Crème Brûlée Cupcakes-Happy New Year

Have you started making New Year's resolutions ? Or are you someone who doesn't believe in the habitual list making at the end of the year ? It's easy to start lists with " I will not do this or I will not do that"...my resolution for this year will be simply " I will ".

I will look at the world with child like wonder
I will love
I will give
I will forgive
I will laugh
I will open myself to all the world has to give
I will surround myself with a positive energy
I will

It will be my mantra for my life-I will-short, sweet, easy to remember, easy to call upon when the world throws that inevitable curve ball,easily adaptable to any situation. It's humming through my thoughts now..I will.

While I'm sitting here thinking and softly chanting my mantra I'm catching up on my favorite blogs. I like to rise early and spend a few moments of quiet time catching up. A few weeks ago the little thumbnail photo from Milk and Honey Cafe caught my eye and I immediately clicked on it. Milk and Honey Cafe is a sweet blog written by Sarah from Toronto. Sarah came up with this incredibly creative cupcake recipe and I immediately bookmarked it knowing I must try it soon! Her photos and description of the recipe process sealed the deal. These look so festive and pretty and if you showed up at a New Year's Eve party with them you will be the one getting all the kisses and hugs at the stroke of midnight. Thank you Sarah for sharing this recipe. For you cupcake lovers , creme brulee lovers and lovers around the world-something sweet to share.

Crème Brûlée Cupcakes
Crème brûlée recipe from joe pastry
Yellow layer cake recipe from smitten kitchen
makes about 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
for cake

2 cups plus 1 tablespoon cake flour (not self-rising)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, well-shaken

For crème brûlée
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For sugar decoration
1 cup of granulated sugar

Directions
Crème brûlée

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, set a small saucepan of water (or a teapot) over low heat.

2. Pour the cream into a small saucepan, along with the vanilla extract and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately remove the cream from the heat and allow it to steep for 10-20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and yolks together in a medium bowl until they're light in color. Add the cream in a steady stream, whisking all the while. Pour the mixture into four 6-ounce ramekins, (OR in my case, in a small pan.) Place the ramekins into a roasting pan or baking dish.

4. When ready to bake, put on an oven mitt and open the oven door. Slide a middle rack half way out and gently place the baking dish containing the ramekins on it. Carefully pour in enough hot water to come half way up the sides of the ramekins. Slide the rack back into the oven and close the door.

5. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or (40-45 minutes for a larger pan like mine) until the custard is just set (firm but slightly jiggly in the middle). Cool on a wire rack, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or up to three days.

For just the crème brûlée on its own: Half an hour before you want to serve, remove the ramekins from the refrigerator. Take off the plastic wrap and spread a healthy tablespoon of sugar evenly over the top of each custard. Using a salamander or a blow torch, melt and lightly brown the sugar. Let the crème brûlée sit for 5 minutes, and serve.

Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with cups.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just Incorporated.
3. Spread batter evenly in cupcake pan. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely before filling or decorating.

Sugar decoration and assembly of cupcakes

1. In a small sauce pan with a heavy bottom, pour a cup of sugar on medium-high heat. Without using a spatula, simply swirl the pan itself often in order to ensure even heating. Slowly but surely, the sugar will start to caramelize. When the colour starts to darken, and it will smoke just a bit, immediately take off heat. When sugar passes its melting point, it will burn very very quickly. It's also useful to use a sugar thermometer to ensure the perfect amount of melting. (300-310°F for hard candy).

2. Quickly pour onto silpat or non-stick surface and let it spread into a thin layer. After it cools to room temperature, place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Once completely harden, break into funky pieces for decoration.

3. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, make a cone-shaped hole in each cupcake about the size of a loonie (for Canadians) or a silver dollar (for Americans). Fill it up with a tablespoon of cold crème brûlée (I used my small ice-cream scoop for cookies). Place sugar decoration on top and it's ready to serve!

I used a small torch to caramelize the crème brûlée on the top of the cupcakes before I added the sugar decoration.

Happy New Year

Bonne Annee

Felice anno nuovo

Szczesliwego Nowego Roku

S Novim Godom

Stastny Novy rok

Feliz Ano ~Nuevo

Chuc Mung Tan Nien

Xin Nian Kuai Le

Prosit Neujahr

Kenourios Chronos

L'Shannah Tovah

Hauoli Makahiki Hou