Gooey Love



Signature Salted Caramel Cupcake...my muse

 Cupcakes these days are a dime a dozen...everyone knows someone who makes cupcakes...so how does someone (such as myself) get ahead in the competetive world of cupcakes?

YOU HAVE TO BE THE BEST!!!

How do you become the best?

YOU WORK YOUR BUTT OFF!!!

I am a from scratch cupcakery and I have created each of my 70 (and counting) flavors with my own two hands...I do not take shortcuts...I make my own compotes, preserves, crusts, curds, candies and caramels, however, I am not above "Googling" recipes or "YouTubing" how to pipe flowers...in the world of baking...practice makes perfect...and no one is perfect (especially me ;)...

I've been hawking my tiny cakes at the market for a year now...each Saturday I come armed with anywhere from 6 to 15 dozen (depending on the time of  year) to sell...sometimes I sell out and sometimes I come home with a few dozen...(awesome thing about cupcakes...they aren't just real hard to give away ;)...in that year I've been asked a few times about my caramel sauce...people want to know if I make it and how they can get it...so...I recently jarred my caramel sauce "Gooey Love"...and my customers near and far can take a sustainable piece of The Wild Cupcake home with them...and put it on ice cream, popcorn, cookies, chicken or even in their coffee...I will now walk you through the process of caramel making...

Let me say this...caramel is a beautiful thing...and it's made with very few ingredients, however, it is difficult to master...there's this moment when the sugar turns this beautiful amber color and it smells slightly burnt...very rich...my caramel sauce is made with:


Ingredients:

water
sugar
light corn syrup (to prevent crystalization)
heavy cream
unsalted butter

I combine my sugar, water & a dash of light corn syrup in a pot (I have a specific pot that I use on a specific burner...when I alter the pots or the burners...I end up with a hot mess...not caramel). Caramel is literally the carmelization of sugar and adding water helps me to keep an eye on the process...but it's not absolutely necessary per-say. I do not own a candy thermometer I "eye ball" the magic moment that the sugar carmelizes. Once it's carmelized (check out the picture above) I add my butter, turn off the burner and remove the pot, and then I pour my cream in. The cream should be added in one steady stream and mixed gingerly simultaneously with a wooden spoon...it will foam...but the foam will settle and the ingredients will incorporate...and then you will have caramel...if it cracks you did it wrong, if the ingredients do not incorporate...you did it wrong, if it's burnt...you did it wrong...keep trying until you get it right...

Jarring the caramel was a bit of a challenge (seeing as how I'd never jarred anything before). I can't really describe the canning process in great detail...it's pretty simple...I used a canning system, boiled a lot of water, added my sealed jars and boiled them for 10 minutes...when I pulled my jars out...the tops popped...it's a beautiful sound really (the sound of success)...POP!!! The jars are super hot and need to be left untouched for like 12 hours...the caramel separates (because of all the delicious dairy fats) when left unjiggled...the jar just needs a quick shake to distribute the ingredients evenly...

Here it is...the finished product...caramel made by The Wild Cupcake...this business has taken me in so many directions...I'm passionate about my cupcakes and my reputation. I make a phenomenol product (and yes...I'm ok saying that out loud). But it hasn't come easy or without heartache...I work anywhere from 40 to 80 hours per week depending on the order load...but it is so liberating being able to create such a wonderful piece of handcrafted decadence...it's worth every single stressful moment, caramel scald, sleepless night and tear shed...I absolutely love what I do and can't wait to spend a life time doing it