Chocolate Cupcakes. Caramel Frosting.

The chocolate cupcakes come from a mix. I'm warning you now. However, they're very delicious, and it makes my life that much easier when baking cupcakes for people in a tight schedule. This recipe comes courtesy of Your Cup of Cake and frankly I would highly recommend those German Chocolate Cupcakes too.

The caramel is worth the time and effort, and the frosting is perfect. Enough said.

Chocolate Cupcakes
yield: 20 - 24 cupcakes

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 (325 for dark pans). Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Mix the oil, eggs, and buttermilk until combined in a large bowl. Gradually add in the cake mix (sifting can help incorporate it more easily). Mix until combined. Finally, add in the sour cream and mix until smooth and consistent (though small lumps are just fine).

Fill muffin tins with batter 2/3 to 3/4 full. I've always gotten at least 20 cupcakes out of this mixture. Bake at 350 for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Salted Caramel Sauce
yield: about 1 1/2 cups caramel though only 1 cup (total) is needed for this recipe

1 1/2 cups sugar
6 tbsp water

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp sour cream

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let it boil until it turns amber in color. Watch it like a hawk; sugar goes from golden brown to amber to black in the blink of an eye.

Whisk in the heavy cream. It will spit and sputter and get all kinds of angry. Your knuckles may get  a light steam burn. This is normal. Whisk it away until the cream and sugar is a cohesive mixture. Add in the salt, and, finally, mix in the sour cream. This caramel is a little salty, a little tangy, and hands down the best caramel I have ever made. The recipe came courtesy of a friend of a friend to whom I am forever grateful.

Caramel Frosting
yield: about 3 - 4 cups or enough to frost 20 - 24 cupcakes


3/4 cup of butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup salted caramel sauce

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Mix in 2 cups confectioners sugar and beat to combine. Add in the vanilla and the caramel. Beat to combine. Finally, mix in 1 cup of confectioner's sugar and mix until thick and consistent. Add in remaining 1/2 cup sugar until desire thickness, consistency, and sweetness are reached.

Pipe frosting in a ring on top of the cupcakes. Fill the hole in the middle with remaining caramel sauce.

Caramel is sugar and cream. Frosting is sugar and butter. With that said, I should still point out that this is easily one of the sweetest, almost to the point of cloying, recipes that I've ever made. Originally the frosting recipe started with 1 cup of butter (and equally greater amounts of the other ingredients), but I was left with quite a bit of frosting.

Also, you will likely have caramel sauce left over. You're welcome.