{ Toffee Cupcakes: Happy Birthday Fred & George }

So, today, April 1st, is to many, a day of tomfoolery.

Silly jests, practical jokes, and such.

You can read some of the lore of April Fool's Day in my post from last year.

April Fool's Day, however, is also something else. A day to celebrate my favorite jokesters...

Yep, Fred & George Weasley (they are Harry Potter characters if you are confused) were 'born', fittingly, on this day!

Happy Birthday Gred & Forge!

I had to think for a while what I would make for their birthday.

I've done Butterbeer, Caludron Cakes, Pumpkin Juice, Dark & Light Cake, Apple Pie Cupcakes, and Cocoa all previously for my Harry Potter friends.

What to do, what to do...

Well, Fred and George, as you know, if you've read the books or watched the movies, started up a joke shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. In Goblet of Fire, while not shown in the movie, they 'dropped' a sweet that Dudley quickly snapped up. It was a Ton Tongue Toffee. It made Dudley's tongue swell to 4 feet long before Vernon and Petunia would allow Arthur to shrink it.

I promise these won't make your tongue swell, but the Ton Tongue Toffees were definitely the inspiration behind this cupcake.

Here's what we do:

Bake and cool yellow cupcakes and set aside.

In a saucepan or skillet, melt one stick of butter, whisk while melting.

Allow to brown to an amber color.

Remove from heat & allow to cool

My friend, Darla, of Bakingdom has a great step by step photo tutorial on how to brown butter.

Once cool, place in mixing bowl. Add the 2nd stick of butter, whip until creamy.

Then add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and the milk, a little at a time.

Lastly, whip in the caramel topping.

You may need to add a little more powdered sugar OR milk, depending.

Squeeze this into cored cupcakes.

Next, we will top with a chocolate glaze.

You can find the step by step photos here .

Finally, add chopped toffee bar on top!

I love, love, love toffee. The sweet but salty bite.

Skor Bars are my favorite. Yurm.

I hope you like toffee too.

Fred & George are big fans.

Big.

Tina

Ton Tongue

Toffee Cupcakes

by Tina @Sugar Bean Bakers

You'll need some yellow cupcakes, cooled & cored

2 Skor or Heath bars, chopped- set aside

For the Toffee Buttercream filling:

1 stick of butter (butter only)

1 stick of butter, softened (butter only)

3 cups powdered sugar

3 Tablespoons milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons Caramel Ice Cream Topping

Chocolate Fudge Glaze

4 Tablespoons of Butter

1 Square unsweetened chocolate

(or 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder)

1 Cup Confectioners Sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 Tablespoons HOT water

Melt the butter & chocolate (unless using cocoa)

Then add the sugar and vanilla.

Add 2 TBS water. If it’s not enough, add the 3rd.

This should be slightly runny, but thick enough to fully coat your spoon.

Spoon on to your cupcakes & top with chopped toffee

{ April Fool's Fun }

The post I'm about to link you to is disgusting.

If you are a queasy weasy, I recommend not clicking.

If you are dark and twisty, go on.... be like me. You know you wanna click it.

This is my variation of the Kitty Litter Cake, which is so, so, SO perfect for April Fool's Day.

I made it for my nieces last year. The oldest refused to eat it.

The younger ate it, along with her boyfriend who I was meeting for the very first time.

First impressions are fun!

The Bean ate it, but closed his eyes when it came to the kitty 'treat'.

Haha.. I love it.

Too.much.fun.

Try it. Go on now, tryyyyyyyyyyy it.

CLICK HERE, c'mon CLICK!

You know you wanna!

Your family may never be the same.

Oh, and the boyfriend? He's still around. Good news, eh? 

I guess her family didn't scare him.

How odd!

Tina 

                                                                      

{April Fool's Food}

Fair warning, this post, is gross.

If you have a weak stomach, click the little X button in the uppermost right-hand corner and close this blog toot sweet.

However, if you are a little braver, or if you have a twisted sense of humor, this post is for you.

Me? Imma little twisted, thank you very much.

Last Friday, as you know, was April Fool’s Day.

I did a little research on this “holiday”.

On explanation is this:

 

April Fool's Day, sometimes known as All Fool's Day, allegedly, began in the year 1582. Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian calendar) which would replace the old Julian Calendar. This calendar started the year on January 1. The Gregorian calendar celebrated New Year's Day on or around April the 1st or in Medieval times, March 25, with the Feast of Annunciation and ending the week long celebration on April 1.

 

In the same year, France also adopted the Gregorian calendar. Many people refused the new date of Jan 1 as the beginning of the year, or simply had not heard about the new calendar. They continued to celebrate April 1st as the New Year. People who were adhering to the new calendar began to make fun of those using the old one. They would send them on "Fool's Errands" or do other forms of trickery. This practice soon spread throughout Europe.

Of course, today, we simply know it as a fun day to try and trick our family and friends. 

Good times, my friends. Good times. 

My nieces were coming down to spend the evening, so I decided to pull a little prank on them. 

<insert the grossness> 

click on this only if you wish. It’s realistic. 

It’s disgusting. 

It was great fun. 

There are “kitty litter cake” recipes out there, but I chose not to use squished up cake and pudding. Eww. I decided to use the basic Dirt Cake recipe, but instead of using chocolate cookies, I used Duplex and Golden Oreos. I also used Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies instead of Toostie Rolls for the kitty “treats”. 

Here’s what you’ll need to trick and disgust your family and friends:

Kitty Litter Cake
Tina @Sugar Bean Bakers' version

 

1/2 Cup butter, softened
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 3.5oz packages of instant vanilla pudding
3 1/2 cups of milk
1 (12 ounce) bowl of (thawed) frozen whipped topping (read: Cool Whip)
1 package Duplex cookies
1 package Golden Oreos (or other vanilla sandwich cookie)
1 Box Little Debbie Brownies 

Use a food processor to chop the cookies as finely as possible. Chop the duplex and the goldens separately. Sit aside. 

 

Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar thoroughly with mixer. 

 

Mix milk, pudding, and whipped topping together. 

 

Layer in a new, clean kitty litter box. PLEASE NOTE- Kitty Litter boxes are NOT Food Grade Plastic. I recommend wrapping them in Turkey Roasting bags.

 

Layer- cream cheese layer, then pudding, then Duplex cookies (save a handful), finally, Golden Oreos. Sprinkle the handful of Duplex over this and blend until realistic looking. 

 

Then comes the fun part. Break brownies into 3 pieces each, then roll into kitty "treats". Be sure to pinch the ends. Then put on top of the cake. Be sure to cover some with the cookies. 

 

I also sprinkled a little blue sugar in the mix to make it look more like the Kitty Litter with "scent crystals". 

 

Serve w/ a new kitty litter scoop (again, I recommend using this as decoration only, since it is not Food Grade Plastic) and gross out your people!

 

I sat mine on the table and when they saw it, I yelled at the Bean, “YOU LEFT THE CAT BOX ON THE TABLE???????? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???” 

And they fell for it. How? I do not know, not that it wasn’t convincing, because it SO was, but because I’m a bit of a germ-a-phobe and would NEVER NEVER NEVER have my cat box on the table.. 

Can.you.imagine?

I get the willies just thinking about it. 

ergh. 

The Bean closed his eyes when he ate the “treat”, he said, ‘I know it’s a brownie, but… I can’t get over the way it looks!’ My oldest niece wouldn’t touch it. 

I mean, look at that face. 

Classic.

Trick, Eat, be Grossed out, Tina