Sweet (and Salty) success!!

I am always on the lookout for a new cupcake idea! Last saturday I was watching the cooking channel when they aired a show, Unique Sweets (love it!) and they talked about a salted caramel cheesecake cupcake. It sounded sooo good. I was concerned that the cream cheese would overpower the salted caramel, as I wanted it to be the star, so I fooled around with ideas like: a chocolate cake with a caramel filling and cream cheese frosting. Then the idea of making everything salted caramel, cupcake, frosting, filling...OVERLOAD! then after careful consideration came to the idea of a Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcake..... here is my adventure!


I used a basic dark chocolate cake recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• Mix all ingredients together until moist and well blended and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes (20 was perfect for me!) Also I didnt have any vanilla on hand, and wasnt in the mood to go to the store, so I mixed 1 tsp of dark rum into the cupcake batter!

I then made a simple salted caramel filling:

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cold, salted butter, cubed

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of heavy cream (I actually used whole milk because I did not have cream on hand)

Whisk the sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes a deep amber color. Add the butter and stir it in until melted. Pour in the heavy cream (mixture will foam) and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. You may have some lumps but keep stirring until they have melted.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  


I then cut about an inch hole out of each cooled cupcake and filled with the caramel!

Next I made a salted caramel buttercream frosting....


1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick salted butter
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a saucepan, stir together granulated sugar and water.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color.  Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until very smooth.  Let caramel cool for about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

I changed the frosting up a bit. As I didnt have sea salt (funny right?) I added 1/4 tsp salt subbed 2 sticks of salted butter. This heavenly frosting was perfection! I must admit these have to be one of my best creations, sweet, salty, sticky, creamy, buttery deliciousness (is that a word? well...it is now!)

I drizzled some with a dark chocolate sauce and left some plain! Its hard to see the caramel filling as it blends into the chocolate cupcake but you can taste it alright!!!!

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