Whiskey Caramel Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes, topped with soul warming whiskey caramel buttercream. The perfect surprise for your partner this valentines day.

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Prep Time 2

Total Time 1

Course Dessert

Servings cupcakes

110 ml Milk (just under 1/2 a cup)
5 ml White Wine Vinegar (1 teaspoon)
110 grams All Purpose Flour (1 cup)
30 grams Cocoa Powder (1/3 cup)
1 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoons Salt
175 grams Caster Sugar (fine granulated sugar) (3/4 cups)
60 ml Vegetable Oil (1/4 cup)
1 whole Egg
1 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
120 ml Hot Instant Coffee (1 teaspoon of instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water) see notes

Cut butter into small cubes and set aside.
Place sugar in a heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Stir with a spatula or whisk until the sugar melts and turns a light amber color.
Once sugar has completely melted and darkened, quickly add butter and whisk vigorously. The sugar will bubble furiously when the butter is added, so be very careful. Continue to whisk until the sugar and butter combine.
Continue to stir the butter/sugar mixture over medium heat for 1 minute.
While stirring, slowly pour in the cream. Once again the mixture will bubble, so be very careful.
Next stir in the whiskey.
Once the whiskey has been added allow the caramel to gently boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and add the salt.
Transfer to a heatproof container and allow it to cool completely. Cover and store in the fridge.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Combine milk and white wine vinegar in a jug and set aside to thicken.
Next, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, sugar & salt into a bowl and stir with a whisk to combine.
In a second bowl, add oil, eggs, thickened milk & vanilla extract. Mix together using either a whisk, an electric handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir together, then add the coffee.
Spoon the batter into your prepared cupcake liners and bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through (see notes).
Once baked, allow the cupcakes to cool in the muffin tin for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Optional step: Once cool use a knife to cut a hole in the center of each cupcake. Then carefully spoon some whiskey caramel into this hole.

Put egg whites and icing sugar in a bowl. Using either an electric handheld mixer, or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the egg whites and sugar on high for about 5-6 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
Next add the butter, gradually piece by piece while the mixer is running. Allow each piece of butter to be incorporated before adding the next. See notes for troubleshooting this step.
Mix in the salt, vanilla extract and 3-4 tablespoons of whiskey caramel. Be careful when adding the caramel, if you add too much you risk destabilizing the buttercream and it may become difficult to pipe.
Optional step. To create the same two tone effect I have, divide the buttercream into 2 bowls and stir 50 grams of melted chocolate into one batch of buttercream.
Transfer buttercream to a piping bag fitted with an "open star" piping tip.
Optional step. To achieve the same bi-tonal look as this blog, fill one side of the bag with chocolate buttercream and the other side of the bag with the whiskey caramel.
Pipe buttercream onto cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles. See the information in my blog post on how to make these cute chocolate heart decorations.
Store cupcakes in the fridge.

Substitutions

Coffee: For those conscious of caffeine intake, instant coffee can be substituted with decaf coffee or plain boiling water.
Meringue Buttercream: For those who cannot consume raw egg whites I recommend substituting the meringue buttercream for ermine buttercream. Please see the blog for further information.

Troubleshooting

Baking times: all ovens are different. To guarantee your cupcakes come out just as perfect as mine, I always recommend using baking temperatures and timings as a guide only. For best results rotate the muffin tins halfway through baking and test the cupcakes using a toothpick at the 15 minute mark. To test how cooked the cupcakes are insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake. The cupcakes are cooked if the skewer appears clean when it is removed from the cupcake. Adjust the baking time accordingly based on how cooked the cupcakes appear at this point.
Buttercream: If the buttercream consistency looks curdled after the butter has been added, it is because the butter was too cold when it was added to the buttercream. To fix it, remove about 1/3 cup of buttercream and put in the microwave for 10 seconds (until just melted). Add back into the the remaining buttercream and use electric mixer until light and fluffy. If the consistency is too soft, it is because the butter has become too warm. To fix it, put the entire bowl in the fridge for 20 mins to allow the buttercream to firm up, then re whip it with the electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Tried this recipe?Mention @Kylies_cakes_ or tag #theniftybaker!