Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Icing

Happy Birthday to my best friend Meg! Meg and I met back in college and instantly became close friends. My mom refers to us as "Laverne & Shirley" sometimes. :)

Meg and I May 2006.

December 2011.

Her birthday cupcakes are Devil's Food Cupcakes, recipe adapted from Martha Stewart and Salted Buttercream Frosting, recipe by My Baking Addiction.

Devil's Food Cupcakes
Ingredients (makes 32 cupcakes - I split the entire recipe in half and made it work for a dozen large cupcakes)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot coffee (Martha Stewart's recipe had 3/4 cup hot water...c'mon!)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 TBS plus 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot coffee until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled (a few minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Add vanilla, cocoa, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each addition.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Salted Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients

4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/3 cup caramel syrup
1 1/2 lb powdered sugar


(I cut the above recipe in half as well since I split the cupcake recipe.)
Directions
Cream the butter with a mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup. Begin adding the sugar and mix thoroughly after each addition.

-----
To be able to haul around the cupcakes in the afternoon, I made a disposable cupcake carrier. I cut plastic cups and hot glued them to the bottom of a box. The cupcakes fit tightly in their spots and you can shake the box pretty hard and the cupcakes don't move!