Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes is the perfect spooky recipe for a Halloween table or use a chocolate icing and serve any day!
I recently joined in on the fun at the Secret Recipe Club. It’s a great way to find a new blog or get the chance to make a recipe from one you already know and love. I was assigned to Indulge Bakery and quickly realized that I want to be Corrine’s neighbor. Or best friend. Or just a really good acquaintance so she’ll bring me sweet treats. I changed up her recipe only slightly in that I used black buttercream frosting to make these cupcakes scary for my kids today for Halloween. I hope you take the opportunity to go check out Corrine’s super sugary sweet site. You won’t be disappointed, unless you’re allergic to sugar!
Ingredients in Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder or Dark Chocolate cocoa powder
- Granulated sugar
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Vegetable oil
- Vanilla extract
- Warm water
- Light corn syrup
- Heavy whipping cream
- Sea salt
More cake and cupcake recipes
- Classic Vanilla Cake
- Pumpkin Apple Cake
- Butternut Squash Cake
- Pineapple Mango Upside Down Cake
- Chocolate Port Wine Sheet Cake
- Crab Cakes
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder , or Dark Chocolate cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup warm water
Salted Caramel Filling
- 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 tbsp light corn syrup
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 ½ tsp sea salt, preferably fleur de sel
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line mini muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add eggs, buttermilk, oil, extract, and the water; beat until smooth and combined.
- Spoon the batter into liners about two-thirds full. Bake approximately 15 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Transfer tins to wire racks and allow to cool for 10 minutes; turn cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 1 month in airtight containers.
- To finish, use a paring knife to cut a cone-shaped piece (about 1/2 inch deep) from the center of each cupcake and throw away the pieces (or eat them). Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons warm Salted Caramel Filling into each hollowed-out cupcake. You will notice the caramel will sink into the cupcake a little, just fill it up a bit more. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over filling.
- Use a pastry bag with a medium open-star tip and pipe Dark Chocolate Frosting onto each cupcake, swirling tip and releasing as you pull up to form a peak. Garnish each cupcake with a pinch of sea salt. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are filled and frosted. Store at room temperature in airtight containers – do NOT refrigerate.
Filling
- Heat sugar with the water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan over high, stirring occasionally, until syrup is clear; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan and stop stirring.
- Cook until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush as needed. Boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is caramelized and just reaches 360°F. Remove from heat and slowly pour in cream; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in sea salt.
- Use immediately; if caramel begins to harden reheat gently until pourable.
- Icing
- Use your favorite buttercream frosting tinted with black food coloring.
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Nutrition
*Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Hi! I’m Heather
I’m Heather, a recipe developer and content creator based in Vancouver, Washington. I started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006 because I believed weeknight dinners shouldn’t be boring and gourmet shouldn’t mean complicated. I’m also the co-founder of Spiceology, so safe to say I think about food for a living. Stick around for recipes that actually make it into your regular rotation.
I really love this recipe and hope you will too!
oh my gosh these are the cutest and best cupcakes ever!! If I saw these before Halloween, I would have made these in a heartbeat! I will definitely make these next year, or even for Thanksgiving! Thank you!
How cute for Halloween!! Sounds like a great tasting cupcake too.
Perfect for Halloween!!! Welcome to SRC!
Wow how cute are these?! They look absolutely delicious too, what a great choice for SRC! Love your blog, so glad to be a new follower! xoxo
Such fun holiday cupcakes!
I’m from group B and just thought I would pop on by. What a yummy combination! Great photos!
super cute!!
Yum yum! I love chocolate with salted caramel and I love your cupcakes! The spider holders are just too cute.
Delicious, spooky and perfect for halloween!
These are probably the first spiders I really like. They are even smiling !
ok, question for you, how did you get your frosting so black? I use the gel coloring and practically use half the bottle and it’s still gray
Aren’t these amazing?? Glad you enjoyed them, I love how cute yours are! Did you make the cupcake wrappers? Too cute!
this is such a great recipe to post on halloween!!! awesome
Yummy!
So darn cute!!! Plus, anything that combines dark chocolate and salted caramel is going to be AMAZING.
I’m from Group C but I’m an honorary Group D member this week, welcome to SRC. Your cupcakes look darling, in a scary way. I adore salted caramel…add chocolate, to die for!
I think that putting the words chocolate, salted, and caramel together mean that these have to be fantastic! Cute spiders, too.
These turned out fantastic and very scary! What a fun first month at SRC,isn’t it? These cupcakes sound divine.
Cute and yum! I just need to know where you got those cupcake liners. 😉
Those are so ridiculously cute! Good job with decorating them!
Super cute and perfect for today! Glad your joined SRC. It’s fun! 🙂
How cute are those! Perfect for Halloween!
oh me oh my….I will be making these! This week! Thanks so much.