Salted Caramel Cupcakes
As you bite into these cupcakes, you get three different textures all at once: salted caramel frosting sitting over a buttery, crumbly bun oozing with a sweet-and-salty toffee sauce. What’s not to love?
Ingredients
- For the salted caramel sauce
- 225g caster or granulated sugar
- 75g butter
- 100ml double or regular cream
- 1 tsp salt
- For the cupcakes
- 150g plain flour
- 25g cornflour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 150g caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 100g butter, cut into cubes
- 100ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- For the salted caramel buttercream icing
- 475g icing sugar
- 200g butter, at room temperature
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Equipment
- 12-hole cupcake/muffin tray and a piping bag with a plain or fluted nozzle (or even a plastic bag with the corner cut out)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170C, gas mark 3. Then, make the salted caramel sauce. Place the sugar in a saucepan on a medium heat. Allow to heat up. As it gets quite hot you’ll notice the sugar melting and starting to caramelise around the sides of the saucepan. Swirl or gently shake the pan every so often until all the sugar turns a deep golden brown and is smooth and glossy. You might need to stir it a little bit with a wooden spoon to bash out any sugary lumps. Stir in the butter and the cream and keep stirring until it is smooth again – it might take a minute or so. Add in the salt and remove from the heat.
- Next, make the cupcakes. Place 12 paper cases in a cupcake or muffin tray. Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder into a bowl, then mix in the sugar and salt. Rub in the butter. Place the milk, vanilla extract and eggs in a separate bowl and whisk to mix. Pour into the dry ingredients and bring together with a wooden spoon. Fill each paper case about two-thirds or three-quarters full, then bake in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until cooked in the centre. There should be a light spring when you gently press the centres with your finger. Take out of the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make the salted caramel buttercream icing. Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl with 175g of the salted caramel sauce (reserving any remaining sauce for later) and beat for 10 to 20 seconds to mix together until light and fluffy. Set aside.
- When the cupcakes have cooled, using a small, sharp knife, cut a piece out of the centre of each cupcake, measuring about 1-2cm in size. Discard (or eat!) the cut-out bits of cake, then fill the ‘holes’ with some of the reserved salted caramel sauce.
- Place the salted caramel buttercream icing in the piping bag and pipe in a swirl over each cupcake. Drizzle any remaining salted caramel sauce over each iced cupcake to decorate.
Rachel’s Tip: If the cooled, salted caramel sauce is too thick to drizzle over the cupcakes, you can thin it out by stirring in a tiny trickle of water.
