*crispy waffle*

I came up with the recipe for this buttercream because I saw that a Seattle cupcake shop (which shall remain unnamed, but those of you who know me will know which one I'm talking about) had a salted caramel cupcake as a recently added flavor. Now, I find their cupcakes generally too sweet, and it has to do with that powdered-sugar buttercream that I can't swallow. I'm not sure how that would fly with caramel on top of all that sugar (remember, caramel is sugar too, right?) so, curious, I set out to do my own.

I tried to do a coconut cupcake because I love coconut, but the cake came out dry, so I'm still working on it. The recipe I started with was Ina Garten's coconut cupcakes, but I'm not so big on those because I find sweetened coconut flakes kinda vile. I tried to replace it with regular coconut, but it didn't turn out quite right, so I'll have to do some more experimenting in this area (and I'm sure my family won't want to ever see another coconut cupcake, ever.) The next time, I did a standard vanilla cupcake and it tasted really nice with the caramel.

This uses a base of Swiss meringue buttercream with the caramel mixed in at the end. It is light and fluffy, but has good caramel flavor. For the caramel I added salt (I call it 'salted caramel' even though I always add salt to the caramel I make for say, leche flan). Sprinkle the cupcakes with some fleur de sel at the end and it will totally elevate the frosting to the next level.

Vanilla cupcakes (my go-to recipe is here)
makes 12 cupcakes
Note: I prefer to grease and flour muffin tins because I like eating cupcakes where I don't have to peel off the wrapper, but the recipe does not change if you want to use cupcake papers.

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with the oven rack in the middle position. Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light colored and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the egg, egg yolks and vanilla and beat at medium speed until thoroughly incorporated.
Add the sour cream and beat until incorporated.
Add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
Remove and cool to room temperature on a rack, about 45 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the frosting of your choice.

Salted Caramel Buttercream
makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the caramel:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

1/4 cup heavy cream

pinch sea salt

Add the sugar to a small saucepan and pour the water over it. With the heat on low, swirl the pan around until the sugar has nearly dissolved. Be careful not to let it boil -- if it starts getting too hot, remove it from the burner for a few seconds, continuing to swirl.
Once the sugar has mostly dissolved, raise the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover it immediately and leave on boil for 2 minutes.
Uncover and continue swirling the mixture until it becomes dark amber. (Be careful -- you want it to be dark, but it can go from dark to burning in seconds.) Take it off the heat immediately.
Slowly pour in the cream, stirring with a whisk. Again, be careful as the caramel will start splattering, and will splatter even more if you add the cream too fast. Whisk until combined and set aside.

Ingredients

For the buttercream:

3 egg whites

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature (I actually use salted butter)

Combine the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar and water in the stainless steel bowl of an electric mixer (i.e. your KitchenAid bowl). Bring a large pan of water to simmer, making sure that the water is a the same height as the egg whites in your stainless bowl. Set the bowl in the pan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Be really careful not to curdle the egg whites-- simply remove the bowl from the heat for a bit if it feels like that's happening. Also, you'll know when it's getting close to 160 degrees; the mixture will be getting ultra foamy, like the top of a latte. (A really good latte that is-- one of those kinds where it has a leaf-pattern on top, you know what I'm talking about.)
Remove the bowl to your stand mixer and beat on high speed for 3-5 minutes, until the mixture holds glossy, marshmallowy peaks. Remove the meringue to another bowl.
In the standing mixer, beat half the butter and one-third of the meringue until well combined. Continue to add the remaining two-thirds of the meringue a dollop at a time. The mixture may look scarily curdled at this point; adding the remaining butter a tablespoon at a time will smooth things out. (Basically, just keep adding a bit of butter at a time until the curdling corrects itself.)
With the mixer on low, add the caramel and mix until well-combined.
Frost the cupcakes using an offset spatula. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Links:
Crispywaffle: Vanilla Cupcake recipe
Food Network: Ina Garten's Coconut Cupcakes Recipe

Crispywaffle: Filipino Leche Flan

Labels: recipes, the sweet

posted by sheryl | 10:00 AM | | share: facebook | tweet this!

OMG these are so beautiful! What type of tip did you use to frost these?!?! So cute
By

Michelle 3/19/09 12:07 AM

You know what's weird? I know your husband! Just saw this picture on tastespotting and clicked on it. What a small world. The cupcakes look awesome. He is one lucky man!
By

redmenace 3/19/09 1:42 AM

I'll have to try this version. I recently made salted caramel frosting myself, and the recipe I used was amazing! I'm curious to try another to compare.
By

Erin 3/19/09 5:34 AM

Mmm, this salted caramel buttercream sounds so fabulous. Defintely a dangerous recipe. I think I might be able to eat this frosting by the spoonful!
By

Elyse 3/19/09 5:43 AM

I am crazy about anything "salted" so this sounds amazing to me. I'm bookmarking it right now. And your photo is stunning. Your piping couldn't be more perfect. Great job!

Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/
By

oneordinaryday 3/19/09 3:33 PM

I am in love with salted caramel anything--frosting?? Amazing!
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Kasey 3/19/09 5:00 PM

Thanks for your comments! Michelle: not sure specifically the tip, but it was a larger star tip. Hope that helps!
By

sheryl 3/19/09 10:30 PM

sounds delicious.... i have never tried this...which i will try with pleasure....uphere i was wondering which site offers the ingredients...one of my friend introduced me to a great resource www.myethnicworld.com from where i can get a gammut of food products from around the world.
By

sampada 3/21/09 3:10 PM

Sampada -- where do you live, and which ingredients are you interested in? I'm just curious -- often I get requests about where to purchase certain hard-to-find ingredients.
By

sheryl 3/21/09 4:07 PM

That frosting looks velvety and divine, I would've gone with a vanilla cupcake base too.
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Sophie 3/25/09 7:18 PM

such wonderful looking food. i really like your blog.
i was wondering what you use as heavy cream. i have never seen it here (in Amsterdam) on the shelves.
and now that i am asking... what cream cheese do you use for cheesecake? Dutch Philadephia doesn't work for me...
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granuaile 4/18/09 3:16 PM

Hi granuaile,
For heavy cream, I use 'vers slagroom' - you can find it at cheese/dairy shops or at the Albert Heijn. For cheesecake, I typically use 'fromage blanc', but because it is far more watery than standard American cream cheese, you will have to either drain it in cheesecloth, or adjust the recipe by adding more eggs to 'set' the cheesecake. Email me if you need cheesecake tips!
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sheryl 4/19/09 2:32 PM