Saturday Sweetness: Chocolate Candy Corn Cupcakes

Do you ever get an idea in your head that won’t let you rest until you see it through? I had an idea like that this October: candy corn flavored cupcakes. Over and over I see recipes for “Candy Corn Cupcakes” that are for cupcakes that look like candy corn, but don’t taste like candy corn. Since I couldn’t find a recipe for what I wanted to make, I made one up. A little part of my brain pointed out that if there wasn’t a recipe for Candy Corn Cupcakes yet, there was probably a good reason, but I ignored it.

The first thing I did was make candy corn infused vodka, which was the closest thing to candy corn extract that I could think of. I threw a bunch of candy corn in a jar, covered it with vanilla vodka, and then stuck it in the pantry for the better part of the day. Once most of the candy corn was dissolved, I added a couple teaspoons to the frosting (I used i am baker’s buttercream recipe). Unfortunately, the vodka made the frosting rather flat and sad-looking. It tasted good, but not enough like candy corn. If I ever try this again, I will use more candy corn and less vodka. I’ll also let it sit longer.

In addition to the “candy corn extract,” I added half a dozen candy corns to each baking cup before filling them with chocolate cake batter. Predictably, they melted when baked. In some cases, when the melted candy corn cooled, it made a nice chewy layer at the bottom of the cupcake. In other cases, they just stuck to the baking cup. Next time, I might add them near the end of the baking time, so that they retain more of their candy corn shape.

My Chocolate Candy Corn Cupcakes were yummy, but they didn’t have the strong candy corn flavor that I was looking for. Guess I’ll have to try again next October.

UPDATE: Linking up to Tuesday at the Table at A Quilter's Table. Head on over there for one of my all-time favorite soups recipes!