These cupcakes so are rich and decadent, it’s ridiculous! Make sure you eat them with a fork, or have a napkin or two handy… or both. And, to give credit where credit is due, the cake portion of this recipe comes from Self Proclaimed Foodie with just a few tiny little tweaks — including turning it up to eleven with the filling, frosting, and such.
Ingredients
Cupcake
- 1/2 cup Hot Coffee
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup White Sugar
- 1 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Whole Milk
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Filling
- 1/2 Package Caramel Squares
- 3 tbsp. Whipping Cream
Frosting
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans (for garnish)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cupcake liners. (I like to make only 11, so they’re HUGE, but that’s just me.)
- Combine coffee and cocoa. Mix well to dissolve and set aside.
- In bowl of stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg.
- Add milk, oil, and vanilla to egg. Mix well to combine.
- Add about half of the milk mixture to the flour and mix on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Combine the chocolate mixture with the remaining milk mixture and add to the batter.
- Mix combined batter on medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl intermittently to ensure it is well combined.
- Distribute batter evenly into muffin cups.
- Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees without opening the oven door. Continue cooking at lower temperature for an additional 14-16 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and transfer cupcakes to a baking rack as soon as they’re cool enough to be touched.
- When cupcakes are cooled, core them and enjoy the treat of eating cupcake middles while you make the filling.
- Place caramels and whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes.
- Blend together until completely combined and smooth.
- Pipe most of the warm caramel into the cored cupcakes. (Save a couple of tablespoons.)
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, whip butter until fluffy.
- Add cocoa and vanilla and whip until combined.
- Gradually add powdered sugar, and whip until it reaches a stiff consistency, suitable for piping.
- Pipe frosting on top of the cupcakes. (Don’t overdo it. This is already a very rich dessert and too much frosting on a cupcake is a major faux pas in my book.)
- Using a small tip, pipe the remaining caramel on top of the frosting.
- Sprinkle each cupcake with a few chopped nuts while the frosting and caramel are still soft.