These Salted Caramel Mocha cupcakes were inspired by my new favorite barista creation of the same name. They are absolutely heavenly.
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers.
Combine 1/2 cup of warm, strong coffee, and two teaspoons of instant coffee. Set that aside to cool.
In a bowl, combine 1 1/3 cup of flour, 1/3 of a cup of baking cocoa, a teaspoon of baking powder, half a teaspoon of baking soda, and a quarter teaspoon of salt.
Stir it together, and set it aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 stick (1/2 cup) of room temperature butter, half a cup of sugar, and half a cup of brown sugar. Beat those until fluffy.
Add in one egg, mix until combined.
To your coffee, add 1/2 a cup of whole milk and 1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.
Now you’ll mix in your dry and wet ingredients, half at a time. First mix in half of the coffee mixture, mixing until just combined. Follow that with half of the flour mixture and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Divide the batter into the cups and bake 17-18 minutes, or until the cupcakes test done with a toothpick.
Allow the cupcakes to cool for about 10 minutes and then gently remove them from the pan and cool completely.
Now to prepare the caramel sauce.
Homemade Caramel Sauce is very simple to make. The trick is to have everything ready and waiting for you before you even start. Get ready… 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1/3 cup of butter (cut into pieces), and a teaspoon of vanilla.
This may not look like a great deal of ingredients as far as volume goes, but you want to use at least a 2-quart saucepan to make this in…3-quart would be better. When you add the “waiting” ingredients, it is going to greatly bubble up and you don’t want this to bubble over as it will be VERY HOT.
In your saucepan, combine 1 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water. Stir this with a whisk over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Turn the heat up to fairly high. Then set your whisk aside and don’t use it for now. To “stir” simply swirl the saucepan.
Let this boil and bubble.
This is going to cook for about 7-8 minutes or until it is a rich honey color.
Add in the remaining ingredients, stirring briskly… this is when to watch the bubbling-up action.
Remove it from the heat and stir it until the butter is fully melted and incorporated.
Pour it into a jar and allow it to cool to room temperature.
The caramel sauce must be completely cooled before you can do anything else.
Now for the frosting…
In a chilled mixing bowl, combine a cup of heavy whipping cream…
4 ounces of “Tiramisu Mascarpone” cheese
Half a cup of powdered sugar, a tablespoon of vanilla, and a tablespoon of Kahlua (coffee liquour)
Beat this until fluffy and stiff.
And now for the magic.
Put about a teaspoon of the caramel sauce on the cupcake.
Pile the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
Pour about half a cup of caramel sauce in a zip-lock bag. With scissors, trim off one of the VERY corners of the bag.
Drizzle the sauce over the cupcakes.
Now chill your cupcakes for at least an hour.
When you are ready to serve them, sprinkle the tops with a little pinch of flaked salt.
Enjoy!
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Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1/2 c strong coffee
- 2 teaspoon instant coffee
- 1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
- 1/3 c baking cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/c c butter, unsalted, room temperature
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 c whole milk
- flaked sea salt
For the Frosting
- 1 c heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 1/2 c “Tiramisu” Mascarpone cheese, plain can be used if you can't find the flavored version
- 1 Tb vanilla extract
- 1 Tb coffee liqueur
For the Caramel
- 3/4 c heavy cream
- 1/3 c butter, cut in pieces
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 c water
- 1 1/4 c sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with cupcake papers.
- Combine the coffee and instant coffee, set aside to cool. In a bowl, combine the flour, coca, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In your mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Mix in the egg. To your coffee, add the milk and vanilla.
- Mix half of the coffee mixture to the sugar mixture, mix completely.
- Mix in half of the flour mixture, mix completely. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Scoop into the baking pan.
- Bake 17-18 minutes or until they test done with a toothpick.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove them from the pan and cool completely.
- Prepare the caramel sauce (below), and allow that to cool completely before making the frosting.
Frosting
- Beat all of the ingredients in a chilled bowl until fluffy and firm.
Caramel
- Prepare your cream, butter, and vanilla; have it ready near your cooking space. In a large saucepan (at least 2-quart), combine the water and sugar. Whisk together over medium heat until dissolved. Turn up the heat fairly high and allow to boil until it reaches a golden honey color.
- Do not stir it while it is boiling, just swirl the saucepan as needed. When the sugar syrup is a golden color, add in the remaining ingredients while stirring briskly.
- ***Be careful that it doesn’t cook over!!!***
- Remove from heat and continue to stir until the butter is completely melted and incorporated. Pour into a jar and use as desired. Store extras in a closed jar in your fridge. The sauce will last about 2 weeks.
Prepare the cupcakes.
- Spread about a teaspoon of caramel sauce on the top of the cupcake. Frost the cupcakes with the frosting.
- Place about 1/2 cup of caramel sauce in a ziplock bag.
- Cut off one of the very tips of one of the corners of the bag.
- Drizzle the caramel over the tops of the cupcakes.
- Chill for an hour or more.
- The frosting is whipped cream based, so you want it to "set."
- When ready to serve, sprinkle a pinch of salt on the tops of the cupcakes.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
I have come to the conclusion that I cannot make caramel by mixing water and sugar. Every time I’ve tried I end up with a lump of rock sugar in my pan. I slowly melted it down then added the other ingredients. Success!
I can certainly be tricky, but I think as long as it turns out in the end…however you make it is right ;)
Hi Constance.
I went to my regular grocery store, and guess what they had? Yep, Tiramisu Mascarpone.
I made a couple of changes to the recipe, 1 on purpose, the other by accident.
I read once that we can get the most flavor from cocoa by dissolving it in a hot liquid. I dissolved my cocoa in the hot coffee, but, I brewed the coffee right into the cocoa without measuring, so I don’t think I had enough liquid. The cupcakes were a little dry, but otherwise amazing! I took them to work and everyone loved them.
Thanks again for such a yummy recipe.
p.s. I’m going to try making a Pumpkin Spice Latte cupcake using the bottle of Pumpkin Kahlua that my daughter brought home for me. I’ll let you know how it turns out. :)
I’m glad they turned out. Now I am craving them! LOL
Pumpkin Kahlua!!!??? Sounds yummy!
Hi Constance.
Thanks for this amazing recipe.
I’m all the way on the other side of the country and I’ve never heard of Tiramisu Mascarpone. Do you think it might be something unique to your part of the nation? Do you have a recommendation on how I could adjust the recipe?
Thanks again!
Hi Venus! I’ve bought it here in Alabama, and up in Alaska. If you can’t find it, just use regular. The coffee liqueur should still give you enough of the flavor. :)