Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
Moist dark chocolate cupcakes with a decadent salted caramel cream cheese frosting!
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time15 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Chocolate Cupcakes, Cupcake Recipe, Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
Servings: 32 Mini Cupcakes
Calories: 194kcal
For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup strong black coffee
- 1/2 cup flavorless oil
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
For the Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 stick butter room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup caramel sauce
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a mini cupcake pan with paper wrappers and set aside. I used a 2 1/4" cupcake pan from Ikea. This recipe makes approximately 32 mini cupcakes, so you may have to work in batches.
In a large bowl, whisk together the white granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, coffee, oil, almond extract, and vanilla extract and mix with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined.
Stir in the sour cream.
Fill each cupcake wrapper 3/4 full with batter and bake 15 minutes.
Allow to cool before frosting.
For the Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, mix together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, caramel sauce, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth.
Add the frosting to a piping bag or a resealable plastic bag with a corner snipped off. Pipe the frosting on to the cooled cupcakes.
For a dark chocolate bundt cake, butter the inside of a bundt cake pan, add the batter, bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean, cool 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make homemade caramel sauce: add 1 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup water (or enough to moisten the sugar) to a sauce pan and cook over medium heat, without stirring, until a golden brown syrup forms. Turn off the heat and stir in 3/4 cup heavy cream and 2 Tbsp butter.
Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 213mg | Potassium: 104mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 137IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg