I hope you guys are sitting down to read this post.
Because this is a recipe for something other than macarons.
I’m as shocked as you are 😉
Last night we had dinner with some family friends. They made a delicious dinner and I was in charge of bringing dessert. Because even on my days off you can find me in the kitchen.
I’ve made lots of macarons recently and decided it was time to make something different and save the macarons for a catering event I have coming up in a few weeks.
I used to make cupcakes all the time. The last cupcakes I made were these Easter Cupcakes but so it was time to reintroduce cupcakes into my baking life.
The base for these cupcakes is my go-to chocolate cupcake. It’s so decadent, made with dark chocolate and sour cream for a little something extra. Basically the only chocolate cupcake recipe you’ll ever need.
I avoided topping these cupcakes with frosting and instead decided to put on a layer of salted butter caramel (leftover from my salted butter caramel chocolate macarons) and melted chocolate swirled together.
The result was this rich, decadent, delicious salted caramel chocolate swirl cupcakes. They were a hit at dinner last night and I hope you all like them too!
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
- 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Salted Butter Caramel:
- 250g sugar
- 2 1/2 fl. oz. water
- 4 fl. oz. heavy cream
- 7 oz. salted butter
Chocolate Topping:
- 1 1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Combine butter, chocolate and cocoa powder in a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water. Heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stir to combine and set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder.
- In a separate, larger bowl, whisk the eggs; add sugar, vanilla and salt, stirring to combine. Add chocolate mixture and whisk together.
- Sift in 1/2 of the flour mixture and stir together. Whisk in the sour cream, then add remaining flour and whisk again until just combined. Don’t over mix. Divide batter between liners and bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool.
- To make the caramel, heat the sugar & water over medium heat – do not stir. Watch until it becomes a light-brown caramel colour.
- Next, slowly and CAREFULLY add the cream, stirring with a spatula. The caramel will bubble and foam a lot.
- Once cream has been incorporated into caramel, monitor the temperature. Once it hits 225°F., remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until smooth.
- Pour into a container and refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours.
- Melt your chocolate over a double boiler and set aside to cool slightly.
- When you're ready to assemble your cupcakes, top each with a generous spoonful of caramel and add a dollop of chocolate on top. To swirl, run a toothpick through the caramel/chocolate. Store in the fridge to keep caramel and chocolate from melting.
