Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel & Dark Chocolate Sour Cream Icing

Little cupcake soldiers as far as the eye can see..

You know, I've been doing this blog for over a month and there are no recipes for cakes on here! This blog is called Cassie CAKES! Where are all the cakes? Here. They're right here.



Oh man. What I would give for this cupcake right now...


These cupcakes are off the hook. When Mr. Cakes ate one he went "Mmm they're good!" and I went "Good? Good?! They're not good! They're life changing!". And...they are. Are you ready for this? You're life will never be the same. You might look the same but on the inside...you're different. You'll try other cupcakes and even enjoy them. But these dark little cocoa cakes will be at the back of your mind, calling to you, tempting you, lingering. Have I hyped these enough? THEY'RE REALLY FREAKING GOOD! I would have sworn there but I don't have enough readers yet to offend anyone. But trust me. They're worth the cussing.


See how that pack of chocolate is open? And half is gone? Mr. Cakes handiwork.

These cupcakes have cocoa and melted chocolate and a little coffee in them. They have butter and oil AND sour cream. Do you know what this all means? Levels of flavours. Levels of chocolate. Depth. Moisture.


This is the texture of the butter and sugar.

To make these cupcakes, cream the sugar and butter. Don't be concerned about the small amount of butter, there are more fats coming. That sounds a little gross but it's a good thing. Anyway, the ratio of butter to sugar is a little lower than you usually find in most cupcake recipes because of the other types of fats in them. This means the sugar and butter won't cream like they usually do. The mix will look like wet sand, rather than fluffy and pale.


Step 1. Melt chocolate. Step 2. Insert face into chocolate. Step 3. Inhale.

Then comes the silky, dark chocolate. Buzz it in the microwave in 30 second lots until there are a few lumps of chocolate left then stir until it's all melted and smooth. Add that in and watch the creamy yellow succumb to the cocoa bean.


Oh, you may stray, but you'll always return to your dark master... The cocoa bean!

This mix will still look grainy until the eggs get mixed in. Now things start to get interesting. The texture is getting smooth and everyone's starting to get along real nice.


Now the party is starting...

Then comes the additional fats, the sour cream and oil as well as the vanilla. Beat these all together and you're getting a finger licking good batter!


Am I the only one that gets excited by ingredients and photos like this? It's exciting!

Sift together the dry ingredients, add them to the wet and you've got your batter! I like to weigh out each cupcake to 50g, give or take 2 grams. This ensures a nice full cupcake that doesn't sit too low or spill over.


So that's around 50g and what 2/3 full looks like. A big dollop.

Once your cupcakes are in the oven, start on the luscious frosting and the salted caramel. For detailed instructions on the caramel, check out my post on Salted Caramel Éclairs. Otherwise, let's head deeper into flavour country.


Little babies ready to go into the oven! Also, smooth the top of the cupcakes out with the back of a teaspoon for nice even rising of the cake.

I was searching for an adult frosting for these cupcakes that wasn't too sweet and since I had the sour cream for the cupcakes already, I thought I would use it for extra tang.


And the little babies fresh out of the oven!

I used dark chocolate in this frosting for a darker, stronger cocoa flavour and to cut back on the sweetness. Chocolate is the star with these cupcakes.


I thought this was quite an interesting photo of butter. Isn't butter amazing? Not even joking, butter is amazing.

The buttercream is straight forward, melt the chocolate then cream the sugar and butter. Once the chocolate is cool, add to the butter along with the sour cream. Sift the cocoa in and beat til it's all smooth and delicious and amazing. I could eat it with a spoon. And maybe I did. Don't judge me!


Yum. Silky, smooth and oh so chocolaty.

Once the cupcakes and the caramel are cool, scoop out lumps of cupcake and then add a generous teaspoon of the caramel inside.


Cupcake perfection.

Replace the cupcake cap and add a generous swirl of frosting. I used a Wilton #1M tip. And I put a Columbine on top to finish it off! These will last 3 days in an airtight container but good luck keeping them that long.


Mmmmmm...

They're the best.

Get in mah belleh!

And here are some more picture, just in case you're not convinced yet.

Mmmm delicious...

 


 

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from The Cupcake Project

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 16 mins

Total time:  36 mins

 

Servings: 18 cupcakes 

 
70g butter, room temperature

200g caster sugar

100g dark chocolate

2 large free range eggs, room temperature

2 large free range egg yolks, room temperature

110ml vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

80g full-fat sour cream

150g all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

60g cocoa

1/2 cup room temperature black coffee 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Beat butter and sugar until combined. The batter will be grainy in texture, not light and fluffy.
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval.  
4. Once the melted chocolate is cool, add to the butter mixture gradually with the mixer on slow.
5. Lightly beat the yolks and eggs together and mix into the batter until just combined.
6. Mix in oil, vanilla, and sour cream until just combined.
7. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a separate medium-sized bowl and add to the wet ingredients in three lots.
8. Mix in coffee, slowly as to not splash until just combined.
9.  Fill each cupcake liner to about 50g or until 2/3 full.
10.  Bake for 16 minutes or until a wooden skewer or toothpick comes out clean. 
11.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 3 mins

Total time:  13 mins

 

Servings: Enough to frost 18 cupcakes 

 

220g dark chocolate, finely chopped120g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups icing sugar, sifted1/4 cup cocoa
2/3 cup sour cream

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval.  
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and lighter in colour.
3. Sift the cocoa into the butter mix and add sour cream. 
4. Beat until well combined.

Salted Caramel Filling

½ cup (115g) caster sugar
½ cup (115g) brown sugar
90g salted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
½ cup (125ml) double cream, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon fleur de sel plus extra

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
Total time:  25 mins

Servings: 1.5 cups

1. Add sugars to a heavy bottomed sauce pan, stirring occasionally, until the sugars melt and becomes smooth.
2. Add the butter and whisk until the butter is melted and stirred through.
3. Remove from the heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream.
4. Return to the heat and allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute.
5. Remove from heat and stir in salt.
6. Allow to cool down before using.