Girl-guiding in England is very different to the Girl Scouts in the USA. After watching an episode of "DC Cupcakes", in which Sophie and Katherine baked with a group of brownies, I realised that I knew very little about the American version of "guides". I researched the Girl Scouts and was intrigued by the "Girl Scout Cookies" that I have heard about so many times before. The range of cookies was very interesting and I was determined to bake my own batch. I set my eyes on the Samoas/Caramel DeLites, but decided to turn them into cupcakes. I began baking, with the image of the perfect cake in mind: coconut sponge with vanilla buttercream, marbled with a caramel sauce, topped with toasted coconut and a caramel drizzle. I avoided the chocolate part of the cookie, because I am not a huge fan of the stuff. However, when it came round to the final product, things were a little different to how I had hoped.
The cakes themselves were fabulous. Just the right size, a delicate gold, the perfect shape to pipe buttercream onto. I had a little trouble with the frosting. I added 3 tbsp water, as the recipe stated, but to my despair, it was too runny. I convinced myself it would hold it's shape, and combined it with some of the toffee sauce. I poured it into the piping bag, but it was too loose and it dropped straight out the end. I tried to fill the piping bag sideways so it wouldn't fall out, getting the icing all up my arm. I piped it onto the cupcakes, where it collapsed. I was so frustrated because I wanted them to be perfect. When I began to pipe the 3rd cake, the icing spilled over the edge of the cake. It was so upsetting that I smashed the poor little cupcake in my hands (and ate it, otherwise it was a waste). It was so annoying and I immediately regretted it, but what could I do? The cakes looked nice, but not how I pictured them, which had me upset at first, but now I am quite proud of them. They tasted good, which was a relief, one of my best sponges to date, so the result wasn't all bad.
Ingredients (Makes 6 large cakes or 12 smaller cakes)
Cake
4 oz butter/margarine
4oz sugar
3oz self-raising flour
2 eggs
2oz desiccated coconut
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Toffee sauce
35g soft dark brown sugar
25g unsalted butter
62g double cream
Frosting
6oz butter, softened
350g icing sugar
3 Tbsp boiling water
Few drops of vanilla extract
5 tbsp desiccated coconut
1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5/ 375ºF /190ºC
2. Put all the cake ingredients into a bowl and mix together until smooth. Spoon into cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes (the average time to bake, but it usually takes me about 25 minutes) until golden brown and springs back when touched.
2. Put the ingredients for toffee sauce in a saucepan over a medium heat until everything is melted and well combined. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Put to the side to cool.
3. Put the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the water bit by bit until it is of the right consistency. It shouldn't be too loose if piping.
4. Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes (or spoon it on if you don't own a piping set) and drizzle over the toffee sauce. Sprinkle on the remaining coconut (if you prefer, you can toast it first).
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