Samoa Cupcakes

I hope you all are having a great weekend and I hope you all had a fabulous Valentine's Day; I certainly did! Check out these beautiful sunflowers I found on my kitchen table; so pretty!

 

 

Today I want to share a recipe I came across a few weeks ago for Samoa Cupcakes. Samoas are my favorite Girl Scout cookie so I couldn't pass this recipe up! I asked my mom to make these for my birthday [Valentine's Day] and they were incredible. I may or may not have eaten seven of these over the course of just two days. Oops. At least birthdays only come once a year!

This recipe was found at Six Sisters' Stuff. Those girls never disappoint me!

Ingredients

Cupcake:

1 (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix
Eggs, oil, and water called for on cake mix box
1 (14 oz) jar caramel syrup (like ice cream topping syrup)

Chocolate Ganache:

1 (12 oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (could also use milk chocolate)

3/4 cup butter

Gooey Coconut Layer:

 

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks (beaten slightly)
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup coconut

Directions

 

Prepare cake mix as directed on cake mix box (or use your favorite homemade yellow cake mix recipe). Bake as directed and let cool completely.

 

Once cool, take a small sharp knife and cut a circle in the top of each cupcake that is about the size of a nickel. You will only want to go about a 1-2 centimeters deep. Scoop out the small circle that you have cut. Using a spoon, scoop about 1 teaspoon of caramel syrup in each cupcake and replace the small piece back on top.

 

Prepare your ganache by melting chocolate chips and butter in a double boiler or in the microwave (I just microwaved it for 60 seconds and stirred, then microwaved for another 30 seconds and stirred again until it was smooth). Spread ganache on the top of each cupcake.

 

Mix evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla together in a sauce pan. Stir constantly over medium heat until it comes to a slow boil. Cook, stirring constantly until it thickens - about 10 to 11 minutes (it must be cooked that long). Remove from heat and stir in coconut. Let cool completely before spreading on top of ganache.

 

Drizzle remaining ganache over the top of the gooey coconut mixture and sprinkle with toasted coconut (totally optional).

 

[My note: To save some time, I recommend making the gooey coconut layer while the cupcakes are cooking in the oven. Otherwise, this recipe will seriously take all night.]