Better Than Candy Bars Cupcakes

Moistest Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3/4 + 2 tbsp. cup cake flour or all purpose flour, sifted
6 tbsp. dutch processed cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.  Sift dry ingredients together into a bowl and set aside.  Combine wet ingredients, except for the boiling water, and mix thoroughly.  Add dry ingredients, and mix until smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the boiling water, mixing until combined and smooth.  The batter will be very thin. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.  I find the easiest way to do this is to put the batter in a zipper-top plastic bag and squeeze it into the cupcake liners.  With this batter, I cut off a smaller corner than normal and sort of poured it in like I was serving tea from a teapot.  Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.  Makes 12 standard-size cupcakes.

Caramel Sauce

 Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup heavy cream

Measure everything out ahead of time.  Do not skip this step, or you will regret it.  Melt the sugar over medium heat, stirring until it becomes liquid. You need to use a deep pan because when you add the butter and cream, this will foam up like the dickens and make a skin-melting sticky mess EVERYWHERE. Carefully boil the sugar until it is a deep amber brown.  Once it becomes liquified, do NOT stir it.  Also, as my cousin Heidi says, "Caramel is like a 2 yr. old with a Sharpie-- you can't take your eye off of it for even a second." Once all the sugar has melted and the caramel has become amber-colored, add the butter and whisk gently until melted.  This is when the foaming-out-of-control lava phase begins.  Remove the sugar mixture from the heat.  Count slowly to five to allow the caramel to cool very slightly, and then add the cream in a slow, continuous stream.  It will hiss and foam and look like a fresh mess, so you need to get in there with a whisk and be brave and stir it into submission.  Once it calms down and smooths out, pour it into a bowl and set aside to cool.  Makes about  1 cup of caramel sauce.

Caramel Buttercream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup caramel sauce (recipe above)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted


Cream the butter with an electric mixer.  Add the caramel and vanilla, beat until combined.  Add the confectioner's sugar, and mix on high until very smooth and creamy.   If the frosting seems too soft, add more sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until desired stiffness is reached.  Place half the caramel buttercream in a decorating bag.  Reserve the other half for the Peanut Butter Buttercream, if using. Makes about 3 cups.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe of caramel buttercream (recipe above)
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Beat peanut butter into prepared caramel buttercream.  Add additional confectioner's sugar, if necessary, to achieve desired consistency. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.