ice cream sundae cupcakes.

I think I went a bit overboard with the toppings. Okay I know I went overboard with the toppings. After I plopped the cherries on I actually stood back and wondered if the white chocolate drizzle was necessary but I countered that I have always been pretty restrained when decorating my cupcakes so heck, why not?

I initially just wanted to use my ice cream scooper to decorate my cupcakes such that they looked like they had a scoop of ice cream sitting on top of them. No sundae - just a scoop of ice cream. I realized soon enough that swiss meringue buttercream doesn't give a very authentic "ice cream" look because it's too silky. You need the frayed edges at the end and some tiny fissures at the top. But it was an easy problem to solve. I got the extra peanut butter caramel sauce I still had in the fridge and spooned dollops onto the mounds of buttercream. And while I was at it, I got out my sprinkles and cherries that I have leftover from making the cherry chocolate chip cake. Totally unplanned but totally genius.

For the cupcake base, I decided to go with a chocolate cupcake recipe I've been meaning to try for a while. Sadly I wouldn't say it's fantastic. The flavour is decent but I don't quite like the texture. It's way to crumbly and difficult to eat.

I've been conjuring up many cupcake ideas these days based on the remains of random ingredients I have stored in the fridge, and I don't feel like following any recipes in the new cookbooks I acquired recently. This streak of creativity isn't a bad thing but I hope to get down to making use of those cookbooks soon!

P.S. You can find me on instagram as well!

Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes
makes 12

For the chocolate cupcakes:
1 stick butter
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

For assembly:
swiss meringue buttercream, as much as needed
peanut butter caramel sauce
white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly, for drizzling
cherries
sprinkles

Bake the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper liners.

Melt the butter and chocolate together. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.

Whisk the eggs, sugars and vanilla extract until combined. Whisk in the butter mixture. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions and buttermilk in 2, starting and ending with the flour mixture.

Divide the batter amongst the 12 paper liners and bake for about 18 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out mostly clean. Cool before frosting.