Today is the last day in the office for a girl I work with, and because (1) I like her very much and wish her well and (2) I like baking, I decided to bake her cupcakes for her last day.
I whipped up a batch of my favorite cake batter (Cooks Illustrated fluffy yellow cake), baked the cupcakes, and set about to make my most favoritest caramel frosting to put on top. (Okay, fine, there was probably also a reason (3) for this baking expedition, and that reason was probably hormonal. Sometimes, only a caramel-frosted yellow cupcake will do.)
I finished putting together the frosting and swiped my finger along the side of the bowl to taste the insane deliciousness and got….
Onions. The frosting tasted like onions. Just a hint, really, and the flavor was of caramelized onions, which are pretty good, but still. ONIONS.
Some investigatory sniffing of various pots, pans, and utensils revealed the culprit: the wooden spoon I’d used to stir the caramel was used a few days ago to make a tomato sauce and appears, (despite thorough washing) to have stubbornly held on to eau des oignions, transferring the flavor to the finished frosting.
In short, I had to start over. Not ideal. But at least I figured it out before I frosted the cupcakes. End of story, right?
Except, um, the onion frosting was sort of good, though, in its own onion-y way, and I am sort of embarrassed to admit this, but it is still sitting in my fridge because I couldn’t bear to throw it away. (I have to throw it away, right? There is no use for vaguely onion-scented frosting? None at all? Anyone?)
how about French Onion Cupcakes?
(fyi, when i googled “onion cupcakes” your blog is the #1 result. hee.)
i mean “onion frosting.” that’s what i googled. i’m sad to report that you don’t even make the 1st page of results at all for “onion cupcakes.”
Mmm. I want some caramel frosted cupcakes. Oniony or not.
Also, now you’ve proven why it’s always a good idea to lick the bowl!
Too funny! Onion cupcakes – thank god you noticed before you brought them to work.
Okay! I am NOT a cook. BUT. It seems to me I often read of sauces that are both sweet and savory. Usually put on…meats? I wonder if that frosting would make a…ham glaze, or something.
I’m all about odd savory-sweet combinations. I had some waffles with bacon in them a few weeks ago, doused with syrup. Maybe the greatest meal of my life.
If we ever come over for dinner and you serve us a frosted HAM I am leaving.
(Sorry Swistle)
But I am intrigued as to what the onion frosting tastes like. Hmmmm.
I say, just eat it.
This is from someone who used to buy and eat (not all at once) little tubs of frosting.
God, I could go for something sweet.
Once I sliced the most perfectly ripe mango on a cutting board that my then-roommate had recently used for onions and not washed. If you’re not aware, there is pretty much nothing I love more than mango and nothing I dislike more than onions. It made me cry.
So maybe I’m not the person to ask about onion-flavored frosting? Cause I think it’s just WRONG.