CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM NIGHTMARE

When I visit friends, especially those I do not see that often or are letting me stay over, I try to bring baked goods.  I went with a banana cupcake from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, a recipe that I made before, and omitted the nuts - because let's face it, no one really wants nuts in their cupcakes.

I have never had a more horrific baking experience than the one I had on Friday night, and it wasn't even the baking, it was making the frosting - a frosting which I have dominated before.

While separating one of the eggs, some yolk got into the whites, and I decided it wouldn't be that bad and it would still stiffen.  It was that bad, and no, it did not stiffen in the slightest.  

Making the caramel was pretty easy/a success, until I tried to mix it into the second batch of meringue, now with butter, and it hardened so quickly that it caused my Kitchenaid to convulse violently because it got stuck in the paddle.

I salvaged what frosting I could, but it was the ultimate failure.  Luckily I had some peanut butter buttercream in the freezer to save the day.