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Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

May 14, 2012 by Audra 20 Comments

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Ever have a recipe you dream in your head for weeks before it comes to be? Well, I have been imagining  these wonderful cupcakes for ages. You know I’m obsessed with salted caramel, and I’ve been overdue to put my favorite thing into a cupcake, (my other favorite thing.) What better to pair with salted caramel than dark chocolate right? That’s what I’m thinkin…

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These start with my favorite one-bowl chocolate cupcake, made with lots of dark chocolate cocoa powder.  Using a paring knife I carved out a small little area of the center of each cake and spooned in some salted caramel. After replacing the little cake top, I swirled on some salted caramel butter cream. The nice thing about the frosting swirl is that it leaves a little area on the top of the frosting that is perfect for fillings and toppings. In this case I added a dollop of dark chocolate ganache and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. In my opinion- perfection!

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On a normal day, I would whip up a batch of this easy salted caramel from scratch. It is not hard to make and oh so delicious. On the day that I made dozens of these for birthday party though, I was majorly pressed for time. I knew I needed a shortcut in order to get this done in time. So- I picked up a handy jar of Trader Joes Salted Caramel Sauce and went to town. It was the perfect “in-a-pinch” ingredient for filling these babies and also mixing into the frosting. The next time I make these, I hope to have time to make the caramel from scratch though, just because I like to complicate things like that!

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Print
Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Yield: 18-24 cupcakes
 
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder (regular is fine too)
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup warm water
  • ¾ cup buttermilk
  • 3 tablespoons canola/vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1½-2 cups salted caramel sauce*
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter- softened
  • 4-6 cups of powdered sugar
  • cream or milk as needed
  • 5 oz. of dark chocolate- chopped
  • ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.
  2. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
  3. 'Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
  4. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each ⅔ full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the ganache:
  1. Place chopped dark chocolate in a small bowl. On medium-high heat, warm the heavy cream until it boils and right away pour it over the chocolate.
  2. Leave it for 5 minutes and then stir mixture until it is thick and creamy. Allow to cool to room temperature by either letting it sit for 30-45 minute OR speed it up in the freezer (what I did.)
  3. When the cupcakes are cooled, use a paring knife to carve a cone shape into the top of each cupcake. Slice off the very top of the removed part and set aside.
  4. Fill with a tablespoon of caramel sauce and place the top back on. Repeat with the rest of the cupcakes and set aside to make frosting.
For the Frosting:
  1. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to whip the butter until it is creamy and pale. Add 4 cups of the powdered sugar, a little at a time until frosting is thick and paste like.
  2. Add ½ cup of salted caramel sauce and mix on medium-high speed until frosting is thick and well combined. Add the milk or cream a tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is creamy and good piping/spreading consistency.
  3. Spoon or drizzle the ganache onto the frosted cupcakes and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Notes
* You can also use regular store-bought caramel with sea salt mixed in
3.5.3251

Chocolate cupcake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Filed Under: Cupcakes, Recipes Tagged With: Dark Chocolate, Salted Caramel

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Comments

  1. Carla says

    May 14, 2012 at 10:26 am

    Oh you put all of my fav words in one sentence! Love chocolate, love salted caramel, love cupcakes :) great recipe and I love how you fill the frosting too.

    Reply
  2. Blog is the New BLack says

    May 14, 2012 at 10:31 am

    Holy deliciousness!

    Reply
  3. Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says

    May 14, 2012 at 12:11 pm

    I am in love. Oh my!

    Reply
  4. Samantha says

    May 14, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    Beautiful!

    Reply
  5. Averie Cooks says

    May 14, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    wow…I can’t even imagine how good these must be! Their reputation clearly lived up to their dream you had about them!

    Reply
  6. Cassie Laemmli says

    May 14, 2012 at 3:24 pm

    Oh my goodness, that frosting! I love salted caramel anything and I am in love with these already!

    Reply
  7. Georgia The Comfort of Cooking says

    May 14, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    Wow, Audra! I think you just made my dream dessert a reality! These look insane.

    Reply
  8. Bee says

    May 14, 2012 at 4:48 pm

    Salted caramel is fantastic. And these cupcakes are so pretty and gourmet looking!

    Reply
  9. IrmaSDean says

    May 14, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    http://goo.gl/y9HBT

    Reply
  10. Mai Nguyen says

    May 14, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    I have yet to try salted caramel. I know. I’m missing out. Plus dark chocolate? YUM!!

    Reply
  11. Becca Looney says

    May 15, 2012 at 2:27 am

    I’ve never tried salted caramel anything, but I love the look of gooey/runny caramel. It makes me lick my lips with anticipationg. Not to mention when biting into that cupcake and a pool of the caramel comes out :) YUM!

    Reply
  12. Spencer says

    May 15, 2012 at 5:04 am

    Looks absolutely delicious! I reckon I could eat a whole plateful of them in about 10 minutes flat!

    Reply
  13. Itsgoodtobethecook says

    May 15, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    OMG these look like the most delicious, decadent cupcakes ever

    Reply
  14. Laura loves cakes says

    May 15, 2012 at 7:25 pm

    Wow these look amazingly decadent…I want one!!!! The pool of salted caramel looks divine!! :-)

    Reply
  15. Amys_Cooking_Adventures says

    May 15, 2012 at 8:01 pm

    Yummy! I recently tried salted caramel buttercream for the first time & I’m in love! SO glad to have seen this recipe!

    Reply
  16. Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says

    May 16, 2012 at 10:27 am

    Wow, these look absolutely dangerous! I want to swim in that tiny pool of caramel there.

    Reply
  17. Marsha @ The Harried Cook says

    May 18, 2012 at 3:01 am

    That looks so good! Love salted caramel & this is probably my perfect cupcake… love the filling in there… thanks for sharing! :)

    Reply
  18. HudsonRunner says

    June 27, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    I made these a week ago for a family dinner…they got all eaten!! They cake was so good and moist (especially since I had never made this particular recipe before). I made my own caramel sauce (from another site). These were absolutely divine! My dad who is the “family baker” of fudge & cookies and bars, said he really liked them! This is going in my to make again book:) Thanks for such a great and relatively easy recipe!

    Reply
  19. melissa s says

    October 2, 2012 at 11:01 am

    Thank you so much for sharing! I made the frosting using the sauce from Trader Joe’s. HUGE time saver. My friends went nuts over the cupcakes – especially the frosting.

    Reply

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  1. Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes | Flavor Of Joy says:
    August 26, 2013 at 7:17 pm

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