Alec groaned and pulled her tightly against him. “Me too, Heather. Ten more years aren’t going to slip by without you being part of them.” He placed kisses along her jawline and back to her waiting mouth. “You were worth the wait.”
Heather sighed. She’d finally found her sweet happy ending.
♥
Dear Reader,
If reading The Trouble with Cupcakes made you hungry, be sure to scroll below for the recipes to Heather Ryan’s famous King Cake and Praline Pecan cupcakes. What a treat!!
~ Kristi
KING CAKE CUPCAKES
For the dough:
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 pkg (2-1/4 tsp) yeast
1 egg
1 egg yolk
4 Tbsp butter, melted
3-1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1 tsp salt
Oil or cooking spray, for coating the bowl
For the cream cheese filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened (I used reduced-fat)
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 rounded tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp melted butter
For the glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3-4 tsp water
Decorating sugar in yellow, purple and green
Directions
Dough, part 1:
Preheat oven to 375 and line 2 cupcake pans with 18 liners.
Add water and 1 Tbsp sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast over top and let stand for 10 minutes. (If your yeast doesn't get puffy, don't keep going - buy new yeast.)
Add melted butter, egg, egg yolk, remaining sugar, 3 cups flour, and salt, and then turn the mixer to low.
Add only enough extra flour to get the dough to clean the sides of the bowl but not come completely off the bottom - it should be only slightly sticky when you touch it.
Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled (45 minutes-1 hour in my 100-degree oven). While dough is rising, make the filling.
Filling:
Place filling ingredients into the mixer bowl (minus the melted butter) and mix on medium-high until completely smooth, 1-2 minutes.
Dough, part 2:
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times.
Stretch or roll dough into a rectangle, about 18 x 12, and brush with 2 Tbsp melted butter, leaving the top 1-inch dry along one long side.
Spread cream cheese filling evenly over the dough, leaving the top 1-inch dry, as above.
Starting with the long side of the dough closest to you, roll jelly-roll style, pinching the last dry inch of the dough onto the roll and placing seam-down on the counter.
Lightly pat/pull so that the roll is an even diameter down its length.
Trim the scraggly ends and then slice into rounds that are about 3/4-1 inch thick. Take care that they don't get any thicker than that, as they will rise. The rolls should sit level or just below level of the cupcake pan. Any taller and they'll grow too tall in the oven and fall over.
Transfer the rounds to the cupcake pans and let rest for about 15 minutes before putting them into the preheated oven.
Bake about 25 minutes, until lightly browned and nicely domed.
Remove from the oven and let cool about 10 minutes in the pan.
Transfer to a rack to cool.
Glaze:
Whisk powdered sugar, vanilla, and gradually add the water until you get a smooth and thick but scoopable glaze.
Dip the tops of the cupcakes in the glaze (or spoon over top) and then sprinkle with decorating sugar.
If you're bringing them to a party, ice and sugar them the night before.
Like cinnamon rolls, these cupcakes are best in the first 2 days. When stored in an airtight container, they’ll keep longer, but the sugar and glaze will begin to melt from moisture in the pastry. Still delicious, just not as cute.
PECAN PRALINE CUPCAKES
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
6 oz. (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
In mixing bowl, sift in cake flour, salt, baking powder and brown sugars. Mix for 30 seconds on low speed to combine.
Add in the butter and sour cream. Mix for about 30 more seconds.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla. Add it to the flour mixture in 2 parts, mixing thoroughly and scraping the sides after each addition.
Line cupcake pans with paper liners and fill 2/3 way full.
Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
Makes approximately 30 cupcakes.
PRALINES
1-1/2 cup pecan halves
1-1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 300F
Line a cookie sheet with foil and spread pecan halves evenly. Toast for about 8 minutes, checking often because they burn easily!
Let the pecans cool then roughly chop (I did this so I could have smaller pralines to fit on top of my cupcakes, but you don't have to do it).
In a medium heavy-bottomed sauce pan, combine brown sugar, sugar, heavy cream, and salt. Cook over medium heat until the sugars dissolve and mixture starts to come to a boil, making sure to stir occasionally. Continue cooking until mixture reaches 235-240F on a candy thermometer, or soft-ball stage when a small amount is placed in water. *Be very careful with this step, as overcooking will cause a grainy texture!
Remove pan from heat and add butter, vanilla, and pecans. Stir with a continuously wooden spoon for approx. 3-4 minutes until mixture thickens enough to be scooped out and not be too runny. I used a cookie scoop to get even, small pralines, but 2 spoons will work too. You need to work very fast because the mixture will set up in the pan if you don't. If you have two people who can scoop, all the better!
BROWN SUGAR PRALINE BUTTERCREAM
4 large egg whites
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
1 tsp vanilla
8 pralines chopped finely (recipe above or purchased ok too)
Directions
In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, whisk together egg whites, sugar, and salt. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch.
Transfer to the clean bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until fluffy and cooled, about 15 minutes.
Raise speed to high; beat until stiff peaks form. Switch to paddle attachment and reduce speed to medium-low; add butter, 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, until fully incorporated. Add in vanilla. Fold in praline pieces with spoon.
ABOUT KRISTI AHLERS
Kristi Ahlers is a California girl! She grew up in Northern California in a small city called Yuba City. Since then she's lived in Brussels, Belgium, and England along with a myriad of other locations. A former flight attendant, Kristi was able to continue to feed her love of travel. This has greatly influenced her writing, allowing her to pen stories about places she's managed to visit and things she's experienced.
Kristi loves to hear from her readers.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Get in touch with Kristi:
Kristi Ahlers (http://kristia
hlers.blogspot.com)
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kristi.ahlers1)
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Thank you for reading The Trouble With Cupcakes.
If you liked this story, watch for other releases in The Trouble Series.
Please log into Tirgearr Publishing (http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com) and Kristi’s website for upcoming releases.
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