Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes

Kyla got inspired a couple weeks ago & this is the recipe that she came up with.  And I got to say...it's KILLER!!  We had some leftover cream cheese filling from this Strawberry Chocolate Cheesecake Trifle & she decided it would make a good filling for cupcakes.  Boy was she right.

We just had to come up with the perfect cupcake & frosting to go with it.  This is our favorite go-to chocolate cupcake recipe, and we decided a delicious salted caramel frosting would be an amazing combination!

Don't let the length of this recipe fool you.  They really are easy & pretty quick to put together.  The only time consuming part is waiting for the caramel to cool so you can use it in the frosting.  But that frosting is SO WORTH the wait!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes

PRINT RECIPE

For the cake:
1 box devil's food cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

For the cream filling:

1/8 cup sugar

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

For the Salted Caramel:

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the frosting:

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

8 ounces of cream cheese

3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 recipe salted caramel 

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 muffin tins with 24 cupcake liners. 

Mix the cake mix with the rest of the cake ingredients until nice and smooth.  Fill liners 3/4 way full with batter.  Use large cookie scoop to make this easier. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the Cream Cheese filling:

Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.  Fold in the whipped cream until combined.

Using a serrated knife, cut a hole in the middle of your cupcake.  My kids love to eat the cut out part...what a treat!:)  Spoon cream cheese filling into the cupcakes until it is flush with the top of the cupcake.

Now to make the Salted Caramel for the frosting:

Combine the sugar, water and corn syrup in a large saucepan and stir over medium heat with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved.  Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Continue to cook until the caramel turns an amber color, stirring occasionally so it doesn't burn.  Remove from heat.  Slowly pour in the heavy cream.  Be careful because it will bubble up and it is very hot!  Stir until combined.  Add the butter, lemon juice and salt and stir to combine.  Allow to cool until warm to the touch and until it's thick like molasses.

And on to the frosting:

Beat the butter and cream cheese until creamy, about 3 minutes.  Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat to combine.  Add the salted caramel and again beat to combine.  Add the additional powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.

And finally...pipe frosting onto cupcakes.  Add any sprinkles you would like, or eat them without any! (that is my husbands preference...he doesn't like anything with sprinkle!)

Have mercy!!

Recipe for salted caramel frosting adapted from Blooming on Bainbridge