Butterscotch Dip Cupcakes |Cooking With Amanda

I have recently been dieting for the five-hundred-and-eighty-seven zillionth time. I know that experts are always saying that diets don't work, only lifestyle changes work, but I actually mostly like my life. Except for the fact that sometimes my pants won't button, I have no desire to change it. The only thing I am really willing to do is be temporarily miserable in order to be temporarily skinny.

What I have discovered about diets is that they are all lies. Diet food doesn't taste good. You always feel like you're depriving yourself. And when a meal replacement shake promises that you'll be full for four hours, you can bet that you'll actually never be full. Drinks aren't meant to be whole meals of food. They just aren't.

People don't sit around the dinner table with smoothies or protein shakes FOR A REASON. The reason being it's ridiculous. And also, all the hunger. Human beings need food that you can chew and tastes like lots of carbs. Glorious, glorious carbs.

I have been thinking about inventing a diet where you get to eat donuts and cupcakes, but the trick is that you have to run in place while you eat them. I feel like they should cancel each other out. So while you won't necessarily lose weight, you won't gain any either. Plus you'll get lots of practice eating while running. Which will come in handy if you ever decide to run a marathon and happen by a Krispy Kreme on your route.

It is with delicious, carb filled sweets on my mind that I created these cupcakes. Butterscotch is one of my all-time favorites, and the butterscotch shell coating this fluffy marshmallow frosting is seriously fabulous. Not only the marshmallow/butterscotch combo completely delicious, but it's gorgeous to boot! This is most definitely a crowd pleasing cupcake.

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Butterscotch Dip Cupcakes Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Cake:

4 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups salted butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
8 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

For the Marshmallow Frosting:

10 large egg whites
3 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Butterscotch Shell:

2 cups butterscotch chips
7 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake tins with liners and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Reduce mixer speed to low, then add the sugar and beat until smooth, scraping the bowl as needed.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each until blended. Add the vanilla extract until blended.
With the mixer speed on low, alternately add flour mixture and sour cream to the batter, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Beat until smooth.
Fill prepared cupcake tins 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes, until tops spring back when lightly touched in the center. Let cupcakes cool completely on wire racks.
In a large CLEAN (grease free) metal mixing bowl, whisk egg whites and sugar over a pot of simmering water.
Continue simmering the water and whisking the mixture until it forms a syrup – when you rub a bit between your fingers you should not feel granules of sugar.
Once you have a thick, smooth syrup, remove from heat and place bowl on your mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat on low speed for 5 minutes.
Add your vanilla extract and increase speed to high and beat for five minutes more. The frosting should form stiff peaks.
Using a large piping tip, pipe frosting high on cupcakes. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes while you prepare the butterscotch shell.
In a microwave safe bowl, heat butterscotch chips and 5 Tablespoons of shortening in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds until smooth.
Stir remaining shortening until smooth and thin enough to dip cupcakes in – if too thick, add shortening, 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Remove cupcakes from freezer and dip frosting in the dip, letting excess drip off. Let butterscotch firm, then serve.