Birthday Baking

Last week was a busy baking one for me. I made several different nibbles for Mom's Book Club meeting, and then it was my sister's birthday. After I pestered K a few times about what kind of cake she would like, (having silently and unofficially declared myself 'birthday cake maker' for everyone, including myself) she finally gave me ultimate leeway, saying only "Surprise me. Make whatever you want....but...I do like chocolate..." As if I could somehow forget. 

I originally planned on devil's food cake with a meringue frosting, but decided to keep looking around for ideas. I came across chockylit's Cupcake Bakeshop (now, sadly, 'closed') and began to browse, just looking for tips on meringue frosting. Instead, I came across a recipe for Samoas Cupcakes, based on the classic Girl Scout Cookie Samoas, which also just happen to be K's absolute favorite. After wavering for a minute, I realized that I had to make them for her. 

A brown sugar butter cake base, with a teaspoon of homemade caramel tucked inside, topped with dark chocolate ganache, a soft thick layer of toasted coconut and condensed milk, and then drizzled with more caramel and ganache; they are an intricate and rich treat best eaten with a fork and a cup of coffee. 

They were tasty. Real tasty. I think they would have been even better had we not all been incredibly full after a fabulous brunch at La Coquina, touted as the best brunch in the Orlando area. 

Happy birthday K! I hope you enjoyed the cupcakes as much as I enjoyed making them for you. 

I followed chockylit's recipe pretty closely, so I will just link to it here.