Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Sucre à la Crème Cupcakes

Sucre à la Crème, absolutely delicious. I came across this delight by my now husband, then friend, he brought some in for Christmas and shared a piece with me.

For those of you who are not familiar with Sucre à la Crème, here is the to-the-point definition on Wikipedia:

The sugar in the cream is a delicacy made of cream to 35% of sugar and brown sugar, all churned during cooking.

Popular in Québec, this delicacy is usually served in small cubes granules during the holiday season, that is to say during the days preceding and following Christmas.


How I came about this recipe... Just after we were engaged (Christmastime), I asked him if he would make me another batch of Sucre à la Crème and in return he had made me a double batch. Uh WOW, as much as I enjoy this delightful fudge, that is enough for an army.

I thought to myself, what am I to do with this mass amount of fudge (aside from share the wealth - which I did) I decided to turn it into a cupcake. These days you see all sorts of flavours, so why not give it a shot.

Continuing with the flavours of Québec, I decided to add some maple syrup to the glaze before topping it off with a generous morsel of Sucre à la Crème.

Sucre à la Crème Cupcakes
Makes about 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

-Cupcake Batter-
  • 1/2 cup Softened Butter (unsalted)
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • 2 Eggs - Large
  • 3/4 cup Self-Rising Flour
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tbls. All Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • Approx. 1/2 cup chopped Sucre à la Crème (melted)
Glaze:
  • 1-3/4 cup Icing Sugar
  • 1/4 cup Softened Butter (unsalted)
  • 1/4 cup Milk
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tbls. Maple Syrup
  • Pinch of Salt
Decoration:
  • Additional cubed Sucre à la Crème fudge for topping (about 1 piece per cupcake)
  • Sprinkling of Cinnamon
-Directions-

Preheat Oven to 350.
  1. Place butter and sugar into a bowl and cream until light and fluffy.
  2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.



  3. Add melted Sucre à la Crème into the mix and incorporate well. (To melt Sucre à la Crème, place in the microwave for intervals of 15 seconds until reaching a caramel consistency)



  4. Combine All-purpose and self-rising flours and place aside.
  5. Add flour and milk in an alternating cycle until all the flour and milk have been added and the batter has completely been mixed and fluffy.



  6. Spoon into a lined cupcake pan and bake for 15-25 minutes (depending on your oven).
Cupcakes will brown nicely and be soft to the touch, use a toothpick to check if it's fully baked (the toothpick will come out clean).



While you are waiting for the cupcakes to cool, lets make the icing.

  1. Place Icing Sugar, Milk and Vanilla Extract in a bowl and mix well.
  2. Add Softened Butter, Pinch of Salt and Maple Syrup and whisk until a smooth consistency is reached.
Once the glaze has been created, refrigerate for 15-20 minutes, checking on it every so often to mix.



Once the cupcakes have cooled, slowly spread a small amount of glaze on the cupcakes (it may drizzle down the sides) and and top with morsel of
Sucre à la Crème fudge.

Sprinkle with Cinnamon and voila,
Sucre à la Crème Cupcakes are here.



Hope you enjoy these cupcakes as much as I have!

Cheers,
Naho @ Scrumptious Foods

9 comments:

cmego said...

absolutely delicious!!!

Naho @ Scrumptious Foods said...

Thanks soo much CM!

El said...

These look scrumptious!

Naho @ Scrumptious Foods said...

Thank you so much El!! :)

Rozi Doci said...

I live in NYC and i'm not sure i can find Sucre a la Creme here. Is there something else comparable in taste that I could purchase here, maybe dulce de leche?

These look so good, i definitely want to make them.

Naho @ Scrumptious Foods said...

@Unapologetically Opinionated: Well, in taste, it's sorta hard. You could use Maple Fudge, although you would have a more maple taste. Sucre a la creme has a buttery and brown sugar taste where Dulce de leche has a milky caramel taste. You could totally use it, but it won't be identical. A recipe to make sucre a la creme can be found here:http://www.food.com/recipe/cream-fudge-sucre-a-la-creme-canadien-349530. I haven't tested it yet, but it looks like one my former MIL used to use :).

Lester Mendez said...

Whoo! Cupcakes! My favorite kind of cake! Seems so yummy and delicious! Thanks for sharing this! I remember the choco pancakes I've made that featured in boston dining last Holiday. : )

Naho @ Scrumptious Foods said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Naho @ Scrumptious Foods said...

@Lester Mendez - Thank you so much for your kind words! Cheers, Naho