Rachel's Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

My friend Rachel celebrated her 21st birthday this weekend. And while the traditional gift (or baked good) should contain booze, I stumbled upon a version of this recipe and thought it would be perfect. Thanks to this recipe, from 20somethingcupcakes. I adapted it with my own version of caramel, and used my classic hummingbird bakery chocolate cupcake. A chocolate cupcake with salted caramel filling, topped with salted caramel buttercream frosting. Below are all the ingredients for the recipe, with links to my original posts for each step:

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups fine granulated, or caster, sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

a pinch of salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup whole milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Salted Caramel Filling:

1/4 cup water

1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Salted Caramel Buttercream:

2-3 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar, sifted

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp

2 tablespoons whole milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup caramel (leftover from filling)

Specialty Item:

Cupcake Corer, like this one from Williams Sonoma.

note: if you don't have one, you can always use a spoon to hollow out the cupcake (but be careful!), or just save the caramel to drizzle on top of the finished cupcakes.

Directions:

First create your salted caramel filling and let cool. You can find step-by-step instructions here.

Next, create your hummingbird bakery chocolate cupcake base. You can find the instructions here (now updated with pictures).

While the caramel and the cupcakes cool fully, prepare the salted caramel buttercream. I have adapted the hummingbird recipe for vanilla buttercream.

Beat the 2 cups of the confectioner's sugar and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed (use your pouring shield, or cut in the butter with a pastry blender by hand).

Combine the milk and vanilla in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture a little at a time (mixer on slow speed). One the milk is incorporated, turn the mixer up to high and beat the frosting until light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes.

Pour in 1/3 cup of caramel filling (make sure it is not hot, but also not rock solid) and mix in by hand. If the buttercream is too thin (mine definitely was, but I wanted full caramel flavor), add an additional 1/2 cup to 1 cup of confectioner's sugar. Still want to have a light and whipped texture (do not use my photos for reference!)

 Now to assemble. Use your cupcake corer to create a space for the caramel filling. I am so happy I invested $5 in this handy little tool--you can fill your cupcakes or muffins with anything you like! Plus you can use the cores to dip in caramel and buttercream to taste test!

 Fill the cupcakes with caramel filling.

Finally, decorate with the salted caramel buttercream, and sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on top for decoration (or cocoa powder).

And voila! Delicious, and decadently sweet cupcakes. Hopefully your buttercream will turn out a bit lighter and fluffier than mine, and they will look as fantastic as they taste.

Happy Snacking,

Antonia