Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
I’m curious – what do you associate with 52 Kitchen Adventures? I’ve avoided calling it a baking blog because I didn’t want to be stuck in a theme (after being stuck in one for the first year of my blog – wondering why it’s called 52 Kitchen Adventures? See the “about” section to learn more). I know it doesn’t need a label but it’s hard to give a concise description when someone asks what the blog is about. And since I’ve always loved baking and have a big sweet tooth, I end up making and blogging about desserts a lot (here are all my cupcake recipes and general dessert recipes). I think I might start calling it a baking blog (with other recipes thrown in the mix).
I made these cupcakes for a coworker to celebrate some of her recent accomplishments. I’d never made salted caramel cupcakes and randomly decided that would be a good flavor to try out. I was lucky enough to stumble upon on Sprinkle Bakes and her Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes. She tried different recipes until she found her ideal balance of salty and sweet in a brown sugar cupcake with salted caramel filling, salted caramel buttercream and candied salted caramel rounds. I adapted her recipe slightly, leaving behind the beautiful rounds (the other 3 recipes are already pretty time consuming) and adding a sprinkle of fleur de sel on top to really bring out the salty/sweet balance.
These cupcakes are so good! The cake is moist and sweet, the frosting is creamy and has a wonderful caramel flavor, but my favorite part is the salted caramel filling. Next time I will cut bigger holes and pour in more. I didn’t find the frosting had enough saltiness for a salted caramel cupcake, but sprinkling some fleur de sel on top did the trick. Try the frosting first and see what you think. You can always add more but it’s hard to remove if it’s too salty.
Recipe:
Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Adapted from Sprinkle Bakes
Makes 15 cupcakes
Brown Sugar Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Preheat oven to 325 °F. Line muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each until fully incorporated. Mix in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with 1/2 of the buttermilk, stirring after each until everything is combined.
Pour batter into prepared muffin tin until each liner is 3/4 full. Bake for around 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Salted Caramel Filling
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature
In a medium saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat, whisking as it melts. When it turns a deep amber color, add the butter and stir until it is melted. Add the heavy cream and whisk until the caramel is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool.
Using a large pastry tip or a paring knife, cut a small round piece out of the top of each cupcake. Pour in around 1-2 teaspoons of caramel. (See photos below – they’re from my Limoncello & Meyer Lemon Cupcakes, but you get the idea.)
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, sifted
- Fleur de sel for sprinkling (optional)
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water and cook over medium-high heat. Boil without stirring until it turns a deep amber color. Remove from heat and slowly pour in cream and vanilla, whisking until it is very smooth. Let cool for around 20 minutes, until it’s just barely warm and still pourable.
Meanwhile, beat butter and salt together until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat until thoroughly combined. Pour in the cooled caramel and beat on medium-high speed until light and airy (around 2 minutes). Spread or pipe onto filled cupcakes (if frosting is too runny, the caramel was too warm when added – refrigerate for around 15-20 minutes until frosting is stiffer). Sprinkle each cupcake with a small pinch of fleur de sel.
No. 1 — September 20th, 2011 at 11:54 am
those look really good. so i thought that 52 kitchen adventures meant that you were gonna cook up something different every week for the rest of the year… aren’t there like 52 weeks in the year? i think so. Anyway, i’ve been following your blog for a while, but you probably don’t see that b/c i do it in my google reader… great way to follow blogs btw. i think i first starting following your blog b/c i was looking for different ways to use my slow cooker. anywho, tootles.
Melissa Daams recently posted Root Beer Cinnamon Rolls… take 2, er 3.
No. 2 — September 20th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
I came across your blog because AOL news page showed a S’mores recipe. When I clicked for the recipe, other recipes came up and one of those were for your cupcake S’mores. I guess I thought it was a baking blog. Whatever you want to call it, I am loving your recipes.
No. 3 — September 20th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
I’ve been following for a while, too (via email). I enjoyed your slow-cooker Mondays and the idea of trying a new variation of the same theme every week.
However, it’s great that it freed up the rest of the days to make what you wanted. I noticed that a lot of blogs do mostly baking and desserts (I suspect they “sell”).
Since it’s your blog, I guess my question is, “What do YOU want out of it?”
Ann recently posted Pot Roast!
No. 4 — September 27th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Yummy! These cupcakes look fantastic!!!
No. 5 — September 27th, 2011 at 6:27 pm
I like that your blog is diverse. Those are the ones I find myself drawn to. I think sometimes it’s just more fun to take pics of desserts. These cupcakes are fantastic. Super yummy!
Kim Bee recently posted Smoked Meat Sandwich and Memories of Childhood
No. 6 — September 27th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Ooooh these look super good. Your blog always has a great assortment of stuff!!
Lindsey@Lindselicious recently posted Zucchini Quinoa Corn Casserole
No. 7 — September 28th, 2011 at 6:11 am
Oh my goodness! Those would be so dangerous around me. I love salted caramel…soooo good!
No. 8 — September 28th, 2011 at 6:34 am
These cupcakes sound outstanding. I wish I was your coworker right now.
I am not sure that I associate this blog with any one type of cooking – the title implies to me, 52 (weeks) different adventures in your kitchen. Something new and creative. I have enjoyed your condiment posts, cupcakes and others.
kita recently posted Rosemary Ribeye Steaks with Grilled Bread Salad
No. 9 — September 28th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
The cupcakes sound delicious! So pretty too!
I don’t really associate your blog with anything in particular. I struggle a little with the identity as well. I try to just post stuff that I cook for my family – lots of baking but other stuff as well. Maybe I am biased, but I don’t think you need a theme per say.
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts recently posted Mini Oreo Cheesecakes
No. 10 — September 28th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
That frosting looks unbelievably delectable. Light and fluffy and gorgeously piped. I wish I had one right now!
No. 11 — October 10th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
I made these to add to our Thanksgiving dinner. Very rich and tasty. I had half the caramel left over from filling the cupcakes so I used that in the icing, and omitted making a second caramel. MMMMMM.
No. 12 — October 22nd, 2011 at 3:28 pm
I just finished making these, and although they took forever and a day to make, they are to die for!!! Really the best cupcake I’ve ever tasted!
No. 13 — November 2nd, 2011 at 3:39 pm
I want one of those CUPCAKES!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
No. 14 — November 9th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
[...] caramel apples 2. caramel pie 3. salted caramel bars 4. brown sugar buttermilk cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream 5. caramel budino with salted caramel sauce 6. apple cider [...]
No. 15 — November 21st, 2011 at 8:29 am
OMG amazing cupcakes! I made them for our “cupcake wars” at work and didn’t get a chance to taste them first (they just sounded good so I went with them and two others). I ended up winning and everyone told me how good they were. Got home and finally tasted one and WOW – these are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No. 16 — December 12th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Hi! These look great, planning to make then this weekend for my dad’s badly/marine brothers surprise homecoming. This may be a dumb question but at the end of the cupcake section it says to fill prepped muffin tin 3/4, bake for 25, and the fill liners 1/2 & bake for 25. Are you referring to next batch, or am I missing something? Thanks!
No. 17 — December 12th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
@Maureen – thanks for catching my typo!
I fixed it – you should fill 3/4 full and bake for 25 mins. Enjoy!
No. 18 — December 20th, 2011 at 8:39 am
These were fantastic! I took them to a Thanksgiving potluck and didn’t even get a chance to try one, they were gone in a flash! I found that I actually like the cake and the buttercream best, and could probably do without, but one friend said the caramel filling was the best part. Sea salt makes a suitable substitution if you can’t find fleur de sel. I went to culinary school and found these instructions easy to follow, both as a professional and a home baker. Great job and recipe! I’ll be making these again!
No. 19 — January 16th, 2012 at 9:42 pm
You made my day! I stumbled upon your post, which ironically linked to a recipe that I had been eyeing for months and never tried! These cupcakes are heaven on earth. I hate eggs, so I actually used a vegan egg replacer from a company called EnerG, in place of the eggs and I added a tad bit more buttermilk to the batter. All in all, they were delish! I’m so proud. I got a KitchenAid mixer for a Christmas/belated wedding gift. Thank god, because there is a lot of mixing here! Lots of dishes to clean up too! But totally worth it. Those cupcakes were perfect. Thank you!
No. 20 — January 17th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
@Liz – so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes! They are a lot of work but so worth it. This is one of my favorite recipes!
No. 21 — January 25th, 2012 at 10:00 am
[...] that I couldn’t find any recipes for salted caramel cake pops online. I ended up adapting my salted caramel cupcakes (one of my all-time favorite cupcake recipes). However, once I covered them in chocolate, the [...]
No. 22 — January 26th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Yummy! Could you tell me where you got those adorable liners? Thanks!
No. 23 — January 26th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
@Andrea – the liners are foil wrappers from Walmart. I found them in the aisle with saran wrap and aluminum foil. I believe they were Reynolds Wrap brand.
No. 24 — January 30th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
I made these for New Year’s Eve and they were great! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the caramel and frosting! Next time I’m going to pair it with chocolate cupcakes and/or vanilla.
No. 25 — January 31st, 2012 at 7:28 pm
@Betty – I’m so glad you enjoyed them! The caramel and frosting are the best part for me too. They will be great with other flavors of cake!
No. 26 — February 13th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
I tried these cupcakes last week and the frosting was AWESOME!!! I do have to say that the cake tasted a little like a pancake rather than a cupcake, so I was a little disappointed, but they looked good
No. 27 — February 20th, 2012 at 9:00 am
[...] fall, I made a bunch of salted caramel things (including one of my favorite cupcakes ever, these salted caramel cupcakes). One day, after posting recipes for salted caramel mochas and salted caramel pears within a [...]