The Cake Merchant

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

I’ve been on a bit of a salted caramel kick lately. And by a bit, I mean I have been making several batches of it and eating spoonfuls right out of the jar. In an effort to break my addiction, I used up some of the caramel sauce to make the buttercream that frosts these cupcakes. Somehow, I’ve just taken the addiction to a new level.

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

The only thing better than salted caramel is combining it with a chocolate cupcake. And then topping it with more salted caramel. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could fill it with some more caramel sauce.

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

I used this recipe for salted caramel sauce. It makes more than you will need for a batch of the frosting, so feel free to be liberal with the drizzling.

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

I used the Cook’s Illustrated Dark Chocolate Cupcake recipe, and I think it’s my new favorite. Have you ever noticed that it’s hard to make chocolate cake taste really chocolatey? Well, this recipe has that rich, fudgy quality that most recipes don’t, and it doesn’t require much more effort than a boxed mix. I love delicious recipes that still allow me to be lazy!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

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Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

Yield: 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients

    Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
    • Salted Caramel Buttercream
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
  • 1/2 cup salted caramel sauce
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

    For the cupcakes:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degress. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.
  2. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate, butter, and cocoa powder. You can also do this in the microwave on 50% power for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. Set the mixture aside to cool, or keep it in the refrigerator until it is just barely warm.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and whisk together until combined.
  4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and whisk. Add the sour cream and whisk to combine. Add the remaining flour mixture, and whisk gently until it is fully incorporated.
  5. Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners. I used a cookie scoop to do this. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
    6. For the frosting:
  6. Make the caramel sauce and cool to room temperature.
  7. In an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium high, speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add in the caramel sauce.
  8. Put the mixer on low and add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fully incorporated. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and drizzle with additional caramel sauce if you wish.
https://cakemerchant.com/2012/10/11/dark-chocolate-cupcakes-with-salted-caramel-buttercream/

Note: This recipe makes enough to pipe large swirls of frosting on your cupcakes. If you are spreading the frosting, you may want to make half of the original recipe.
Cupcake recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated via Tracy’s Culinary Adventures

Comments

    • Good catch, Nancy! I’ve updated the ingredients list. You can sub greek yogurt for the sour cream, and the results are just as delicious!

      Reply

  3. Made these today and since i forgot i had no regular sugar i used brown for the cakes and it turned out pretty good. However the frosting was a bit runny and it was hard to get the little swirl on top. Any idea why it was like that? Thanks for the help!

    Reply

    • I’m not sure why your frosting turned out runny, but it could be a number of things. Was your caramel sauce completely cooled? Warm or runny caramel would cause the frosting to be runny. You could also try adding a little bit more sugar to your frosting to stiffen it up, or just stick it in the fridge for a bit before frosting.

      Reply

  4. Looks like we both have salted caramel on the brain… I definitely need to whip up a batch of this frosting next time I make some gf chocolate cupcakes 🙂

    Reply

  7. Hello there,
    I love the way your cupcakes look and would really like to make these for the Mother-Daughter Tea at our church. In your frosting ingredients you mention a salted caramel sauce….is this something you can make from scratch or is it something you have to purchase? If it is from scratch would you be able to share a recipe for it?

    Thank you so much for your help and time.
    Blessings,
    Melissa D. SC

    Reply

  8. Oh my I just came back and saw at the bottom of this post it said previous post salted caramel sauce. Sorry about that. I am glad I found it. Would you be able to add a link to your post?

    Reply

  9. ok so just don’t even post my comments…lol…Just call me whatever…I just now saw the link in your post! I missed it up above and didn’t see it in the recipe…a slight panic set in…alas all is well and I look forward to making your cupcakes!!! Thank you for posting the recipes…. Please forgive my ignorance!!!

    Reply

  11. Hi,
    Sounds lovely.
    Any way to make this without Eggs ?
    And do we use a non-stick pot for the caramel sauce ?

    Thanks

    Reply

  13. I made these cupcakes today, and they were absolutely delicious! I’ve never had or made a dark chocolate cake before, and I was excited to taste the end result. The buttercream came out so fluffy, but also really sweet. Next time I think I’ll try it with a cream cheese caramel frosting. Anyway, this recipe is delicious, try it if you haven’t already!

    Reply

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