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Chocolate caramel cupcakes on a wooden board.
cookingwithmykids

Chocolate caramel cupcakes

Chocolate caramel cupcakes are a deliciously fudgy chocolate cupcake, filled with caramel, and topped with a caramel buttercream. Made with ready made caramel, they're so easy to make even kids will love baking them.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 12
Course: Afternoon tea, Dessert
Cuisine: British
Calories: 558
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 100 ml (½ cup) boiling water
  • 150 g (⅔ cup) butter
  • 200 g plain chocolate
  • 200 g (1 cup) soft brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 250 g (1 ½ cup) self raising flour*
For the filling
  • 12 teaspoons of caramel / dulce de leche
For the caramel buttercream
  • 150 g (⅔ cup) butter
  • 300 g (2 cups) icing sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of milk
  • 150 g caramel / dulce de leche
  • Caramel for drizzling

Equipment

  • Muffin tin
  • Cupcake cases
  • Digital scales
  • Mixing bowl
  • Measuring cups
  • measuring spoons
  • Spatula
  • Icecream scoop
  • Piping bag
  • Wire rack

Method
 

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C / 170C Fan / 350F and line a muffin tin with paper or silicon cupcake cases.
Melt the butter, chocolate, sugar and water
  1. Measure out the butter, plain chocolate and sugar. Cut the butter into a few smaller pieces and break the chocolate up then add them to a heatproof bowl, along with the boiling water.
    Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler), and heat it gently, stirring it until it has all melted.
Mix the eggs and vanilla
  1. Crack the eggs into a small bowl.
    Add the vanilla extract.
    Whisk it together with a fork or small whisk.
  2. Add the egg and vanilla to the cooled chocolate mixture and stir it all together.
Measure the flour
  1. Measure the flour out and add it to a larger mixing bowl. Finally, pour the melted chocolate mixture into your bowl. Gently, mix it all together with a spatula or wooden spoons until it has all come together and there are no visible bits of flour showing.
Bake the chocolate cupcakes
  1. Divide the chocolate cupcake batter among your cupcake cases. Make sure you distribute the batter evenly so each case is about ¾ full.
  2. Bake the cupcakes in the oven for about 20 minutes. They're ready when they've risen and cocktail stick, skewer or sharp knife inserted into the middle should come out largely clean.
    Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave them to cool in the tin for a few minutes before taking each one out and put them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the caramel buttercream icing
  1. Measure out the icing sugar and butter. If the butter isn't soft (we always forget to take it out of the fridge beforehand), cut it into a few pieces then pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. Don't leave it in long enough to melt it.
    Add it to a large mixing bowl or a free-standing mixer alongside the 2 tablespoons of milk and the caramel.
  2. Using a hand held mixer or the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer, start beating it all together slowly. If you have a cover and/or a tea towel pop it over the top if you can to try and contain some of the mess.
    Once the loose icing sugar has started to mix in, you can turn the speed of your mixer up. Mix it for a few minutes until it is nice and light and fluffy. The longer you beat it for, the nicer and softer it will become.
Fill the cupcakes
  1. Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut a core out of the middle. Fill the middle of each cupcake with a teaspoon of caramel / dulce de leche. Cut the base of the core off then put the the lid back on the caramel centre.
Decorate the chocolate caramel cupcakes
  1. Add the caramel buttercream to a piping bag with a large star or plain shaped nozzle fitted.
    Pipe nice swirls of buttercream onto each cupcake.
  2. Alternatively, if you don't have a piping bag, you can spread the icing onto each cupcake with the back of a spoon, a palette knife or just regular butter knife.
  3. If you have a little caramel left over, drizzle it over the top of your cupcakes to decorate. To do it neatly, you could pop it into a small freezer bag, and cut a tiny hole in the corner, then pipe neat line drizzles over the top.