Monday, March 5, 2012

Hi Hat Cupcakes? More like...Regular Hat Cupcakes!

So, these bad boys have been on my Baking Bucket List for quite some time.
It's one of those recipes everyone is scared of, myself included...and now I know why.

Granted, I was successful in getting 2 Dozen cupcakes baked, frosted and dipped - it was not easy.

I made both Devils Food and Red Velvet cupcakes, per the request of the Birthday Girl : )


The first time - yes, I said the first time - I used this Martha Stewart recipe circa 2006 for the frosting. FAIL.
After standing over the bowl with a hand mixer for more than 15 minutes, I moved it over to my KitchenAid and it still came out grainy.

See...grainy!


So, I scraped it off and started over.
Apparently, Martha updated her recipe in 2011 after everyone complained.
This time, the marshmallow-ey frosting was successful so I piped some Hi stacks of frosting.


What I SHOULD HAVE done next was put all the cupcakes in the FREEZER instead of just the refrigerator so that they were as solid as possible before dipping.

But, I didn't.
So after a few hours in the fridge, I melted the chocolate and started the search for the right cup for dipping. Not too tall, not too short, not too skinny but not too wide.

What I SHOULD HAVE done next was waited a few more minutes for the chocolate to cool even more.
I did give it a few minutes to cool but clearly, not long enough.
It's a good thing I made some extras that were able to be sacrificed to the learning process.

After dipping and sprinkling and drizzling all the cupcakes I realized the Hats weren't as Hi as I hoped they would be. The chocolate dipping made the frosting a bit soft and caused the Hats to sag a little - making them Regular Hat Cupcakes.



O'well.
They still look cool, right?



They were yummy.


I'd like to try these again sometime...but a Peanut Butter version.
Until then, I will stick to dipping everything else in chocolate : )

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