(award winning) SALTED CARAMEL CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

No, I'm not lying, they really are award winning!

I mean, sure, it's not some fancy culinary award, but still. I work at a super great place- and for it's 50th anniversary as a company they held a version of Cupcake Wars. I entered this recipe and won one of the three awards. Boom.

These cupcakes are insanely rich and sweet- with just the perfect amount of salt. The sour cream makes them extra-dense, and the salted caramel filling keeps them from drying out. Gahh. So good.

What you'll need to make it happen:

Cupcake:

This recipe is one I've made a ton of times, and it's a version of Martha Stewart's basic chocolate cupcakes (click for recipe). The only things I change is add an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract & a little extra sour cream!

Salted Caramel Sauce:

Oh, you missed the recipe? I just shared it on the blog recently!

You can find the recipe HERE

Caramel Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup salted caramel sauce

1. Cube room temperature butter and beat in mixer for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

2. Add in your sugar, mixing lightly to keep contained. Once well mixed, add in caramel sauce and beat for another 4 minutes or so until light and fluffy!

3. Refrigerate your frosting until you're ready to use it. Just leave out to get to room temp and you'll be good to go!

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Tips for the cupcakes, now that you have the recipes:

1. Unless you have a fancy frosting set, all you need is a glass, a ziplock bag, and a scissors! Insert the bag into your glass, folding the edges over & filling the bag.

2. An easy way to hollow out the center of cupcakes for filling is to take a sharp paring knife, and cut out a square in the center of the cake. Fill with caramel sauce and top with frosting!

3. This caramel sauce is too good just to fill the cupcakes with, drizzle it on top too, and cover with sprinkles!