These chocolate salted caramel cupcakes are filled with homemade salted caramel and topped with salted caramel buttercream! These are the perfect cupcakes for chocolate caramel lovers.
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I've already got an amazing vanilla caramel filled cupcake recipe I love making. But as a chocolate lover with so many chocolate recipes, you know I had to make a chocolate version!
These chocolate cupcakes are based off of my mocha cupcakes , they're a very rich and chocolatey cupcake that has a small hit of espresso to deepen the chocolate flavor!
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I can't get enough of these cupcakes!
- Each chocolate caramel cupcake is filled with homemade salted caramel, it doesn't get more indulgent than that!
- You get that yummy sweet and salty flavor thanks to the combination of chocolate and salted caramel.
- You can make the cupcakes and caramel in advance, so they're perfect to prep for parties or birthdays!
Ingredients Needed
- Cocoa Powder: make sure to use dutch processed cocoa powder for this recipe and not natural cocoa powder.
- Salted Caramel: I'm using my easy salted caramel sauce recipe, but you could use store-bought salted caramel.
- Sour Cream: this will make the cupcakes extra moist! You could use natural full fat yogurt instead or buttermilk.
- Oil: use a neutral oil like vegetable oil or canola oil!
- Instant Espresso: this won't make the cupcakes taste like coffee but it will deepen the chocolate flavor!
How to make chocolate salted caramel cupcakes
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit and line a cupcake pan with liners. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder in a large bowl.
Step 2: In another bowl, mix all of the wet ingredients together until smooth - except for the hot water!
Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. Mix the espresso powder with the hot water, and mix the coffee into the cupcake batter.
Step 4: Fill the cupcake liners with the batter so they're just over ½ full. Bake in the oven for 14-18 minutes.
Step 5: Core the cupcakes and fill each one with salted caramel sauce.
Step 6: Beat butter and confectioners' sugar together until light and fluffy, then mix in the salt, salted caramel, vanilla and heavy cream. Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!
Assembling the cupcakes
Use a large piping tip to cut a round hole in each cooled cupcake. Fill a piping bag with the salted caramel (or you could just use a spoon!) and pipe caramel into each cupcake. Then frost each cupcake with the caramel buttercream.
Ella's Tips & Tricks
- Measuring Scale - I really recommend getting a weighing scale and weighing all of your ingredients. It's so easy to add too much cocoa powder and flour, making the cupcakes dry. It's more accurate to bake this way and you can get a weighing scale for just $10!
- Let the caramel cool - make sure the caramel has cooled completely before using in the frosting, if you add hot caramel to the buttercream then the frosting will melt.
- Make the caramel in advance - because there are quite a few steps to make these cupcakes, I recommend making the caramel in advance! You can store it in a closed jar in the fridge for up to 1 month. You will probably need to warm it back up as it will be quite firm, so heat it in 10-second intervals until it is the right consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes you can. You can make the caramel sauce up to 1 month in advance, just store it in the fridge and heat it up when ready to use. You can make the cupcakes ahead of time, either you store them in an airtight container for up to 4 days or you could freeze them!
I recommend storing the caramel in a large glass jar with a lid. I like to use old jam jars to do this!
I recommend keeping them in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. When ready to enjoy, let them sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before eating!
Try these cupcake recipes next!
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Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Equipment
- 12 cup cupcake pan
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup (120 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
- ½ cup (51 grams) cocoa powder dutch processed
- ½ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) kosher salt
- 2 large (2) eggs room temperature
- ½ cup (100 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (113 grams) sour cream room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) espresso powder
- ½ cup (118 ml) hot water
Salted Caramel
- 1 cup (198 grams) white sugar
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) vanilla extract
Frosting
- 2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) kosher salt
- 3 cups (339 grams) confectioners' sugar
- ¼ cup (80 grams) salted caramel cooled
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) heavy cream
Instructions
Make cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C and place 16-18 cupcake liners in your cupcake pans.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.1 cup (120 grams) all purpose flour, ½ cup (51 grams) cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon (¾ tsp) baking powder, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) baking soda, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) kosher salt, 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
- In a mug or small cup, mix together the espresso powder and hot water until the espresso powdered has dissolved. Set aside.1 teaspoon (1 tsp) espresso powder, ½ cup (118 ml) hot water
- In a large jug, whisk the eggs, oil, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth.2 large (2) eggs, ½ cup (100 ml) vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon (1 tsp) vanilla extract, ½ cup (113 grams) sour cream
- Pour the wet mixture into the flour, stirring until it is just about smooth - we don't want to over mix the batter! Then pour in the hot coffee and mix until smooth.
- Fill the cupcake liners just over halfway full and bake for 18-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for 15 minutes in the tray, then take them out and place on a cooling rack.
Make Salted Caramel
- Take a small saucepan and place it on your stove over medium-low heat. Add the sugar ¼ cup at a time, letting the sugar dissolve completely until you add the next ¼ cup.1 cup (198 grams) white sugar
- Stir over the heat until all of the sugar has dissolved and it has turned a dark amber color. Turn the stove off.
- Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition. Careful as it may sputter!6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter
- Pour in the heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt. Stir until combined. Pour the caramel (carefully!) into a large jar and let cool. It will become very thick.½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Make Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar together on low speed until well combined.2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter, 3 cups (339 grams) confectioners' sugar
- Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for a 2 minutes until it becomes very thick.
- Stop the mixer and add the salt, vanilla, and salted caramel into the bowl. Beat on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes.1 teaspoon (1 tsp) vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon (¼ tsp) kosher salt, ¼ cup (80 grams) salted caramel
- Turn the mixer to your lowest speed and pour in the heavy cream. Beat until it becomes very creamy and spreadable.1 tablespoon heavy cream
Assembly
- Use a large piping tip to core out each cupcake. You may need to use a knife or small spatula to dig out some of the cake in case the tip didn't go down far enough. You want to make sure you have some space in each cupcake so they get filled!
- Put the remaining caramel in a piping bag, or you can just use a spoon if you prefer. Pipe caramel into each cupcake.
- Fill another piping bag with the caramel frosting and frost each cupcake. I like using the Wilton 1M or 4B tip!
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