Butter Cupcakes + Salted Caramel Buttercream

Moving on from the healthiest pizza recipe I've ever posted to these morsels of heaven. Because, balance, right!? And HELLO! Sprinkles and unicorns.

You just cannot beat a good cupcake. With the perfect cake base and a delicious frosting topper, it's the perfect hand held dessert. It's taken me a long time to get my proportions right, but I have finally learned how to properly fill each liner so that each cupcake comes out the same. 3/4 of the way full works every sing time. 

These cupcakes are a little bit of magic and so much more. My family has been making this cake recipe for awhile now and last week I halved the batter to make a batch of cupcakes for a birthday celebration. The salted caramel buttercream is everything. 

Use your patience when making this frosting, but know that the end result will be worth it. It's taken me a few times to get it right! Don't give up. And if you want to make the full cake, you can find the recipe HERE. It's perfection.

Butter Cake Cupcakes + Salted Caramel Buttercream 

recipe adapted from Add a Pinch (makes 10-12 cupcakes)

BUTTER CAKE

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla

SALTED CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM

Stage 1:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup Crisco vegetable shortening

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Stage 2:

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more if needed

CUPCAKES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tin with liners.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and whisk. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy, then add sugar. Cream together for about 8 minutes, scraping the sides down occasionally. Add eggs, one at a time and cream after each one. 

Add flour mixture and buttermilk, alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Combine each addition of flour then turn the mixer on high to incorporate air into the batter. 

Add vanilla and mix well. Turn the mixer on high one last time for about 10 seconds to lighten the batter. 

Using an ice cream or batter scoop, fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

SALTED CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM

Add all ingredients from stage one to a 3-4 quart pot. Stir with a wooden spoon over medium heat. 

Using a candy thermometer, cook to a softball stage (235-245 degrees). I have found that the closer to 235 the better. 

Remove from heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer to let cool. To quicken the cooling process, beat it with the whisk attachment for a few minutes. 

Once the caramel has cooled, add the butter and salt from the second stage of the recipe and and whip. Add the confectioner's sugar in 1/4 cup increments, whipping after each one. Since you will be frosting cupcakes, you may need to add more to get the frosting to stiffen and hold its shape. 

Transfer frosting to a piping bag and frost. Top with sprinkles, lots of sprinkles.