I made some delicious caramel mud cupcakes for a baby shower over the weekend.  Instead of using all brown sugar, I substituted half with dark muscovado sugar and it really took the caramel flavour to a new level.  The cupcakes were iced with white chocolate buttercream with pink toffee strands and sugar flowers to decorate the little beauties.

the recipe I used was in Cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies: the Australian women's weekly by Pamela Clark, 2008, ACP Magazines Ltd, page 22 and I tweaked it by adding the dark muscovado sugar and only using self-raising flour to keep the cake  light.

makes 12 - 15 cupcakes

ingredients 
125g unsalted butter, chopped coarsely 
100g white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup dark muscovado sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup
2/3 cup milk
1 1/3 cups self raising flour
1 egg

method
preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius for a fan forced oven.

combine the butter, chocolate, sugar, syrup and milk in a small saucepan, stir over low heat, until melted and smooth.  Take off the heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.

put the flour into a large bowl and slowly whisk in the melted mixture and then the egg.

spoon into the cupcake cases and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Keep an eye on them and test after 20 minutes by pressing on the cupcake, if it bounces back then its cooked but if you finger sinks in you may want to leave it to cook just a little longer.

once cooked, transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and allow to cool.

white chocolate buttercream
ingredients 
70g unsalted butter at room temperature
250g icing sugar
50g white chocolate, coarsely chopped

method
beat the unsalted butter and add a quarter of the icing sugar, beat in well, then add the next quarter and keep beating until all of the icing sugar is used.  if it looks to grainy, add a teaspoon of milk to loosen it up.

melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to cool slightly.  Add  a spoonful of white chocolate into the buttercream, then beat it in, then keep adding spoonfuls of chocolate until it is all gone.

now you are ready to ice and decorate the cupcakes.  Just wait until the cupcakes are completely cool before icing them!  Please give this recipe a go and let me know how you get on.  Especially with my buttercream recipe as I just 'chuck' in the ingredients!!!
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