Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes
The chocolate & salted caramel combo is truly unmatched, especially when it's in the form of cupcakes. From the perfectly soft chocolate cake to the gooey salted caramel addition on top, you just can't go wrong with these.
Ingredients
Method
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350℉ and line two cupcake tins with cupcake liners (this recipe makes 18 cupcakes so you will need two pans)
- In a mixing bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients (don't include the heavy cream yet!)
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the heavy cream and semisweet chocolate chips. Melt in the microwave for 30 seconds and give it a good stir until the chocolate has melted.
- Add this to the wet ingredients and mix well.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined (don't over-mix the batter!)
- Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 of the way and bake at 350℉ for 18-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a couple of crumbs on it (this means that the cupcakes will still be moist!)
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for ~10 minutes and then carefully take them out and place them on a cooling rack to fully cool before decorating
For the Caramel Sauce
- Pour the granulated sugar into a saucepan over medium heat on the stove. Continuously stir the sugar until it begins to clump up.
- Once the sugar has clumped up, it will begin to melt down. You do not want to stop stirring during this process, otherwise, the sugar will burn!
- Once the sugar has fully melted into a dark amber color, add 1 tbsp of butter at a time, stirring well in between (again, do not stop stirring!)
- After all 7 tbsp of butter are incorporated, grab a whisk and gently whisk in the heavy cream
- Once the cream is well incorporated, turn the heat down to medium/low and allow it to bubble for 30-60 seconds or until the temperature reaches to 230℉ (this temperature will allow the caramel sauce to thicken up more than a thin liquid but less than the chewy caramel that you use for desserts like caramel apples)
- After your caramel reaches 230℉, take the pot off the heat and set it aside to slightly cool before pouring into a jar (if it's too hot, you could shatter the jar!)
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using an electric hand mixer), whip the room temp. butter on medium speed until it's pale in color and silky in texture.
- Add a tiny pinch of salt and the vanilla extract. Mix until combined, scraping the bowl down with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Add the powdered sugar and heavy cream, begin mixing on low speed for ~30 seconds, and then increase the speed to medium.
- Continue mixing the buttercream on medium speed until it's fluffy in texture.
- Set the buttercream aside until you're ready to decorate.
For the Chocolate Filling
- Once your cupcakes have cooled, core the center of each cupcake using a knife or a corer.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and heavy cream and microwave for 30 seconds. Give it a good stir until the chocolate is fully melted and smooth.
- Add the chocolate sauce to a piping bag, cut off a small piece from the tip of the piping bag, and add the chocolate filling to the center of each cupcake.
For Decorating
- Grab another piping bag, cut the tip of the bag off, and place an Ateco 809 piping tip inside (you can really use any piping tip that you would like or you can spread the buttercream on top using a spoon or kitchen knife)
- Add the vanilla buttercream to the piping bag and pipe the buttercream on top of each cupcake in a circular motion
- Using a spoon, create a little dip in the center of the buttercream (this will be for the pool of caramel on top!)
- Slowly pour the cooled caramel sauce into the center of the buttercream (if you add the caramel while it is still hot, the buttercream will melt)
- Lightly sprinkle flaked sea salt on top of each cupcake, serve at room temp., and enjoy!
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