Chocolate cupcake with caramel frosting topped with chopped chocolates

Haven't updated for a few days cos I've been out and about, getting some new furniture and new kitchen utensils (yays!). This is my first attempt at cupcakes, and I am really happy with the results. If I can do it as a first timer, so can u! :)

I adapted from two different recipes, cos I wanted a chocolate cupcake (whose recipe had buttercream frosting), and I couldn't resist the caramel frosting from another recipe. I was really in a dilemma deciding between buttercream and that, but I wanted a very stiff frosting, like icing, so I went with this. LOVED IT. I loved how the icing gives a cooling sensation when it hits your tongue. I baked a batch of 12 for my friends and they enjoyed every last bite so yays! :)

Just to note, what is not found in the recipes is the extra chocolate topped on the frosting. I just chopped some of my favorite chocolate bars up (fun sized ones!), which in this case were snickers, nestle crunch and reese's. I halved the nestle crunch, quartered the reese's and chopped the snickers up into bits. who doesn't like a nice "cherry" on top!

Another alternative, which I wanna try next time, is dusting some sea salt in the caramel. LOVE the combi of sea salt and caramel! :)

You can smell the cocoa even before baking.

love watching these cute cupcakes rise

Time to start piping!

 Tip: I just used a regular zip-lock bag, snipped a little hole at the corner and piped from there! Be sure to cut a really small hole, and adjust from there, cos, u know, u can't really do it the other way around heh.

All piped up! But something's missing!

Candy! YUMS.

Chocolate Cupcake (from For the Love of Cooking)
(makes 12 regular sized cupcakes)

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners.

Sift together the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Add the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla then beat together with a mixer until combined.

Scrape the sides of the bowl then add the boiling water and mix until just combined. The batter will be very watery so don't be alarmed. Pour the batter into a measuring cup (it's so much easier and cleaner than using a spoon) and pour evenly into each liner. Place into the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before frosting.

Caramel Frosting (adapted from Sugar Duchess)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (1/2 lb) powdered sugar

Melt the butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Stir in the salt and brown sugar and heat the mixture to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, until the sugar is totally dissolved. Stir in the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and cool to lukewarm (30-40 minutes) stirring occasionally. Stir in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Adjust consistency with a little more milk, if necessary. You know you have the right consistency when it is not too difficult to pipe the frosting out, neither is it so watery it is dripping all over the place. From my experience, even though I like mine to be a little stiffer, I had to add about 1 to 2 more tablespoons of milk after adding all the powdered sugar. But do adjust accordingly!

Wait until the cupcakes are completely cool to frost them. Tweet