Salted Caramel Dark Choc Chip Cupcakes

Hi again! Long time no speak!

Salted Caramel is one of my favourite things of all time. I'm not always a fan of sweet with savoury but I just feel that salted caramel really really works. As it is now Autumn (my absolute favourite time of the year) I thought it was time to bring out the Autumnal-ish bakes! This is a recipe that I haven't attempted before so it was a bit of a guessing game. I chose to add dark chocolate chips as I thought they would tone down the super sweetness of the caramel. Its easy to get sickly with such a strong flavour. I had quite a few taste tasters for this bake and they seemed to be a success. So lets get started!

Recipe:
Cupcakes
6oz (170g) Butter (Softened)
6oz (170g) Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
6oz (170g) Self Raising Flour
1/4 tsp Coarse Sea Salt
1x 100g Bag of Dark Chocolate Chips (Keep a few aside for sprinkling at the end)

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
1x 397g Can of Caramel
3oz (85g) Butter 
1/4 tsp Coarse Sea Salt
15oz (425g) Icing Sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170C and fill your muffin tin with 12 cases. I picked a bright Autumnal Orange for this bake. 
2. Cream butter and caster sugar until smooth.
3. Measure flour into seperate bowl and add salt. Add the flour and eggs gradually to the butter and sugar mixture.
4. Stir in dark chocolate chips, making sure to leave a few for sprinkling if you'd like!
5. Spoon mixture into cases and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer/sharp knife comes out clean.
6. While the cupcakes are cooling, whip up your buttercream. Measure approximately half a can of Caramel into a large bowl along with the butter.
7. Measure icing sugar and salt into a smaller bowl and add gradually to butter and caramel mixture. Use an electric whisk to whip the mixture up until it is holding its shape.
8. When the cupcakes have cooled, use some of the remaining caramel and spread it on top of the cupcakes.
9. Fill up your piping bag with the buttercream and pipe away! I attempted to put stripes of the caramel into my piping bag before my buttercream so that it would make a nice swirl effect, which it did! BUT it only lasted for a couple of cupcakes so I wouldn't recommend it.
10. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on the top to finish them off.

There we go! A tasty autumnal bake to cheer you up in this bleak weather!

Enjoy.

Classic Vanilla Cupcakes

Hi there!
This is my first ever post as "Rosie Loves to Bake" and I'm a bit nervous to be honest! But I hope you enjoy! 
I'm starting off easy, with the first recipe I ever learnt. Something simple with super easy ingredients: Vanilla sponge cupcakes with a delicious Vanilla buttercream.
This is the recipe my mum taught me when I first began baking. I base pretty much every sponge recipe I do nowadays around this simple set of ingredients. It always produces the most beautiful, light and fluffy vanilla sponge without fail. I have never met a single person who doesn't enjoy these cupcakes, they are absolutely scrum!

Recipe: 
Vanilla Sponge Cupcakes
6oz (170g) Butter, at room temperature.
6oz (170g) Caster Sugar
6oz (170g) Self Raising Flour
3 eggs, at room temperature

Vanilla Buttercream
4oz Butter, at room temperature
A splash of milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
12oz Icing Sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160c (Fan).
2. Line muffin tin with cupcake cases. I recommend using a muffin tin instead of a normal bun tin as they are a slightly deeper so help to keep your cupcakes upright and nice and neat. 
3. Measure butter and caster sugar and beat together until smooth and creamy in consistency.
4. Measure your flour and eggs into seperate bowls and gradually add them to your butter and sugar mixture. Beat until nice and creamy. The mixture should be able to hold soft peeks. (See picture below)
5. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases. (I like to use a soup spoon, it gives you a nice even starting measurement into each case)
6. Bake at 160c on a centre shelf for approximately 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden on the tops. 
7. Leave to completely cool before adding buttercream.

Buttercream Method:
1. Measure butter into large mixing bowl. Add vanilla extract and a light splash of milk. Mix until smooth.
2. Measure icing sugar into seperate bowl.
3. Slowly add the icing sugar, a couple ounces at a time, into the butter mixture. Electric hand whisks are great for this. They create a nice pale colour and a lovely stiff, fluffy consistency that is perfect for piping.

Piping Method: 
1. Choose the nozzle shape you are going to use. I used a classic large star nozzle as it is easy to pipe and produces a really pretty shape. 
2. Snip the end of your piping bag and drop your nozzle in, ready for piping!
3. Fold down the edges of the piping bag and use a spatula to load it with buttercream. Leave a couple of inches empty and twist the piping to stop any spilling out of the top.
4. Hold the piping bag upright and start in the middle of the cupcake. Keeping a steady pressure, go around the edge of the cupcake and swirl back into the middle. Release the pressure and pull the piping bag upwards to create the little clean point on the top of your cupcake.
5. Decorate however you like!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and have a go at it yourself!

Thanks for reading :)

Rosie