Burnt sugar cupcakes -- they taste like cotton candy!
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
2 egg yolks beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup water
3 teaspoons burnt sugar syrup
2 egg whites beaten until stiff
1/8 teaspoon mace
To make burnt sugar: Burn 1 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium-low to low heat until it has turned to a dark brown liquid. Add 1 cup hot water, stir & boil for 1 minute.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar & butter. Add egg yolks. Sift flour & baking powder together & add alternately with the water. Add the burnt sugar & fold in the egg whites & mace. Spoon into 12 unit muffin pan & bake for 25 minutes.
Burnt Sugar Icing-
16 ounces powdered sugar
2/3-3/4 cup Burnt Sugar syrup (use enough to make it easy to spread)
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream butter until light & fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, sifted with salt, add Burnt Sugar syrup and vanilla & beat until creamy smooth and spreadable. If mixture is too stiff, add water a teaspoon at a time.
Burnt sugar syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup hot water
Dump the sugar in a skillet on the stove. Turn the heat to medium-low. Stir only occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes, until it melts and turns into an amber-colored liquid. Keeping the heat on medium-low, carefully add a cup of hot water, a little bit at a time. It will bubble up, then simmer down. Keep the heat on low and simmer about another 5-10 minutes, again stirring only occasionally. Turn off the fire, remove the skillet & set aside to cool while you prepare the cake. The syrup is thin while hot but thickens as it cools.
