Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes

This recipe is one of my own creation. I was having a friendly bake-off competition with my friends and the theme was "Invent your own dessert". I had been trying to come up with ideas for the competition and I decided to ask my brother if he had any ideas, he mentioned ice cream and thats when it hit me: an ice cream cupcake! Now this isn't your typical ice cream cake, since there's no actual ice cream in it, and this was the real challenge. How do I create a cupcake that brings to mind a real sundae? This is what I came up with, and although it's not perfect, I think it turned out pretty well :)

Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes

For the cake:

Use your favorite vanilla or chocolate cupcake recipe, I really like Amy Sedaris's Vanilla Cupcake Recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/amy-sedariss-vanilla-cupcakes-181181. When I made these I actually ended up experimenting and mixing chocolate into 1/2 of the batter and marbling the cake. Anything is possible with these! Maybe even try a strawberry cupcake, chocolate chip, or whatever your favorite ice cream flavor is!

For the frosting:

I used a fluffy marshmallow frosting on mine in an attempt to mirror marshmallow sauce on a sundae. 

White Mountain Frosting (from Pillsbury's Best of the Bake Off Collection)

1. Combine 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 1 tablespoon light corn syrup in a saucepan

2. Cook over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover pan for 2-3 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until it reaches 240 degrees fahrenheit (firm soft-ball stage)

3. In another bowl, beat 2 egg whites with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar until stiff but not dry.

4. Pour the hot syrup over the beaten egg whites in a slow, steady stream, beating constantly. Blend in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; continue beating until the frosting reaches spreadable consistency. Use immediately. 

Assembly:

Ingredients:

1 batch of cupcakes of your choice frosted with White Mountain Frosting

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Hershey's chocolate syrup

1 banana, chopped into small pieces

Maraschino cherries

1. Sprinkle the nuts and bananas over the top of the cupcakes, making sure that they stick

2. Drizzle chocolate syrup over the tops of the cupcakes.

3. Place a maraschino cherry on the top of each cupcake to complete the 'sundae'. 

Play around with your own variations to find your perfect cupcake sundae!

Cinnamon Sugar Pop Tarts

These cinnamon sugar pop tarts are far from the processed store bought version that we're all familiar with. With a flakey pastry reminiscent of tender pie crust and and a filling with just enough sweetness, these are sure to become a new breakfast (or snacking) favorite! You may want to double (or even triple) this recipe!

Cinnamon Sugar Pop Tarts (courtesy of chow.com)

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29473-brown-sugarcinnamon-pop-tarts

For the dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup milk (not nonfat)

For the brown sugar–cinnamon filling:

• 5 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 5 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To assemble the tarts:

• Flour, for rolling the dough
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon water

For the glaze:

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 4 teaspoons milk, plus more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

For the dough:

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl until combined. Add the butter and toss with your fingers until well coated in the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until reduced to pea-size pieces.
2. Whisk the egg yolks and milk in a small bowl until combined. Add the egg-milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix with your hands until large clumps form. Turn the mixture out onto a work surface and knead briefly, smearing the butter into the dough with the heel of your palm until the dough completely comes together, about 1 minute.
3. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and shape into 2 (6-by-5-inch) rectangles. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, make the filling.

For the brown sugar–cinnamon filling:

1. Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until evenly combined; set aside.

To assemble the tarts:

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll 1 dough portion out into a rough 12-by-10-inch rectangle, rotating the dough and reflouring the surface and rolling pin often to prevent the dough from sticking.Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, trim the dough to a 10-1/2-by-9-inch rectangle.Cut that into 6 equal rectangles (each about 3 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches tall).Using a flat spatula, transfer the rectangles to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between each.Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator.
3. Whisk the egg and water in a small bowl until evenly combined; set aside.
4. Roll out the second dough portion to the same dimensions as the first, trim, and cut into 6 rectangles. Using a fork, prick the dough all over.
5. Remove the baking sheet from the refrigerator and brush a thin coating of the egg wash over each dough rectangle.Divide the brown sugar–cinnamon filling among the rectangles. Spread the filling into an even layer, leaving a 3/4-inch border.
6. Place the pricked rectangles on top of the brown sugar–cinnamon-covered rectangles.Press on the edges to adhere, and push down gently on the filling to slightly flatten.Using a fork dipped in flour, crimp the edges of the tarts.Bake until golden brown, about 23 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before glazing.

For the glaze:

1. Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until evenly combined. (You may need to add more milk by the 1/2 teaspoon if the glaze is too thick.)
2. Set the wire rack with the tarts on it over a baking sheet. Using a spoon, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the glaze over each tart. Let set before eating, about 15 minutes.

Tip:

Save the extra pastry and cut into sticks or cut with a pretty cookie cutter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (1 tbsp. sugar and about 1 tsp. cinnamon) and bake until golden brown. Yum!