IronCupcake and the Giveaway Winner

I am entering the IronCupcake Earth Challenge this month. What is the IronCupcake Earth you ask...well, it's a monthly worldwide competition where bakers make yummy cupcakes based on that month's theme. This month is apple, and that may sound simple, but really it's not. I say this because, you want to come up with something different, something that looks great and something that taste great so that the blogging reading public out there will vote for you. Yep, that's right, you all get to vote and maybe help me win some wonderful prizes. What are the wonderful prizes you ask, well to begin with there is The Demy by Key Ingredient (check it out here http://www.mydemy.com/). And then there are the books Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson (http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/) and The Cake Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne (http://www.workman.com/products/9780761129615). Plus fun cupcakes accessories from Bella Cupcake Couture (http://www.bellacupcakecouture.com/), the Cupcake Stacker from Gourmac (http://www.gourmac.com/custset.html) and Beautiful Bakeing Liners by Vestli House (http://www.vestlihouse.com/index.htm). And last but certainly not least Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply (http://www.acupcakery.com/info.html). How could you not want to enter this challenge with all these goodies up for grabs.

I decided I was going to make something that I love come this time of year. A caramel apple, preferably covered in chocolate. So here is what I came up with for this event... a caramel covered apple flourless chocolate cupcake. Wow, that's a mouth full for a little cupcake. And according to my guinea pigs, I mean friends who got to try the cupcakes, it's a tasty mouthful. Now believe it or not, this recipe is fairly easy. I do think I found just about the simplest recipe for a flourless chocolate cake, and it's very good to boot. Here it is along with pictures for you to enjoy.

4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 stick butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

3 eggs

2-3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and chopped

1/3 cup caramel chips

2 Tbsp. water

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a large bowl in the microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in the sugar and cocoa until Incorporated. Then add the eggs, and mix until combined .

Divide the batter up into your muffin tins. A tip to make this process very simple and pretty much mess free is to use a ice cream scoop. Ice cream scoops generally give you the perfect portion for a cupcake.

Top you cupcakes with half of your chopped apples. My original idea was to topped the cupcakes with all the apples and then bake them, but my 2 little helpers ate half of the apples before I could get to this step. Bake the cakes at 375 for 14-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out with some crumbs on it. (I know not the normal way you want the toothpick to be when testing a cake, but for these you do.)

While your cupcakes are cooling, take the remaining apples and saute them in a little butter just until they are soft. Then add you caramel chip and water, and heat until all the apples are covered in caramel. Let cool a little and then top each cupcake with more apples.

To finish off the cupcake, I melted some more of the semisweet chips and then drizzled it over the top of the apples. There you have it, your caramel covered apple flourless chocolate cupcake.

So if you think this looks good, please go vote for me. (please, please,please) Voting will begin no later than Friday, November 27th 8:00pm and last until Thursday, December 3rd at 12 noon CST. You can go to Nobody Puts Cupcake in a Corner at http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com/ to vote for me (please,please, please). And if you would like to find out more about IronCupcake Earth, please go to http://www.ironcupcakeearth.com/.

And now the moment that some of you might have been waiting this whole time for...the winner of the cookie giveaway. First I would like to thank everyone who entered. It was great to read about your favorite cookies and it made be pretty hungry. This morning, along with my assistant Mackenzie (she's the one who got the pull the name out of the candy bowl) we picked our winner...and it is Gina. Congrats Gina, you have more cookies coming your way. I'll get in contact with you about me dropping them off.