Monday, October 26, 2009

Chocolate Salted-Caramel Cupcakes

Sometime last fall I fell in love, hard, with salted caramel.  So when I saw these in Martha Stewart Cupcakes I died.
cupcakes

Step One:  Make Cupcakes
I made these on Saturday while I was doing the pumpkin cupcakes and left the decorating til Sunday.  The recipe for the batter was very simple, but filling 60 liners took a while.
cupcakes
60 mini cupcakes waiting to go

Step Two:  Prep Cupcakes for Filling
cupcakes
Cut little wells with a paring knife.  Martha says to discard scraps.  No way, those are snacks for hubby (and me, too)

Step Three:  Don't Burn the Caramel
cupcakes
It took me three tries to get a good caramel.  The first time I followed  the directions and tried to get the caramel to 360 degrees.  At around 330 degrees it started to burn.  The second time, I messed with the candy thermometer and somehow the reading was off, so burnt sugar again.  The third time, I watched it very, very closely, which brings us to...

Step Four:  Caramel Sauce
cupcakes
Success!! and oh so yummy!  I had plenty left over after filling the cupcakes and it is delicious on a spoon.

Step Five:  Fill the Cupcakes
cupcakes
hollowed, filled, and a little fleur de sel sprinkled on top.  I'd recommend letting the caramel cool and become a little hard to pour.  The easier it is to pour, the more it will soak into the cupcakes and make the liner hard to remove.

Step Six:  Frost the Cupcakes
cupcakes
mmmmm.  The frosting was a little complicated.  It involved melting cocoa powder and melting chocolate chips, but it didn't require 30 minutes of beating like other buttercreams I have made.  The recipe in the book makes 5 cups!!  I halved it and had the perfect amount.  I also made the frosting before beginning the caramel sauce so it would be ready to do as soon as they were filled.  Finish off with another sprinkling of the fleur de sel.

Step Seven:  Eat the Cupcakes
cupcakes
add little pig decorations for boss' birthday (said boss loves pigs)



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DIY Day @ ASPTL

11 comments:

  1. Yum! Those look great. I also ruined 3 batches of caramel this week. Live and learn!!

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  2. Chocolate? Caramel? Piggies? What's not to love :)

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  3. Oh, good heavens!! Those look absolutely amazing!!! I fell in love with the salted carmel hot chocolate at Starbucks last winter...I will most certainly be making these!

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  4. yummy! thanks for visiting my blog and your comments.

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  5. Those look great! I'd love for you to link up to Cupcake Tuesday! I'm having a giveaway this wk too. If you don't get over this wk, keep it in mind for next wk.
    Thanks!
    ~Liz

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  6. Yeah, these look great! I fell in love with Starbucks Salted Signature Caramel Hot Chocolate (I don't think that's it's real name, as my friend is the one who got me hooked). They've gotten rid of the salt! What a shame. Now I find your scrumptious looking cupcakes. I'll have to try these! Thanks for the idea!

    Rebecca of the R&W Gals

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  7. Brilliant. I loooooove sea salt topped caramel candies so I'm sure I would love these!

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  8. Oh wow, those look so good!

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  9. Your boss must be special b/c those cupcakes look incredible!

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  10. Hi there.
    I'm just stopping over from TSSC. This love Amazing!!! I must try these. Thanks for sharing.

    XO*Tricia

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