With multiple establishments sprinkled all over the city, Corner House remains the most iconic ice-cream parlour in the city of Bangalore, India. Despite the hundreds of multi-cuisine eateries that have mushroomed in the last few years, this home-grown chain reigns supreme in the hearts of the city’s inhabitants. Among the many mouth-watering sundaes they offer, Crème De La Caramel is one loved by all caramel and toffee enjoyers.
The smooth and creamy vanilla ice cream doused with a rich caramel sauce and finally topped off with fresh cashew nuts creates a harmonious burst of flavours in your mouth with every bite!
I have always been intrigued by chefs who develop a recipe based on an already existing dish and for a while now, I have been attempting to do the same. Recently, after months of trial and error, I succeeded and invented cupcakes inspired by the flavour profile of Crème De La Caramel!
Vanilla cupcakes are filled with a caramel sauce to mimic the oozing caramel in the Corner House classic and is paired with a lusciously smooth Swiss Meringue Buttercream that is reminiscent of the ice cream. Topped with cashew praline bits for added texture, these cupcakes have to be one of my coolest inventions (yet)!
While this recipe is on the elaborate side, the richness of the cupcakes and the balance of flavours makes it worth it, so give it a try and let me comment below how you like it!
1/2 Recipe Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting:
Click here for the recipe and instructions
Ingredients for Caramel Sauce:
30ml water
100g granulated/ castor sugar
80ml fresh cream
24g butter, cut into small pieces
½ tsp vanilla essence
Ingredients for Vanilla Cupcakes:
162g flour
190g castor sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg
120ml milk
60ml vegetable oil
120ml water (room temperature)
Ingredients for Cashew Praline:
¼ cup castor sugar
1 tbsp unsalted butter
12-14 cashews, crushed
Method to prepare Caramel Sauce:
Note: Keep all your ingredients measured and together in a small plate before you begin the process of making the caramel as you will have a short period of time to incorporate them.
Use a large, heavy bottomed saucepan so that the sugar does not burn from direct heat.
Add the water and sugar to the saucepan and place it on medium low heat. Stir the mixture constantly using a whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture starts bubbling.
Once the mixture starts boiling, stop stirring it completely and increase the heat to medium high.
Allow the mixture to turn deep amber in colour. This could take anywhere from 4-12 minutes. Do not leave the mixture unattended as caramel tends to burn within seconds.
During this time, if you see the sugar crystallising at the sides of the pan, you can use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush the sides and prevent crystallisation.
Swirl around the pan occasionally to judge the colour of the mixture. For accuracy, remove some of the mixture onto a white plate using a spoon to judge the true depth of colour.
Once the caramel has reached the deep amber colour, take it off the heat and add the room temperature fresh cream while whisking constantly. Be very careful during this stage as the mixture is very hot and bubbles violently and you may get burnt.
Ensure that your fresh cream is at room temperature before adding it to your caramel. Adding cold cream will cause the sugar in your caramel to seize and ruin the sauce. You can also heat the fresh cream in the microwave for 10 seconds to bring it to room temperature.
Once the cream is whisked in, add in the butter, vanilla essence and mix well to combine.
Pour the caramel sauce into a dish and allow completely before refrigerating.
Method to prepare Vanilla Cupcakes:
Preheat your oven to 176°C.
Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large bowl and mix to combine.
In a medium bowl, add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs and beat well to create a homogeneous mixture.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat with a whisk until everything is incorporated.
Slowly pour the water from the side of the bowl into the batter and whisk slowly until all of the water is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.
Note that the batter will be very thin.
Pour the batter into the lined cupcake moulds. Fill 3/4th of the way.
Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the cupcake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.
Method to prepare Cashew Praline:
Line a small baking tray with parchment paper, set it aside.
Add the sugar to a heavy bottomed saucepan on medium high heat.
Keep stirring the sugar with a wooden spatula as it begins to melt
Once the sugar has melted entirely, stop stirring and allow it to reach an amber colour.
Once the sugar has obtained the desired colour, mix in the butter and remove off the heat.
Add in the roughly chopped cashew and stir.
Pour the praline onto the lined tray and allow to harden at room temperature.
Once fully hardened and cool to touch, break the praline into small bits using a mortar and pestle.
Assembly:
Using a sharp paring knife or a piping tip, carve out the insides of your cupcakes and set them aside.
Carefully spoon in around 1.5 teaspoons of caramel sauce into the hollow cupcakes and place the removed bit back on top.
Pipe a large swirl of the swiss meringue buttercream on top of the cupcake and top with the crushed praline bits.
Optionally, drizzle a little of the caramel sauce using a whisk on top of the frosting as well.
These cupcakes remain fresh for upto 5 days when stored in an airtight container under refrigeration.
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