Caramel Sweetness

Exam season is stressful, so as you can imagine, baking and cupcake experimenting came to a near hault. But thankfully that's finally over and now looms the ever nearing results day. 

Nevertheless, making scrumptious new creations made revision and the dreaded wait that little more bearable. These adorable caramel cupcakes were made quite a while back but with all the revision and exams I just didn't have the chance to blog about them. They were well received by my family and all my work friends and I was complimented that they looked like Starbucks frappacinos, which was not intentional but I do agree. 

As usual it was a simple vanilla sponge but the twist came with a new caramel frosting. I prefer to change the flavour of the frosting and keep the sponge nice and simple. I kinda cheated a little this time as well because I didn't make my own caramel... When you've got delicious tinned caramel readily available, there's no need. At least that's what I tell myself ;) 

For the frosting:

500g icing sugar, sifted

160g unsalted butter, softened

50ml whole milk

100g tinned caramel or dulce de leche

1. Using a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment or the hand-held electric whisk, gradually mix the icing sugar and butter together on a low speed until combined and there are no large lumps of butter. 
2. Gradually add the milk while mixing on a slow speed. Add the dulce de leche and mix thoroughly. 
3. Turn up the speed and beat until light and fluffy.

I found that the frosting on its own simply wasn't enough so I used the leftover caramel for decoration. I think these are one of the most attractive bakes I've ever done. The additional caramel decoration just made them a little bit more interesting seeing as I used a simple round nozzle for the piping. They turned out great. New recipe to add to the ever growing collection ready for my dream bakery!

This recipe was inspired by one of the recipes in the Hummingbird Bakery cookbooks. I love some of the cakes they make and they always look delicious. However, I do like to use their creations as a guide and see what I can do to change them and make them something a little bit different. 

If you do try out this recipe, please let me know in the comments and if you can, send me a picture of how yours turn out. Please leave any other tips and tricks you have for baking, I would love to hear from any readers. 

Enjoy 

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