Vanilla Cupcakes with Caramel and Whipped Ganache

I don’t know why, but a lot of people are not that big a fan of vanilla cakes or cupcakes and chocolate is what always wins. Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate and I’ve made a plethora of desserts using the same but I do feel that the vanilla flavor has its own charm and that it tastes absolutely delicious!

I love a good vanilla flavored dessert and when you pair vanilla with things like caramel or chocolate ganache, it’s like going to dessert heaven. These vanilla cupcakes with caramel and chocolate ganache have to be the best cupcakes I’ve made in a while. When I made these in the studio, my team went crazy over them! No one could stop themselves from eating an entire cupcake or two, haha.

Components of Vanilla cupcakes with caramel and chocolate ganache

The process of making these cupcakes is very easy and apart from the cupcake batter, there are only two more things that you need to take care of – the caramel and the chocolate ganache.

In the studio we always try to make in house caramel and use them in our desserts. The best part about caramel is that it can easily be stored in the refrigerator for upto 3 weeks. You just need to heat it a little whenever you want to use it.

Making caramel from scratch can be tricky. You need to be very careful of the temperature and the color of the caramel. If you don’t pay attention to these two factors then your caramel will burn and there is nothing worse than tasting burnt caramel.

The last component is the chocolate ganache. This chocolate ganache is the smoothest and the most decadent ganache that compliments the vanilla and caramel perfectly! Chocolate ganache is really easy to make and only requires two ingredients! You can check out this post I wrote about how to make the perfect chocolate ganache and be a ganache pro!

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Ingredients

For the cupcakes

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅔ cup caster sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

For the caramel-

1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup cream

For the whipped ganache

1 cup dark chocolate
1 cup whipping cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C.
In a bowl, combine all purpose flour and baking powder.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Fold in the dry ingredients alternating with milk.
Scoop the batter into a muffin tray lined with paper liners and bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool
To make the caramel, heat the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until an amber colour is achieved.
Add the butter and mix until completely melted and mixed.
Add the cream whisking constantly as the mixture will bubble vigorously.
Let the caramel cool completely.
To make the whipped ganache, coarsely chop chocolate and transfer it into a heat proof bowl.
Pour the cream into sauce pan set over medium heat.
Bring the cream to a simmer.
Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for 5 mins.
Whisk the mixture until smooth and creamy.
Put the mixture to chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
Once cooled completely and whip the ganache until light and fluffy.
Using the wider end of a piping nozzle, scoop out the centre of the cupcake and fill with caramel.
Frost it with the whipped chocolate ganache