Chocolate & Caramel Cupcakes - We Should Cocoa 3

Here we go, cupcakes yet again! Am I developing a cupcake theme for We Should Cocoa, I wonder?  It's practicality that does it this time.  I am due to take in some cakes to work for Children in Need and cupcakes are the easiest to transport on the trek there - by train and foot.  They are also easier for people to eat at their desks.

It's the third We Should Cocoa challenge and Chele has chosen caramel for November.  When I found out, I was excited but also rather nervous, a definite challenge for me this time.  First, what exactly is meant by caramel? Well it seems virtually anything goes:  boiled sugar on its own or a combination of boiled sugar with water and maybe added butter or cream - hum? Last time I attempted making caramel for this chocolate and caramel salted tart, I burnt it and it tasted horribly bitter. I didn't want to make that mistake again. This recipe for salted caramel buttercream I adapted from Fiona Cairns's Bake & Decorate and the cake recipe I adapted from here.

This is what I did:

• Dissolved 7oz vanilla sugar (could use granulated sugar and add 1 tsp vanilla extract later) in 100ml water.
• Brought to the boil and "watched like a hawk", as advised by Fiona Cairns for a while and then got a bit bored as took a lot longer to caramelise than "a few minutes".  Luckily, I did catch it this time before it burnt
• Poured in 184ml double cream.  It all went very lumpy at this point, but I stirred and stirred and eventually all became smooth.
• Stirred in 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan rock salt.

• Creamed 5oz unsalted butter with 4oz light muscovado sugar
• Beat in half the caramel.
• Broke in two duck eggs (large hens eggs are fine) and beat well.
• Sifted in 4oz flour (1/2 wholemeal, 1/2 white), 1oz of cocoa, 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of bicarb of soda.
• Spooned into 12 cupcake cases and bake at 180C for 20 minutes.

• Creamed 3oz salted butter with 4oz icing sugar until my arm was sore and the mixture was very light and fluffy.
• Beat in the remaining caramel.
• Spread on top of the cooled cupcakes.
• Licked the bowl clean - reckoned it was the best buttercream I've yet made.

Hoorah, the caramel worked  - what a relief. The photos don't really do these justice - grey days and dark nights don't do a lot for my photography skills. I know I was making these for work, but I had to try one for quality control purposes and then CT had to try one following a hard day at work. The buttercream was delicious, sweet and caramely and was really lifted by the salt.  I'm not normally a great fan of buttercream, but this was exceptionally good.  The cake was rich with cocoa and not too sweet so made a good foil for the topping.  Both cake and buttercream were delicious in their own right, but together they were more than the sum of their own parts.