Moist Salted CarmelFilled Chocolate Cupcakes

Sweet meets salty in these simple and moist Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes! Everything from the decadent one-bowl chocolate cupcakes to the intensely salted caramel sauce infused vanilla buttercream is utter indulgence in these cupcakes.

Hey team! I get asked what my favorite dessert is a lot. As much as it’s a ridiculous thing to ask, I do have an answer. Well, two. My all-time favorite dessert is my Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. These Chocolate cupcakes, filled with my Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce come in at a very close second. It’s all about that salty caramel sauce, which is infused into every morsel of these glorious cupcakes.

Judy ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Awesome recipe, I will make the mini cupcakes. Perfect recipe!

They’re so yum. It all starts with my super moist and delicious Chocolate Cupcakes, the ultimate chocolate lover’s dream and so easy to make. They’re filled with my silky smooth salted caramel sauce, which also makes its way into the swirl of Vanilla Buttercream Frosting on top. Finally, they’re drizzled with more salted caramel sauce and sprinkled with sea salt for the perfect sweet and salty finish.

There’s no shortage of amazing cupcake recipes on the blog. I’m kind of known for my cupcakes, so you should check out my homemade cupcakes recipe collection. One of my favorites is the Caramel Vanilla Espresso Cupcakes. They’re packed with caramel and have a good kick of caffeine.

Let’s count how many times I use the word ‘moist’ in my post. So far it’s 3!

Let’s talk Salted Caramel Sauce!

Salted caramel sauce is a luscious blend of simple ingredients, butter, sugar, cream and a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness. It’s rich, buttery and perfectly golden with a deep caramelized flavor that’s sweet and salty.

The best part is that it’s easy to make at home. I’ve got a full breakdown on the blog with all my tips and tricks to help you get the sauce to it’s perfect golden color every time!

How to make caramel sauce (quick rundown)

• Bring water, glucose syrup and sugar to a boil.
• Allow to bubble away until deeply golden in color, like maple syrup.
• Add the butter, salt and cream and stir slowly.
• Allow to cool!

All the ways caramel is used in these cupcakes!

• Inside the cupcake – I use an apple corer to core out some of the cupcake (snack on the insides!), then fill it with warm caramel sauce which seeps into the sponge and creates a gooey experience.
• Infused in the frosting – I add a good drizzle of it into my vanilla buttercream, give it a stir and you’ve got easy and caramel infused frosting which I pipe on top of the cupcakes.
• Drizzled on top – once you’ve frosted the cupcakes, you add the sauce to a squeeze bottle, or just drizzle it on using a spoon before adding some sea salt flakes.

My secret to ultra-moist chocolate cupcakes!

Boiling water is the secret weapon here. It helps make these cupcakes incredibly moist and intensely chocolatey. Here’s why it works:

• Moist levels – Adding boiling water as the last step of the batter making process loosens the batter, creating a smooth consistency that allows the ingredients to blend more evenly. This not only ensures the cupcakes bake up nice and tender and soft, but it helps lock in moisturize as they bake so they don’t dry out once they’re baked. In fact, these are even more moist the next day, and the day after that!
• Intense chocolate flavor – The heat from the boiling water activates the cocoa powder, dissolving it fully which releases its deep rich flavor. The result is a more bold and intense chocolate punch in every bite. It works like magic!

BONUS Added moist maker – Yes, I’m saying it again. The caramel sauce inside seeps into the cake, adding moisture and creating an incredible texture, almost like sticky date pudding.

The Ingredients You’ll Need

• All-purpose flour – Also known as plain flour.
• Sugar – I used caster sugar, also known as superfine sugar. It dissolves a little better in the batter than granulated sugar. Although, at a pinch, you can use granulated sugar instead.
• Cocoa powder – I used Dutch processed cocoa powder for a rich chocolate flavor it gives these cupcakes. You can use other cocoa powder if you like.
• Baking powder & Bicarb soda – Helps give the cupcakes a boost in the oven so they come out nice and fluffy.
• Salt – I use fine sea salt.
• Butter – I used unsalted butter. Give it a couple minutes to cool before using it.
• Vegetable oil – you can use canola oil in it’s place.
• Eggs – Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before using.
• Buttermilk I stick to store-bought buttermilk because it delivers the best results. It gives these cupcakes that perfect dense-yet-light texture. Moist and tender, just how you want them. If you’re out of buttermilk, whole milk works as a substitute, but the texture won’t be quite the same.
• Boiling water – I like to boil the kettle as soon as I start mixing the batter so it’s nice and hot. It’s the best way to get it to do its magic.

Step-By-Step Walkthrough

• Combine dry ingredients together in a medium sized mixing bowl
• Add the melted butter, oil, eggs and buttermilk (or milk) and mix until no dry ingredient are showing.

• Add the boiling water and mix until the batter is well combined.
• Use an ice cream scoop to pour the batter into your cupcake liners, filling them up about 3/4 of the way. Bake the cupcakes. You’ll know they’re done baking when you touch the tops and they bounce back instead of sink.

How many cupcakes will the batter make? This batter makes 11-12 cupcakes, depending on the size of your liners. Check the notes for details on the liners I used and remember to fill them about 3/4 full to avoid the batter spilling out of the liners.

• Once the cupcakes are done baking, transfer to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely. Then use an apple corer or small sharp knife to core the center of each cupcake.
• Fill the center of each cupcake with warm salted caramel sauce. That way it seeps into the cake sponge.

To prep your frosting – I added some salted caramel into my Vanilla Buttercream Frosting which is really easy to whip up and pipes beautifully.

• To pipe your cupcakes, fit the end of a piping bag with an open star tip and fill the bag with frosting just above halfway. Twist the end and pipe tall or short swirls on top of each cupcake.
• Drizzle with salted caramel sauce and sprinkle with sea salt flakes before serving.

Tips & Tricks For Recipe Success!

• Measure out using kitchen scales – Measuring out your ingredients by weight and not cups is the best way to get consistent results every time. I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales to measure out ingredients!
• Don’t overmix! – Mix the wet ingredients only until no dry ingredients are showing. That way there’s no risk of overmixing.
• When coring the center of your cupcakes, don’t go all the way to the bottom otherwise the sauce will seep out the bottom of your cupcakes.

How to store your cupcakes

• Before they’re frosted – you can chill them in the fridge or even freeze them by storing in an airtight container. They’ll be ok in the fridge for 3 days, in the freezer for 3 weeks! Thaw to room temperature before frosting.
• Frosted cupcakes – your frosted and filled cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

What is this recipe in grams and not cups?

The short answer is accuracy! It is far easier, more accurate and you get more consistency results when you measure ingredients by weight, especially in dessert and bread baking! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!

Tried this recipe and loved it? Awesome! Drop me a comment below and tell me about it! Can’t wait to hear how it turned out for you! You can also keep up to date with me during the week by joining me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest!

Moist Salted Carmel-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

This Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes recipe delivers rich, moist cupcakes topped with creamy caramel frosting. Perfect for indulgent dessert lovers.

Serves 12

4.6 from 22 votes

Author: Nick Makrides

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 45 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 633kcal

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Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

• ▢ 185 g all-purpose flour
• ▢ 220 g caster sugar
• ▢ 50 g cocoa powder
• ▢ 1/4 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp bicarb soda, baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 tsp fine salt
• ▢ 60 g unsalted butter, melted.
• ▢ 80 g vegetable oil, or canola
• ▢ 2 large eggs, at room temperature (55g each)
• ▢ 185 g buttermilk, (see notes)
• ▢ 60 g boiling water

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

• ▢ 500 g unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 30 g heavy cream, cold (see notes)
• ▢ 300 g powdered sugar

Decorations

• ▢ 1 batch salted caramel sauce, cooled (see notes)
• ▢ Sea salt flakes to sprinkle

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Learn How To Make it! [VIDEO]

https://youtu.be/_wT1P4RoCyo

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Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes

• Preheat a fan-forced oven to 130C / 265F (150C / 300F for no fan). Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners. More details on cupcake liners in the notes.
• Combine dry ingredients – Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, bicarb soda, baking powder and salt to a medium sized mixing bowl and sieve. Then mix with a whisk.
• Add wet ingredients – Add the butter, oil, eggs and buttermilk to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined and no dry ingredients are showing. Take care not to overmix the batter.
• Add boiling water – Lastly, pour in the boiling water and mix. The batter will darken and thin out.
• Bake – Scoop the batter into the cupcakes filling them up 3/4 of the way. Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one cupcake (one of the middle cupcakes) comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.

Salted Caramel Buttercream frosting

• Cream butter – Add your softened butter, salt and vanilla extract to a large bowl. If using a stand mixer fit it with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy.
• Add sugar – Scrape down the bowl and add all of the sifted powdered sugar and begin beating on low speed. When no dry ingredients are showing, turn the speed up to high speed and beat for 10 minutes.
• Add salted caramel – Add 100g salted caramel sauce and whip on medium high speed until well combined. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape down the bowl, beat for a final 1 minute.

How to make it smooth

• Add the warm milk – beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. Do not add the milk if it’s a warm day or if you need the frosting to be stiffer.
• Add half of the frosting into a heatproof bowl and microwave for 10 seconds – or until jiggly (not melted) in the center. Add to the rest of the frosting and beat on medium speed for a couple minutes.
• Right before using or adding to a piping bag – use a spatula to beat the air out of the frosting until smooth. Alternatively, you can leave in the mixer on low speed until ready to use, up to 10 minutes. Don’t overmix on low speed otherwise the frosting will begin to melt and split.
• Finish decorating – Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with an open star tip and drizzle with salted caramel sauce. Then sprinkle with sea salt flakes to finish.

Notes

Storage

Cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.

Making mini cupcakes

If you wish to make mini cupcakes you can get 24 mini cupcakes out of this recipe but you’ll need to have the baking time.

Caramel Buttercream

Before you begin, it’s really important to make sure the butter is soft enough. Some people keep their butter out of the fridge, others chill it. Even if you keep it out, it may not be soft enough. You want your butter to be soft enough so that when you stick your finger in it, it glides in, but not without a little bit of resistance. The best way to get it too that softness is to place your butter on a microwave safe plate, microwave for 10 seconds at a time, testing the softness each time. If it needs longer than 10 seconds, turn the butter over and repeat until it’s ready.

Nutrition

Calories : 633kcal

Carbonhydrates: 64g

Protein: 4g

Fat: 36g

Saturated Fat: 23g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g

Monounsaturated Fat : 9g

Trans Fat : 1g

Cholesterol: 121mg

Sodium: 266mg

Potassium : 141mg

Fiber: 1g

Sugar : 33g

Vitamin A: 1153IU

Vitamin C: 1mg

Calcium: 54mg

Iron: 1mg

Nutrition Disclosure

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Moist count: 14. They’re moist folks!