Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Name: Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 175 g Butter or baking spread; 175 g Light brown sugar; 3 Eggs (large); 1 tsp Vanilla extract; 175 g Self raising flour; 200 g Butter; 400 g Icing sugar; 2 tsp Salted caramel flavouring (I used Tesco's (see recipe notes if you can't find this ingredient)); 1 tbsp Milk; 200 g Salted caramel sauce (good quality shop bought or homemade); 75 g Salted caramel fudge (optional, chopped up)

22/06/2018 by thebakingexplorer 40 Comments

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I'm a bit obsessed with salted caramel at the moment... ever since I made my Salted Caramel Cheesecake I've been wanting to making something else with the same flavour. So I came up with these Salted Caramel Cupcakes - I've put light brown sugar in the sponge to give it a caramel flavour, the buttercream has a salted caramel flavouring in it, then they're filled with salted caramel sauce, topped with a bit more of the sauce and also some salted caramel fudge! They are a salted caramel explosion!

The photos for this post were updated in December 2020. The recipe has been very slightly amended.

How to make Salted Caramel Cupcakes

To make the sponge, mix together the butter and light brown sugar, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Then add the self raising flour and whisk until smooth.

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases, and bake them for 25 minutes until golden.

Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, use a cupcake corer or a knife to make a hole in the centre and fill it with salted caramel sauce. Make the buttercream by mixing butter, icing sugar and a salted caramel flavouring extract (or you can use caramel sauce). Pipe it onto the cupcakes, then add some chopped up salted caramel fudge and more salted caramel sauce.

What caramel sauce is best to use?

My favourite caramel sauce to use is my Homemade Caramel Sauce, it's rich, smooth and absolutely divine! You can also easily add salt to it to make it into a salted caramel sauce. If you don't want to make your own, it's quite easy nowadays to find a good quality ready made caramel (or salted caramel) sauce in the shops or online. I have used Tesco's Finest, Bonn Maman and Carnation Caramel in the past with great results.

How long do the Salted Caramel Cupcakes keep for and can they be frozen?

The cupcakes will keep in an airtight container for 3 days in a cool place. You can freeze the sponges either alone, or decorated (but do not freeze the Kinder Bueno pieces or sprinkles). Once the sponges are fully cool, wrap them well with cling film or put them in an airtight container. You can freeze the buttercream on it’s own in a tub, or you can decorate the cupcakes and freeze them assembled.

To do this and avoid damage to the decoration, freeze them in an airtight container. Or let them freeze solid on a board or plate, then wrap in cling film. Remove the cling film when you take them out to defrost it, if you don’t it could damage the decoration as it defrosts and softens.

Can you make the fudge for the topping?

You can use a shop bought salted caramel fudge to top the cupcakes (Tesco do a really yummy one), or you can make your own. You might like to try my recipe for Salted Caramel Fudge.

Can this recipe be made into a large cake?

Yes! Check out my Salted Caramel Cake recipe for the ingredients and instructions.

More tips for making the Salted Caramel Cupcakes:

The piping nozzle I used for these was Ateco 829, however you can use any nozzle you like to pipe the buttercream on.
You could also decorate them with sprinkles, or those little fudge pieces you can get in the baking aisle.
If you can't find caramel extract for the buttercream, check the recipe notes for another option using caramel sauce to flavour it.

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