Salted Caramel Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a work potluck at my boss's house. One of my coworkers said that her husband's favorite cupcake flavor is salted caramel, and upon tasting one of these, she jokingly accused me of trying to steal her husband away. But I do think that these are just that good. You can't ever go wrong with a Georgetown Cupcake recipe after all, and they were a huge hit that day.

SALTED CARAMEL CUPCAKES

A Georgetown Cupcake recipe, makes 1 dozen

Ingredients for Caramel:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp water
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature

Add sugar and water to saucepan. Heat on medium high heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is completely melted and the color resembles the color of a penny.

Add butter and vanilla extract the saucepan. Mix thoroughly until all of the butter is incorporated, then remove from heat.

Stir in the heavy cream until the caramel is golden brown. Let rest at room temperature for 5 minutes, then transfer to the fridge to cool further.

Ingredients for Cupcake: 

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 7/8 cups sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup caramel (recipe above)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Add in the egg and beat until incorporated.

Pour in the milk and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.

Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, then beat in until smooth. 

Pour the caramel over the batter and use knife to swirl gently.

Using a standard ice cream scoop, scoop batter into cupcake pans until about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-21 minutes, or until done when tested with a toothpick. Set out to cool.

Ingredients for Frosting:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup caramel (recipe above)

Add all ingredients to a bowl, and use an electric mixer to beat until light and fluffy.

Look how pretty the cupcakes look when they're done baking, especially with all the swirls :)

Pipe the frosting on top of the completely cooled cupcakes.

Drizzle cupcakes with remaining caramel to decorate. The results are so elegant.