Feeling a bit eager for the Easter holidays, I decided yesterday to make the cupcake prelude to Easter - the Ultimate Chocolate Caramel Cupcake! And omg it was good. The sponge is SO moist with actually quite an odd texture and the chocolate buttercream is light, fluffy and not too rich - just right in my eyes! It's not one of those buttercreams that are too sickly to eat. And lastly the caramel, which I did slightly cheat with by using the Waitress Caramel Dipping Sauce (I was glad for it by the end of it though, since I didn't finish baking until 9pm!), but it was so worth it. The gooey caramel sauces works really nice with the sponge as since the cake doesn't have a very crumbly texture, the sauce simply sits there inside, waiting to ooze out. I topped it all off with half of the cakes with crushed Milky Bar Mini Eggs and half with Cadbury Mini Eggs.
I owe this sponge and buttercream recipe to the yummy blog Pretty. Simple. Sweet. I adapted it by adding the caramel and toppings.
Also as you will notice, I decide to have a play around with the styling of my photos. I'm trying to get a bit better at this. You will also notice though that by the time I got to making the buttercream, I couldn't be bothered to lay my ingredients out all fancy! (Ain't nobody got time for that!) It was about 8pm though, as I had to wait for my husband to get home from work with a crucial ingredient, and then made our dinner, so by the time I started the buttercream I was exhausted! Let me know if you think these photos make a difference, and if you have any tips, they would be much appreciated.
Ingredients for cupcake mix
200g granulated sugar
185g plain flour
120ml whole milk
120ml hot water
113g unsalted butter at room temp
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large free-range eggs eggs
Waitrose Caramel Dipping Sauce
I owe this sponge and buttercream recipe to the yummy blog Pretty. Simple. Sweet. I adapted it by adding the caramel and toppings.
Also as you will notice, I decide to have a play around with the styling of my photos. I'm trying to get a bit better at this. You will also notice though that by the time I got to making the buttercream, I couldn't be bothered to lay my ingredients out all fancy! (Ain't nobody got time for that!) It was about 8pm though, as I had to wait for my husband to get home from work with a crucial ingredient, and then made our dinner, so by the time I started the buttercream I was exhausted! Let me know if you think these photos make a difference, and if you have any tips, they would be much appreciated.
Ingredients for cupcake mix
200g granulated sugar
185g plain flour
120ml whole milk
120ml hot water
113g unsalted butter at room temp
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large free-range eggs eggs
Waitrose Caramel Dipping Sauce
Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees/170 fan.
2. Line your cupcake tin with liners of your choice. I opted for yellow as I was thinking of spring and Easter...
3. Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. I used a mixer with the paddle attachment which took about 5 minutes as the granulated sugar was obviously really grainy. Would be interesting to try caster next time.
4. Next beat in your eggs one at a time. Make sure the mix is well combined after each egg.
5. Beat in the vanilla extract.
6. Sieve the flour and cocoa powder together.
7. Add half flour and cocoa into the mixture and beat until combined.
8. Add the milk and combine.
9. Add other half of flour and cocoa and combine. Make sure you beat slowly.
Science - The more you mix, the more the gluten is created which gives you a heavier cake.
10. Add hot water and combine. Don't worry if the batter is very liquid-y, it's meant to be like this.
11. Fill your cupcake tray with batter, about 3/4 full and bake for 15-20 minutes. They will be ready when a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave in tray for 10 mins and then cool on a wire rack.
12. Once cool you will need to cut out lid from the cupcakes. I decided to use a mini circular mould I have. You could just use a knife to cut a circle and then a spoon to remove it. Make sure you keep the lids - don't eat them even if it is tempting!
13. Next fill the centre with a spoonful of the Waitrose caramel dipping sauce and put the lids back on.
Ingredients for Chocolate Buttercream + Topping
160g icing sugar, sifted
150g unsalted butter and room temp
115g melted dark chocolate
25g cocoa powder, sifted
2 tbsp double cream
Milky bar eggs (optional)
Cadbury's mini eggs (optional)
Method
1. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. I used a mixer with the paddle attachment again which took about 4 minutes.
2. Add half of the sifted icing sugar, beat in well, and then add the other half and combine.
3. Add the sifted cocoa powder and beat until smooth and fluffy.
4. Beat in vanilla extract, melted chocolate and double cream until well combined.
5. Using a star nozzle and a piping bag, pipe onto your cupcakes using a circular motion staring from the outside. I can't think of any other way to describe this! You know what I mean though!
6. Fill a plastic sandwich bag with the mini eggs of your choice and bash them with a wooden rolling pin (or also the weapon of your choice!!) Sprinkle them on top of the cupcakes.
7. Enjoy the chocolatey goodness that is coming your way!
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