A Salted Caramel Icing

Caramel intimidates me, plain and simple. It always has. I have many childhood memories of watching my parents work together to make Mom's much loved caramel icing that tops a hot milk sheet cake. The whole process is nerve wracking to even watch let alone participate in because so many things can go wrong--the sugar can burn or the caramel can get grainy if not poured and spread quickly enough. The icing alone takes a few hours, lots of patience, teamwork, and perfect timing, and these are the reasons that I have never attempted mom's caramel cake on my own.

So when Mom suggested that I make a caramel icing to top chocolate cupcakes for our English Graduate Organization bake sale, I thought to myself, "Well, that's not going to happen." But Mom reassured me that she had a different caramel icing recipe from her Aunt Harriet that would not be as painful or time consuming as her traditional caramel. This recipe is traditionally used to top a prune cake, but it was indeed very simple and worked perfectly for these cupcakes.

To begin, I baked the cupcakes, using my chocolate cupcake recipe and let them cool completely. Then, it was on to the icing.



Salted Caramel Icing
1 stick butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon sea salt or Kosher salt
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons sea salt
1-2 tablespoons raw sugar

In a medium-sized sauce pan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and milk.

Bring these ingredients to a boil, stirring frequently with a whisk. Let the mixture boil for 3 minutes, continuing to stir.

After 3 minutes, add 1/4 teaspoon of the sea or Kosher salt. I used Kosher because it dissolves very quickly. You can also adjust the amount of salt to your liking. I love salted caramel, but I have found that I enjoy more of a subtle salt taste rather than an intense one.

After whisking in the salt, add the whipping cream and continue to whisk. I added the cream to the original recipe to thicken and smooth the icing.

When the cream is incorporated, remove the pan from the heat, and use a handheld mixer to whisk in the powdered sugar a cup at a time. Continue mixing the icing until it is completely smooth and cool enough to spread.

There is a small window of time to ice the cupcakes and sprinkle on the salt/sugar garnish, so I suggest mixing equal parts sea salt and raw sugar in a small bowl before beginning to ice the cupcakes. Like the salt in the caramel, you can alter the ratio of salt to sugar or cut out the sugar entirely according to your salt preference. I used the raw sugar not only to cut the salt but also because I like the way larger, darker grain of the raw sugar looks and tastes.

After spreading the icing on an individual cupcake, immediately sprinkle on the salt/sugar mixture to insure that the sprinkles stick to the icing before it hardens.

Try to ice the cupcakes as quickly as possible to avoid the caramel becoming grainy, but if it does, whisking it quickly over low heat with the handheld mixer will give you a little more time to complete the icing process.


Whether these are for a school bake sale or a fancy party, I promise that these cupcakes won't disappoint any of your friends or their taste buds.

Happy baking!

A Chocolate Cupcake with Peppermint Buttercream

These cupcakes are my new favorite holiday treat, and they're perfect for sharing.

Last Tuesday night in the midst of paper writing season, I came to a point where I couldn't read or write another word about Thoreau or feminist theory. I needed a productive excuse to escape to my kitchen for a few hours. I knew I couldn't call my mother for suggestions because she would have told me that what I really should have been doing was writing not baking, which was the truth, but I've always been a little stubborn. Without my normal mom-sultation, I considered a couple of different holiday treats and possible flavor combinations, and I decided to try my hand at creating cupcakes that combine two of my favorite sweets. I adapted this cupcake recipe from a chocolate cake recipe, changing the butter to oil and tweaking a few small things, and I simply substituted peppermint extract for vanilla in our regular buttercream recipe and added crushed candy canes to the top for taste and decoration.


Chocolate Cupcakes (yield: 24)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2  eggs
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill 24 muffin tins with cupcake papers.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix thoroughly.

Fill cupcake papers in tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick/fork comes out clean from the center of a cupcake.

Remove cupcakes from tins and let them cool completely before frosting.

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons half and half (could substitute milk)
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
crushed candy canes for topping (optional)

I love frosting, but I think a little goes a long way with the sweetness of buttercream. Therefore, this buttercream recipe makes just enough to frost 24 cupcakes by spreading a layer of frosting on each rather than using a piping bag, so if you like to pipe on your icing, I suggest doubling the recipe.

After the butter has softened, cream butter in a mixing bowl until fluffy. I use a handheld mixer when I'm at school, and this takes me a good five minutes of mixing. So if you're using a handheld, don't give up on your butter; just switch hands.

When the butter is fluffy, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, mixing on a low setting to keep from decorating your counter tops with lovely, but sticky sugar. When all 4 cups have been thoroughly incorporated, add the half and half a tablespoon at a time until the consistency is spreadable (or preferred consistency for the method of frosting you desire). Then, add the peppermint extract, mixing thoroughly to incorporate the flavor evenly throughout the frosting.

Frost cupcakes and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of each cupcake.

I took these cupcakes to choir practice the next night as a treat after our last practice before Lessons and Carols, and when we arrived I realized that some of the candy cane color had bled onto the white icing. This did not affect the taste, only the appearance, but because of this color transfer, I suggest that you serve the cupcakes the same day that you make them.Overall, I think the few hours of writing that were sacrificed proved well worth it to my sanity and the taste buds of St. Paul's choir members.

If you try this recipe over the holidays, please drop back by and let me know how it went.

Happy baking and Merry Christmas!