Caramel, Caramel, Salted Caramel Cupcakes!!!

If I could just make a cupcake shaped cubes of caramel I would however, I have discovered the most delicious caramel cupcakes recipe. If I could bottle the recipe and send it to the masses I would! However, these are the ingredients and you will just have to make it yourself to understand how delicious these cupcakes really are.

There is nothing better than the initial sweetness of the caramel, however then the rush of saltiness which (you may think sounds yuck, however it really really works).

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Here is what you need for the cake part;

115g Stork Margarine

2 Eggs

222g Caster sugar

180g Plain Flour

1Tspn Baking Powder

1½Tspn Vanilla Extract

½Tspn Sea Salt

120ml Butter milk

Here is what you need for the Salted Caramel Cupcake filling;

150g Caster Sugar

80ml Double cream

3Tbspn Salted butter

Here is what you will need for the caramel butter cream;

80ml Double Cream

4Tbspn Water

50g Caster sugar (white or golden)

125g Salted butter

125g Unsalted Butter

500g Icing sugar

1Tspn Vanilla Extract

½Tspn Rock Salt

This is all you need to make my famous ‘Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes.

Method:

Set the oven to 180°C. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners. Place the Stork margarine into a bowl and mix well until the colour changes from yellow to pale cream. This should take about 5 to 8 mins of mixing. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt, mix well and set aside to be used later on in the process. Go back to the butter and add sugar until mix becomes pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, ensuring each egg is mixed in well before adding the next one. Add the vanilla to the liquid mix and stir well. Add the flour mix into the liquid mix and add half the buttermilk, mix well then repeat, until all the buttermilk has been incorporated.

Pour the mixture carefully into the cupcake liners and place into the oven for 18 to 20 mins. Ensure that you check your cupcakes regularly as there is an extremely fine line between having perfectly cooked cupcakes and burnt cupcakes.

Once cupcakes are baked, remove them from the oven and leave them to stand in their cake tin for up to 10 minutes. Then remove them from the cake tin and leave them to stand on a wire rack to cool.

Whilst the cupcakes are cooling, this will provide ample time to complete the next stage of the baking process, which is the filling for each cupcake.

Filling Method;

To create the caramel, place the sugar into a sauce pan and leave to heat on a medium flame. As the sugar begins to melt, make sure that you stir the sugar thoroughly and continuously to prevent the sugar from sticking to the sides of the pan. Once all the sugar has dissolved, the colour will change to a golden brown, resembling golden syrup. Once the colour changes, remove the pan from the heat, IMMEDIATELY. As the sugar can burn extremely quickly and once the colour changes, it is time to remove from the heat post haste!! Pour in the butter and mix well until it completely melted.

Now is the time to add the cream into the melted sugar and butter. Place bake onto a medium heat. Be aware that the mixture will foam and erupt. Just keep whisking the mixture as some lumps may form. Keep stirring until there are no lumps. Once all the lumps have been dissolved, remove from the heat and place to one side.

Now is the fun part. Take each cupcake and cut a small piece out of the top of each cupcake. Take a tea spoon and add a teaspoon of the caramel syrup into the hole of each cupcake. Keep the cut outs to one side as once you have filled the cupcakes with the syrup, replace the cut out cake onto the top.

Once you have filled all of the cupcakes with the caramel, place them to one side.

Now it is time to make the caramel butter cream.

Method:

Place the unsalted butter and the salted butter into a bowl and whisk for 4 to 5 minutes. This aerates the butter and will change the colour from a yellow colour to a pale cream/white colour. Once this colour change occurs, the butter has been whipped sufficiently.

Add the caster sugar in parts and mix well until the mixture thickens. Once the icing sugar has been taken up by the butter, add the cream as this will change the consistency of the butter cream from dry and bubbly to smooth and creamy. Add the water, vanilla extract and salt. Continue mixing until all the ingredients have been taken up.

Either pipe or dollop your caramel butter cream onto each cupcake and decorate as you wish. I usually throw on some caramel chunks/ fudge chunks and finish with a glaze of the caramel which was used earlier as the filling for each of the cupcake.

These are so deliciously decadent. They can be used for a whole range of celebrations including kid’s birthdays or save of an adult dinner party of save for tea.

ENJOY!!!