I almost forgot to share these cupcakes with you! They were made on a whim, photographed quickly, eaten with great enthusiasm and then filed under 'must blog'.
So here they are, vanilla cupcakes with fudge chips and a hidden salted caramel core, topped with delicate vanilla buttercream.
Here's how to make these salted caramel surprise cupcakes.
Ingredients
For the sponge:
- 150 g (5.3 oz) butter
- 200 g (7 oz) sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 200 g (7 oz) self-raising flour plus a little to dust
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 150 g (5.3 oz) fudge pieces
For the core:
- 1 jar of salted caramel
For the frosting:
- 170 g (6 oz) butter
- 500 g (1.1 lbs) icing sugar
- 50 ml (1.7 fl oz) whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Decorative chocolate toppers (optional)
Instructions
To make the sponge:
- Preheat the oven to 190C (170C fan, 375F)
- Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy
- Beat the eggs separately, then beat into the mix bit by bit
- Beat in the vanilla
- Sieve in the flour and baking powder and fold through
- Fold in the milk to loosen
- Spoon into a 12 hole muffin tray lined with paper cases
- Dust the fudge pieces in a little flour until lightly coated, then sprinkle on top of the batter, well spaced (if you mix them into the batter, they'll all end up at the bottom) - you might not need all of them
- Bake the cakes for 14-16 minutes until just firm on top
- Leave to cool completely on a wire rack
To make the core:
- Cut out a hole from the centre of each one - I used a cupcake corer from Lakeland
- If necessary, warm the caramel for just a few seconds in the microwave so that it’s pourable and fill each hole
To make the frosting:
- Beat the butter on its own until fluffy
- Add the icing sugar, vanilla and milk and beat together - starting slow and then speeding up until pale and fluffy
- Transfer into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe high swirls, keeping the bag upright to give lovely frilly swirls
- Finish with chocolate toppers, if you wish
Are you tempted to bake these cupcakes at home?
Here's that salted caramel surprise cupcakes recipe again in a printable format.
Salted caramel surprise cupcakes
Ingredients
For the sponge:
- 150 g (5.29 oz) butter
- 200 g (7.05 oz) sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 200 g (7.05 oz) self-raising flour plus a little to dust
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 150 g (5.29 oz) fudge pieces
For the core:
- 1 jar of salted caramel
For the frosting:
- 170 g (6 oz) butter
- 500 g (1.1 lb) icing sugar
- 50 ml (1.69 floz) whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Decorative chocolate toppers optional
Instructions
To make the sponge:
- Preheat the oven to 190C (170C fan, 375F)
- Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy
- Beat the eggs separately, then beat into the mix bit by bit
- Beat in the vanilla
- Sieve in the flour and baking powder and fold through
- Fold in the milk to loosen
- Spoon into a 12 hole muffin tray lined with paper cases
- Dust the fudge pieces in a little flour until lightly coated, then sprinkle on top of the batter, well spaced (if you mix them into the batter, they'll all end up at the bottom) - you might not need all of them
- Bake the cakes for 14-16 minutes until just firm on top
- Leave to cool completely on a wire rack
To make the core:
- Cut out a hole from the centre of each one - I used a cupcake corer from Lakeland
- If necessary, warm the caramel for just a few seconds in the microwave so that it’s pourable and fill each hole
To make the frosting:
- Beat the butter on its own until fluffy
- Add the icing sugar, vanilla and milk and beat together - starting slow and then speeding up until pale and fluffy
- Transfer into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe high swirls, keeping the bag upright to give lovely frilly swirls
- Finish with chocolate toppers, if you wish
More cakes with a hidden surprise
Don't forget to check out my other cupcake recipes. Here are some of my favourite bakes with a hidden surprise!
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Rachel says
I made these twice and both times they turned out just awful and I am usually a good baker! They had overflown and then sank the first time so I put two eggs in and less milk and they were still really bad now I've wasted a lot of time and money
Emily Leary says
Hi. If they're overflowing it sounds like either your cases were too small or your oven was running too hot. I can't comment as to what happens if you change the recipe.
Sally - My Custard Pie says
Having only just discovered exactly how good salted caramel is, ("I told you so" said veggie teen) these are very appealing :)
Sim says
Yummm!!! Have saved the recipe!!!