Haagen Dazs Aint Got Nothing on Me!

Okay Batman, riddle me this....
Is the picture you are looking at:

a) A Haagen Dazs ice cream bar
b) Little Miss Cupcake's third entry in Iron Cupcake:Earth Nuts & Seeds
c) A cupcake
d) None of the above

If you answered "b" or "c," you are correct. This is in fact a cupcake...pop. Everyone else, thank you for playing. You'll find some lovely parting gifts waiting for you at the door.

So, here it is, my third entry in IC:E for the March challenge. The Macadamia Nut Brittle Cupcake pop - vanilla cupcakes mashed with lots of caramel, vanilla buttercream and big morsels of Macadamia nuts. Dipped in bittersweet chocolate and drizzled with more chopped Macadamia nuts. When I first heard of the challenge ingredient, my mind immediately went to the Haagen Dazs ice cream bars my husband used to eat like they were going out of style...you know the Macadamia Nut Brittle ones. I just wasn't sure how to execute this in cupcake form. But I put my thinking cap on (and borrowed a page from the book of Bakerella) and well, here you have it.

Let me walk you through the steps.....

Take about a dozen cupcakes and put them in a large bowl(I used my standard recipe which if I told you how I made them, I'd have to kill you so here is an easy vanilla cupcake recipe from Amy Sedaris) and crumble them.



Mix in 1/2 cup - 1 cup vanilla buttercream (and here's an easy one from Amy Sedaris again!).



And then 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts.



Add in about 6 tbsps. caramel (so easy to make yourself, click here for a recipe. I use the stovetop method.) and mix together.



Using your hands, shape mixture into ice cream shaped bars and stick a popsicle stick in one end.



Place on a greased sheet of wax paper and freeze overnight.

Melt 2 bars of chocolate.



Coat bars and sprinkle with nuts. Voilà!



EAT!



Here are the details again of what I am competing for in this month's Iron Cupcake. Voting will begin no later than Sunday, March 29 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, and will be open through Friday, April 3 at 12 noon.