Caramel Cupcakes
These moist, soft caramel cupcakes have wonderful brown sugar flavor. We've topped them with a decadent caramel frosting!
Servings: 26 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ sticks (170g) unsalted butter, softened (Should still hold its shape but dent when pressed.)
- 1 cup (200g) white granulated sugar
- 1 cup (217g) Dark Brown Sugar (light brown is fine also.) (If not using a digital scale, make sure to pack the brown sugar into your measuring cup for most accurate measurement.)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature (If you are in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)
- 3 cups (342g) cake flour (If not using a digital scale, lightly spoon into measuring cups and level with knife for most accurate measurement.)
- 1 Tablespoon (12g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 cup (242g) sour cream (We use "full fat" rather than reduced.)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract.
- ½ cup (121g milk) (We use whole or 2 percent milk.)
- ⅓ cup (68g) vegetable oil (We use canola oil.)
For the Caramel Frosting
- 1 ½ sticks (170g) unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups (326g) firmly packed dark brown sugar (Light brown is fine also!)
- 1 (18g) tablespoon light corn syrup
- ⅓ cup (72g) whipping cream (half and half or whole milk works also)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt (add additional to your liking)
- 4 cups (460g) confectioners sugar (measure then sift)
Instructions
For the Caramel Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place cupcake liners into cupcake pans.
- In a separate bowl combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk 30 seconds to blend. Set aside.
- In another bowl combine the sour cream, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and milk. Stir and set aside.
- Add butter to mixing bowl and mix on low to medium speed until smooth.
- Slowly add the white and brown sugar mixing on MEDIUM speed until the mixture has lightened in color and is fluffy- Approximately 3 minutes.
- Next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each each addition until yolk is blended.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Stop and scrape down the sides of bowl once or twice as need. After the last addition of dry ingredients, mix just until blended.
- Add the cupcake batter to the cupcake pans (prepared with liners). Each cupcake will have approximately ¼ cup batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed with no crumbs or just a few moist crumbs attached.
- Makes approximately 7.5-8 cups of batter- enough for 28-30 cupcakes.
For the Caramel Frosting
- In a rather deep saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar, and light corn syrup over medium to medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue cooking for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Try to keep mixture off sides of pan.
- Add the cream and salt and continue stirring until it begins to boil. Remove from heat, add the vanilla, and cool for 15 minutes or so.
- Pour into the bowl of your mixer if it is metal or a heat proof bowl. You can also use a hand mixer. Pour carefully as this is very hot.
- Add the confectioners sugar to the hot mixture bit by bit, mixing at medium speed until smooth.
- The mixture will thicken as the powdered sugar is added.
- Add a small amount of very hot water (one teaspoon or tablespoon at a time) as needed until the frosting reaches a good consistency for spreading. Makes about 4-4.5 cups of frosting. When not using the frosting, place plastic wrap over the bowl.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes however you like! We used a 1M (large star) piping tip to create stars and rosettes.
Notes
You can use light brown or dark brown sugar for the cake and frosting in this recipe! Dark brown will give you a slightly deeper color and flavor. We enjoy them both!
Substitution for Cake Flour: Using all purpose flour (plain in UK) to make Cake Flour: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK).
Storing: These cupcakes can be left at room temperature (in an airtight container or under a cake dome) for a couple of days. After that, we recommend moving to the refrigerator for freshness.
However, if refrigerating, remove from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving to allow the frosting a cupcakes to warm and soften.