Walnut and Caramel Cupcakes

I had a couple of things I need to bake on Sunday for a going away party at work on Monday.  After making the whoopie pies I was quite tired and didn't want to make too much mess.  I found a box of Butter Pecan cake mix and decided to doctor it up a bit.  The result was these awesome cupcake-muffins (I say muffins because there was no frosting on them) that were super moist and had sticky carmel parts in them which made them really difficult to stop eating.   Unfortunately there are no photos as they all were out of focus, next time I need to use a tripod.  But trust me they are worth making.

To make the cupcakes I took a box of Butter Pecan mix, added the ingredients on the back of the box plus a 1/2 cup of dulche de leche (you could also use caramel ice cream topping or something along those lines).  Once all incorporated fill your cupcake liners with the batter.

For the topping

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 tbsp. sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup dulche de leche

2 tbsp. butter, cubed

Mix all of the ingredients together with hands to make sure all of the butter is incorporated.  Spoon about 1/2 tsp. on top of each cupcake.  Bake as instructed on the back of the box.  Let cool.  

The topping will sink to the bottom due to the extra liquid you added, I thought of using less water in the batter but the extra liquid made them so moist.  You can frost with cream cheese icing or top with some dulche de leche.  I found they were perfect with nothing on top but the choice is up to you.

Enjoy!

Pear and Blue Cheese Strudel

One of my favourite flavour combinations is blue cheese and pear.  I saw this recipe in the newest edition of the Food and Drink magazine from the LCBO.  The recipe wasn't actually a feature but an advertisement by Rosenborg cheese.  The recipe uses one of their new cheeses, Blue with Fruit.  They have ones with apricots, cranberries and pear.

The following is the recipe that I made with a few changes.  They also left out some essential information in their instructions so I added them here.

5 pears Medium pears, peeled and thinly sliced 
2 tbsp (30 mL) Brown sugar (I didn't use the brown sugar, I like my stuff more savoury) 
¼ tsp (1 mL) Allspice (I used cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg)
¼ cup (50 mL) Currents or seedless raisins 
¼ cup (50 mL) Rosenborg-Castello^® Blue Cheese with Pear 
1 package of filo pastry 
½ cup (125 mL)Butter, melted 
Icing sugar for garnish


Place pears in a large bowl, add brown sugar, allspice, currants or raisins, hazelnuts and blue cheese; stir gently to combine. 


Remove filo pastry from package and cover with a damp cloth (prevent during while assembling the strudel). Place one sheet of filo pasty on a dry kitchen towel, brush sheet with melted butter; stack second sheet evenly over top and repeat process until all filo sheets are used. Brush last top sheet with melted butter and pour pear mixture onto pastry leaving a 2” (5 cm) edge on three sides and a 3” (7 cm) edge at one end. Using the kitchen towel as a guide, roll the pastry tightly into a log tucking in ends as you roll. 

Carefully place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Brush with remaining butter and score top of strudel lightly. Bake for 60 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 


Note: I found that my pastry was really done on the outside and not totally done on the inside.  Next time I would not use the whole packet maybe 1/2 - 3/4s.


Note 2: Just talked to my Mom, she said to use only 6-7 pieces.  Also you can put bread crumbs between each layer to make it more flakey.