"Broken Glass" Cupcakes
- Comments()
- Prep Time 45 minutes
- Total Time 1 Hour 15 minutes
- Yield Makes 3 1/2 dozen
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 4 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 7 large egg whites, room temperature
For the Caramel
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
For the Frosting
- 1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup cherry preserves, strained, for garnish
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the cupcakes: Line cupcake tins with baking cups. Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon salt into a medium bowl. Combine milk and vanilla in a measuring cup.
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Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium, and gradually add granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream. Beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
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In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold one-third of the whites into the cupcake batter. Fold in remaining egg whites in 2 batches.
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Divide batter among baking cups, filling each halfway full. Bake until a toothpick inserted
into the center of each comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched, 18 to
20 minutes. Let cool completely in tins set on wire racks. -
Meanwhile, make the caramel: Bring granulated sugar and water to a boil in a small high-sided saucepan, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-high, and cook until mixture just starts to turn pale gold around edges. Remove from heat, and immediately pour caramel onto a rimmed baking sheet. Working quickly, tilt pan to spread caramel to edges to make a very thin layer. Let cool to harden.
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Make the frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale
and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy and spreadable. -
Frost each cupcake using an offset spatula. Twist pan to release and break caramel in order for it to resemble broken glass. Place a shard or 2 of caramel "glass" in the center of each cupcake. Drizzle or pipe cherry preserves where caramel has entered the cupcake.
Cook's Note
Frosted cupcakes can be refrigerated for up to 1 day. Top with caramel shards and cherry preserves just before serving.
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This method will work.*You NEED a candy thermometer*Put sugar and water in saucepan, set temp to medium*No need to stir, it will slowly come to a boil all by itself *It will sit around 200 for a while*Be patient & increase temp slightly*When it reaches 302 (about 30min)*hard crack not hard ball as stated in video*pour onto Silpat *Cloudy glass is due to the butter used on your sheet pan*it cools quickly all on it's own*Dear site mgr, the directions need to be baker friendly, we want to succeed!
I made these cupcakes and shared with my friends who thought they were very delicious--which they were. Everything turned out well except my broken glass was frosted. I must have cooked them too long possibly. But, cupcakes were very yummy.
I finally settled on the THIRD batch of the "broken glass" which had turned amber. I cooled it on a Silpat sheet in a cookie pan, then broke it into shards. The effect is very realistic. BUT BE WARNED: THIS BROKEN "SUGAR GLASS" IS JUST AS SHARP AS REAL GLASS AND IT WILL CUT YOU AS QUICKLY! It would be totally irresponsible to serve this to children and adults alike.
For someone who is such a perfectionist, I can't believe that Martha Stewart would allow such an unclear recipe to be posted! I wasted 3 cups of sugar and several hours of my precious time this morning trying to make that "broken glass". The recipe is sorely lacking in directions, i.e. cooking time, temperature of the syrup, etc. AWFUL mess!
DO NOT MAKE THIS RECIPE! The broken glass is a nightmare and I had to throw out four pans - not to mention wasted a lot of money on sugar. How could you not have provided more instruction? Crap recipe. I am so pissed I want to throw these cupcakes outside. I will NEVER subscribe to this [filtered word]ty magizine again. Thanks for nothing, Martha!
Like other reviewers, I had many unsuccessful attempts making the broken glass. I think I tried it 5 times. I also eventually settled on yellow glass that looks like tempered glass. And I only got a batch that was acceptable after consulting other cookbooks on making hard crack. I learned that you have to spread the glass on the cookie sheet thin, but not too thin! The cream cheese frosting is easy to make and delicious. Overall, I'm pleased with the result, even if the glass is yellow.
Okay, I tried the recipe I referenced earlier, and the "glass" came out yellow. Since I've already wasted enough sugar, I'm just going with it.
After three unsuccessful attempts at making the "broken glass", I found this very detailed recipe. I actually haven't tried it yet, but with clear detailed instructions (and photos!), I'm pretty confident I'll have a better chance with this one.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Sugar-Glass
TERRIBLE directions for the glass. I'm on attempt #5! Thanks for sending the anglefire link. Martha's staff usually does a much better job than this.
It didn't work! PLEASE add more directions in your recipie. How long do I boil it for? Do I stir it? Do I spray my pan? Can someone please give more step by step directions if they have successfully tried this recipie. Thanks!
HORRIBLE RECIPE! Wish they told me to GREASE the PAN with BUTTER before pouring the goop on it. The last batch stuck to the pan - never to come out. I threw the pan out into my backyard I was so mad. The second batch turned WHITE when I poured it on non-stick aluminum and refrigerated. The third batch is sticky and not hard as glass. WHAT THE HECK MARTHA? YOU OWE ME 5 POUNDS OF SUGAR! Beth in Connecticut
Terrible directions for the glass- as in- none at all. How long should it take? I didn't stir after sugar dissolved and let it bubble for about 40 minutes to 300 degree and then it crystalized. Pour it on sheet ban and couldn't get it out. Started over and this time wouldn't crack. Waste of time and sugar. Really, bad directions. Gave up. Won't bother with the cupcakes. Don't pour on a non stick pan. It leaches and wrecks your pan. Awful recipe.
I left this glass recipe the way it was except I just boiled it the entire time for about 7-8 minutes, and it worked beautifully! Great recipe!
http://www.angelfire.com/movies/nobudgetsfx/candyglass.html
Let it get to 300 degrees before you pour it. I followed the second recipe on this site with success (after four failures with this glass recipe)..Cupcakes turned out delicious!
Having a hard time getting the glass to harden! How long do you boil it for? Any other tips?!