Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes

For the dark chocolate mocha cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare two 12-count standard muffin pans by lining with paper cupcake liners. Set aside.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry. With mixer still on low, slowly and carefully add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very loose.

This original recipe is for 2 round pans, and I found this amount to be just a bit too much for 24 cupcakes, so I remove about 1 cup of batter before dividing the remaining batter amongst the cupcake liners.

Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the salted caramel sauce:
Place cream in a small bowl. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and then also add the bean. Set aside.

Stir sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush. It will thicken and turn deeper in color. After about 5 to 6 minutes, it should be deep amber in color. Don’t let it get too dark. If it starts to smell burnt, immediately remove pan from heat. Gradually add the vanilla cream, while continuously whisking. The mixture will bubble vigorously. Whisk over medium heat until smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and salt. Pour the mixture through a strainer into a heatproof bowl. Place in refrigerator to cool completely before starting the buttercream.

For the salted caramel buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter until creamy. At low speed, beat in the powdered sugar. Increase the speed to high and beat until fluffy, scraping down the side of the bowl, about 2 minutes longer. At low speed, beat in the cream and vanilla. Then gradually beat in 1-1/4 cup of the cooled caramel sauce. Scrape down the side of the bowl and the paddle, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light, 3 minutes longer. Using a wooden spoon, vigorously beat the buttercream for 30 seconds to deflate any air bubbles.

To finish the cupcakes:
Fill a pastry bag with a large star tip with the buttercream and pipe it onto cupcakes. Drizzle over the top of each one a bit of the remaining salted caramel sauce. (Any leftover salted caramel sauce is wonderful over vanilla ice cream!) Press a chocolate coated espresso bean into each swirl of frosting and then sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Serve immediately or store in a container in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to serving.

Source: Dark chocolate mocha cupcakes adapted from “Beatty’s Chocolate Cake” from Barefoot Contessa at Home. Salted Caramel Sauce adapted from bon appetit, September 2011, originally from Barbuzzo in Philadelphia. Salted Caramel Buttercream from a farmgirl’s dabbles.