My story in recipes: Rolo Cupcakes

If you follow my blog regularity, you already know that I'm not a chocolate and peanut butter fan. (And if you're not a regular blog follower, what are you waiting for?) I do have mad love for the chocolate - caramel combination though - yummm. The dark caramel chocolate is always the candy that I chose first out of the Whitman's sampler. (My sweet mother in law still buys us a box of Whitman's chocolates for Valentine's Day. I love that tradition.)

Godiva also has a really good chocolate caramel. (I may or may not have a stash of these in the kitchen for chocolate emergencies.)

I ran across an idea for Rolo cupcakes on pinterest recently and I decided to take the idea and run with it. To give credit where credit is due, the idea came from mybakingaddiction.com and I must say, it's a brilliant idea. I took the concept a step further and created my own recipe. I ~~think~~ know your gonna like it.

The cupcake batter is the same batter that I use for my Mocha Crunch Cupcakes so if you want more detailed instructions on making the cupcakes, check out that blog post.

Rolo Cupcakes
Mocha Cupcakes
1 cup flour
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter. melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons instant coffee
1/2 cup hot coffee
24 frozen rolos

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Whisk together eggs and butter and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix 1 minute. Add eggs. Stir instant coffee into coffee until dissolved. Add to batter. Scoop into muffin cups.

Push a frozen rolo into the center of each cupcake.

Bake 18 minutes at 350.

Italian Chocolate Buttercream

1 cup sugar
6 egg whites
36 Tablespoons butter
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
Heat sugar and egg whites in double boiler until melted and very warm. Whisk in mixer until cooled and foamy. (Stiff peaks.) Switch to flat beater and add in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add chocolate and beat until combined.

For more detailed instructions on making chocolate buttercream, check out my blog post on chocolate ganache cupcakes.

Freeze cupcakes for 10 minutes! (Don't skip this step.)

Chocolate Sauce
2/3 cup dark chocolate
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
4 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons water

Combine chocolate and cream in the top of a double boiler. Heat, without stirring, until melted. Stir in powdered sugar. Add in enough water to get to a pouring consistency. Drip over buttercream. Instructions for the chocolate sauce are more detailed on the mocha crunch cupcake post.