A few weeks ago, my friend Naz sent me an email that said (and I quote): “OMG.  This needs to be attempted.  Stat.”  And attached was this recipe for Salted Caramel Cupcakes.  They looked beautiful, sounded unique, and happened to fall into my category of favorite food in the world, so I added them to my to-do list.  Thus, when my friend John’s birthday rolled around yesterday, it was time for the attempt to be made.

“Attempt” turned out to be the keyword.  I have to admit, I wasn’t 100% happy with the cupcakes as I was making them.  I’ve always found caramel to be a tricky little devil of a confection to make, so I knew these wouldn’t be of an easy level of difficulty for me.  However, I got a final thumbs-up on taste from all who sampled.  So, I’ve focused in on the problem areas and know what I’d tweak for a better result next time:

1) The original recipe called for paper liners.  However, I found that the paper liners stuck like glue onto the cakes, forcing those who indulged to either spend 15 minutes picking and peeling the liners off or eating the cake out with a spoon—neither a good option.  So next time, grease and flour the pans; do not use liners.

2) The meringue-based buttercream separated on me and resulted in a loose, almost liquidy frosting; but I think my problem was that I didn’t let the caramel cool completely before mixing it into the egg white mixture.  When I realized it was becoming more of a glaze than a frosting, I tried to thicken it by putting it in the fridge for about 15 minutes or so.  This helped a bit, but at this point, the frosting was rather overbeaten, and this resulted in a somewhat grainy texture.  Thus, baker beware: let the caramel cool completely; I’d even recommend making it the day before, so as not to be tempted by impatience.

My final judgment in the end: the flavor was good enough to try the recipe again—the combination of a dark brown sugar cake with the slightly salty frosting was certainly adventurous and intriguing.

The original recipe can be found HERE on a blog called The Chic Line (taken from the Williams-Sonoma Cupcakes cookbook.)  Good luck!