Salted Peanut Butter Caramel Cupcakes

A friend from work recently sent me a recipe she saw in a magazine for Salted Peanut Butter Caramel cupcakes and asked me if I’d try bake up a batch. Of course I said yes. I love baking. And I love discovering new recipes. And this one just sounds amazing.

The recipe however, was pretty average -  BUT I could see how it could be easily upgraded and improved, so below, my enhanced version of the salted peanut butter and caramel cupcakes.

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe by Glorious Treats

Yields- 15-16 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup buttermilk

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C
• In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat.
• Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.
• The batter will be thin.  Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners.  Fill liners about 2/3 full.
• Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.
• Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Icing

Ingredients

230g Cream cheese (1 tub)

50g - 100g icing Sugar

1tbsp full-cream milk

100g peanut butter

100g tinned caramel

Sea salt

Method

• Mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together in a bowl until smooth
• Mix in the milk and peanut butter
• If texture is too runny add a little more icing sugar ( I find in humid areas the cream cheese is a lot softer and a little extra icing sugar helps

Icing the cupcakes

• First pipe on your peanut butter icing.
• Next, using a very small tip, pipe a little caramel on top of the peanut butter. I tried doing dual piping but it was getting messy so just simplified it to two separate moves.
• Lastly sprinkle with a little sea salt. 

Original, not so good, recipe