Salty Carmel Cupcakes

I was in the mood to bake today and have been wanting to try these, so today was the day!

They are a delicious carmel cake filled with homemade buttery salted caramel and topped with a salted buttercream frosting. Salty sweet!

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
1/2 c. butter
1 c. plus 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake tins paper cups. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Cream butter, brown sugar and vanilla on medium-high until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of heavy cream, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake for about 25 minutes. When done, transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Salted Caramel Filling:
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbl. salted butter
1/4 c. plus 1 tbsp. heavy cream, at room temperature

Melt the sugar over medium high heat in a large pot. Whisk the sugar as it melts, until it becomes an amber color. I love the smell of melting sugar! Have the butter already opened and set aside to add when necessary. Add the butter and stir it in until melted. Pour in the heavy cream and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool.

Cut a small round cone-like shapes out of each cupcake and add about 1 teaspoon of carmel. Replace the cake piece and set cupcakes aside.

Salted Carmel Buttercream Frosting:
1/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. water
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. salted butter
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

In a saucepan, stir together sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook without stirring until mixture turns an amber color. Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Let carmel cool, about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.

In mixer, beat butter and salt together. Reduce speed and add powdered sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel. Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes). Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration. If your carmel was too warm when added, it will cause icing to be too thin; refrigerate for 10-20 minutes.

Top caramel-filled cupcakes with frosting. I added a sprinkle of coarse sugar crystals to the tops of mine for a fun look.