the cupcake wholes with the filling

Dulce De Leche Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup dulce de leche
4-6 tablespoons milk

Directions

- Whip the butter in a electric mixer until light and fluffy. 6-8 minutes on high speed
- add your powder sugar 1/4 cup at a time until fully incorporated
- add in the dulce de leche and 4 tablespoons milk and whip for 3-4 minutes. (add more milk to get your desired consistency)
- Top your cupcakes with buttercream, toasted coconut and drizzle with chocolate sauce.

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CrockPot Dulce De Leche

Wow where did the time go? I can't believe I've been MIA for 2 weeks. All I have to say work has been craZy this month.  With my paralegal duties, cub scouts and studying a girl barley has time to cook. Ooooh yeah, geez totally forgot, did I mentioned I caught a Japanese stomach virus 2 weeks ago as well, right about that time I had my terrible snow boarding trip. I guess that stomach bug I was coming down with wasn't just a normal 24 hour bug. After struggling for 3 days with terrible stomach pains, nausea, heart burn and acid reflux I finally went to the emergency room on base and 4 hours later I found out that there has been a epidemic in Japan concerning a stomach virus / infection and this lucky red head had caught it. Winner right here.  

So my prize for the last 2 weeks has been trying to get rid of this awful virus.  I'm still battling some acid reflux and heart burn but after changing my diet a little and watching how late I eat at night its been getting better. So now I can finally get back in the kitchen and start whipping up some delightful treats. 

 I want to share this super easy and can't stop eating it by the spoon Dulce De Leche.  I have many plans for this gooey, sticky, sweet sauce. My next post will be a samoa girl scout cookie inspired cupcake featuring dulce de leche. But for now its a good thing I made a couple of jars of this stuff, cause it's great in coffee, ice cream and for a healthier option you can dip sliced apples in it.

So just dig your cock pot out of the cupboard place your jars in it and let it cook overnight while your dreaming of all the delicious ways you can use dulce de leche....I know I did :)

CrockPot Dulce De Leche
Adapted From Buns in my Oven

Ingredients
2 (14oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
2 or 3 half pint canning jars or reuse the glass jars your condiments come in (I used a jelly jar and hummus glass jar that I washed and saved weeks ago)

Directions

- Pour your sweetened condensed milk into your glass jars and secure the lids tightly to the jars.
- Place the jars in your crock pot and add water.  The water should rise at least 1 inch above your jars.

- Place the lid on the crock pot and set on low heat.
- Cook for 10-12 hours the longer you cook the sauce the darker in color it will get.
- Remove the jars from the water and let cool to room temp, they can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 to 4 weeks (if they last that long)

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French Toast Cupcakes w/ Maple Buttercream

   So I went on my first snowboarding trip in Japan and probably my last.  Snowboarding is just not meant for me, I'am a firm believer that its just one of those sports you need to start as a kid, where a couple of falls on your butt won't jack up your already bad back and leave bruises from head to toe.  

Oh did I mention that I also fell off the ski lift :/  I was so afraid of the lifts to begin with because they don't stop for you, they just scoop you up and you pray your in the right position when it arrives. So as it happened yesterday I wasn't in the right positon and that lift just knocked me off with no sympathy, I felt like I was punched in the hip by a sumo wrestler. 

I guess this really is my fault,  I should have known what to expect when I had my first true experience snow boarding in Alaska 4 years ago and ended up with a minor concussion, I should have known my second chance snow boarding in Japan wouldn't be any different.  It took about 2 hours to get down the mountain and I hurt my back so bad and was starting to come down with a stomach bug that I decided to throw in the towel and take a nap on a small love seat in a hotel lounge while the rest of the people on the trip were still snowboarding and the hubby went to the onsen. Oh well

After a day of being beaten up and feeling my age I decided that I owed my self a treat and made my favorite breakfast in a cupcake form.  These babies will not disappoint they literally taste like french toast with a delicious maple buttercream.  

French Toast Cupcakes
Adapted from Bakingdom
Yields: 24-28 cupcakes


For the Streusel 
Ingredients

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, sliced into chunks

Cupcake

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions for Streusel

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients and add in the cold butter using your hands to mix and squeeze the mixture together crumbling it up.  once complete cover and place in the freezer until ready to top on the batter.

Directions for the Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake tins with paper liners; set aside.
In your electric mixer bowl add your flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and whisk on low speed until mixed together.  Add in your butter, sour cream  eggs and vanilla, mix well until combined and smooth about 30-45 seconds.
Place 3 tablespoons of batter into each baking cup. and divide the streusel evenly among the cupcakes and top about 1 spoonful of streusel on top of each baking cup. Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Before they're baked

Before they're baked

After they're baked

Maple Buttercream

Ingredients

1 cup butter unsalted at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup maple syrup (your favorite kind, I used Mrs. Butterworth)
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

In a electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy, (this could take a little time about 8 to 10 minutes).

This is what the butter should look like, almost looks like fluff or whipped cream

Beat in the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until all the powdered sugar has been incorporated

Add the vanilla, salt and syrup and mix until combined. Beat in the heavy cream and whisk on high for 4 minutes.

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