Super moist dark chocolate cupcakes with a rich chocolate flavor, filled with an easy caramel filling. Decorate them with a cute Halloween caramel corn topping!
Servings 19cupcakes
Prep Time 10 minutesmins
Cook Time 16 minutesmins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
170 grams (1 ¼ cup + 2Tbsp)All-Purpose FlourI use Gold Medal
1 ½teaspoonBaking Powder
1teaspoonBaking Soda
¾teaspoonSalt
2tablespoonInstant ClearjelPlease make sure it is labeled as INSTANT. It's a bakery ingredient you can use at home--see Note #1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill cupcake tins with 19 cupcake liners.
Using a sifter or fine mesh strainer, sift the first sevenDry Ingredients into a large bowl, then add brown sugar. Whisk until well blended. If you see any large brown sugar clumps, break them up and blend them in with your fingers.
Combine Wet Ingredients in a separate large bowl and whisk until smooth and well-blended.
Melt saltedbutter in the microwave (or over the stove) until just melted. Avoid overcooking. Add semi-sweetchocolate chips and whisk until melted and smooth (Whisk for 30 seconds to 1 minute--the heat from the melted butter plus the whisking will melt the chips).
Pour Wet Ingredients into Dry Ingredients and whisk until incorporated. Pour Chocolate Butter Mixture over batter and whisk until smooth and lump-free. (A few teeny brown sugar lumps are ok and will dissolve as it bakes).
Using a 2-oz scoop (recommended) or ¼ cup measuring cup, scoop batter into prepared cupcake tins.
Allow tins to set for 15-20 minutes before putting them in the oven. This will give time for the instant clearjel to thicken the cake batter before it bakes, allowing for a better rise.
Bake in the middle or top rack (avoid bottom rack) of the preheated 350-degree oven for 15 minutes, or until the cupcakes pass the toothpick test. The cupcakes are done when a toothpick or small paring knife comes out mostly clean when quickly stuck in the cupcakes. These cupcakes are often done baking before they look done (due to their dark color), and they will continue to bake a little bit as they cool. Because these cupcakes are so moist, it is okay to see a couple of moist crumbs on your knife when you check the finished product for doneness. But any wet-looking crumbs mean they need more time in the oven.
If you are frosting and serving them the next day, wrap the cupcakes in the cupcake tin and leave at room temperature overnight. You may also freeze the unfrosted cupcakes wrapped tightly in the cupcake tin up to a week in advance and they will stay very moist.
Combine the caramel corn, candy corn, and chocolate chips (you may eyeball the measurements). Drizzle with a little bit of caramel drizzle and stir the ingredients together just until they all sticks together. Set aside.
Core the cupcakes using a cupcake corer and fill with a generous amount of caramel drizzle. Top the caramel center with the cored piece of cake. If the cupcakes seem delicate, set them in the fridge or freezer until they firm up before frosting them.
Frost the cupcakes with chocolate buttercream in a piping bag, top with a couple of tablespoons of the caramel corn mixture, and drizzle with warm caramel drizzle.
Store finished cupcakes in airtight Tupperware. Cupcakes are best eaten at room temperature. If you are in a warm environment or if you are not serving within 24 hours, refrigerate the frosted cupcakes, but remove from the fridge 2-3 hours before serving so they may come back to room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
Read my article Instant Clearjel: a Magical Bakery Ingredient to see why I think this ingredient is worth having in your pantry. Instant Clearjel must always be whisked thoroughly with other dry ingredients before added to wet ingredients to avoid clumping.