Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

Get ready caramel lovers – these chocolate cupcakes with caramel ice square measure for you. they begin with dampish, tender chocolate cupcakes with a delicious chocolate flavor. Then they’re topped  with creamy, fluffy, additional dreamy salt-cured caramel buttercream. Chocolate cupcakes with caramel ice square measure dampish, tender and topped  with caramel buttercream & a drizzle of salt-cured caramel. 

So these days – I’m sharing my version of those chocolate caramel cake delights. Ok – let’s speak cake recipes. I knew I required the chocolate cupcakes to be dampish, utterly soft, and light-weight in texture however still sturdy enough to support ample ice. thus my visit ingredients were:

A plate of dampish chocolate cupcakes. I ne'er use oil in vanilla cupcakes (you would like butter for a lot of flavor). however you don’t would like the additional flavor in chocolate cupcakes. And since oil is liquid at temperature rather than butter (which is thuslid) – oil is ideal for chocolate cupcakes as a result of it keeps the crumb so dampish and light-weight. Then milk is essential for a soft, delicate texture with zero dry cake crumbs.

Then for the simplest chocolate flavor, we have a tendency to solely would like chocolate for this formula. i favor to use dutch method cocoa for a richer style. Then we’re adding boiling water to the batter as a result of it makes the cocoa “bloom” that primarily implies that it intensifies and improves the chocolate issue.

Then for the caramel ice. Ok – it’s delicious. It’s rich. It’s crammed with caramel goodness. And it’s soooo creamy. I’ve seen quite few caramel ice recipes that use sugar – however did you recognize that the distinction between caramel and candy is that caramel uses white sugar and candy uses brown sugar???? A bowl of salt-cured caramel ice for decorating chocolate cupcakes.

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil , or canola
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup boiling water

Salted Caramel Sauce

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter , cut into 5-6 pieces
• 1/2 cup whipping cream , cannot be substituted for milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Caramel Frosting

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter , softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup salted caramel sauce
• 2-3 tablespoons cream , as needed

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a muffin pan with muffin papers.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder & salt.
3. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract (about 1 minutes). Carefully beat in the buttermilk.
4. Mix in the flour mixture about 1/2 at a time, turning off the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl in between.
5. With the mixer on low speed, carefully beat in the boiling water.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each about 2/3 full. 
7. Bake for 16-19 minutes, or until the tops feel slightly firm to the touch and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Salted Caramel Sauce

1. Add the sugar to a medium saucepan over medium heat. 
2. Heat the sugar while whisking constantly. After a while it will form lumps - then turn into a smooth amber colored liquid. 
3. Gently whisk the mixture until it's smooth and dark amber color. Be careful or else your caramel can burn. 
4. Carefully whisk in the chopped butter until it's fully melted (it will bubble up). 
5. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the whipping cream. 
6. Then stir in the vanilla extract & salt. 

Caramel Frosting

1. In a large bowl beat the butter until fluffy (about 2 minutes).
2. Beat in 2 cups of powdered sugar, starting with the mixer on low and then turning it up to medium as it incorporates.
3. Mix in 1/2 cup salted caramel sauce (you won't need all that you made). It must be 100% cooled before adding it into the frosting.
4. Beat in the remaining powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with 1 tablespoon of cream until the desired sweetness and consistency is reached.
5. Frost the cupcakes using a knife or a piping bag (I used a 1M tip). Optionally, drizzle each cupcake with more salted caramel sauce. 

Recipe From : Just So Tasty