Well, how are you enjoying Chocolate Month so far. Just three more recipes to go and I had to fit in another cupcake, cause, you know, that’s how I roll.
You didn’t think that I’d tease you with salted caramel sauce yesterday and not provide you with something deliciously evil to do with it, did you? As I mentioned when we talked about the sauce, I’ve had a lot of fun with salted caramel baked goods over the last year, and I have loved each and every one of them. Yet, there was something missing. One crucial recipe that I had yet to perfect. Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting. After seeing (and trying) tons of salted caramel cupcakes at various cupcake shops, I kept meaning to make my own. How something like that gets pushed to the back burner, I’ll never know.
You all have Michelle C. to thank for getting salted caramel cupcakes back to the front and center of my mind, where it absolutely needed to be. Michelle shared a photo of her brand new KitchenAid mixer that she received as a Mother’s Day gift on the BEB Facebook page. When I asked her the first thing she made, she said she was waiting to break it in with a salted caramel cupcake recipe, and was waiting to see one from me. I can’t have me be the only thing standing in the way of a woman and KitchenAid bliss, so I made it my business to catapult salted caramel cupcakes to the top of my “to do” list. Well, Michelle, I hope you love these cupcakes as much as I did, and that they make your inaugural KitchenAid baking experience fun and delicious!
There is no mistaking the brilliance of caramel chocolate combo and when you add some salt to that caramel, these cupcakes are elevated to another level.
I have a total love affair with both cupcakes and salted caramel but lets talk salted caramel first. Whoever first decided to add salt to caramel and then present it to the world as a sweet treat is a pure genius. I bow to you salted caramel inventor.
When it comes to salted caramel cupcakes, there is certainly no shortage of variations. Salted caramel cupcakes with salted caramel frosting. Brown sugar cupcakes with salted caramel frosting. Vanilla cupcakes with salted caramel frosting. Chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel frosting. As you can tell, there was definitely one constant – salted caramel frosting. That was perfect, since I already knew, without a doubt, that my cupcakes would be adorned with salted caramel buttercream frosting. Now, what type of base to use?
Ingredients:
Cupcakes
- 1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
- 1 small box Jello Chocolate Fudge instant pudding mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup sour cream (or low fat Greek or regular yogurt)
Salted Caramel Frosting
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 20 pretzel twists, optional
Directions:
- Start with the frosting: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted, add brown sugar and heavy cream. Stir constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add salt. Allow to bubble for exactly 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, until you reach desired consistency.
- Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cupcake pans with liners. Set aside.
- Using a stand or hand held electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, milk and sour cream. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Scoop the batter evenly into cupcake liners. I got 20 cupcakes using 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon into the liners.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the tin and let cool. Once fully cooled, frost cupcakes with salted caramel frosting and garnish with a pretzel twist.
- Cupcakes stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 days.
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