The delivery date for Operation Buttercream is approaching at warp speed; four more weeks until all the cupcakes need to be loaded into the boxes and very carefully transported to the wedding venue. Latest developments include adoption of project planning software, which has sharpened the mind and development of the final prototype cupcake – caramel filled chocolate cupcakes topped with caramel buttercream. And I am starting to dream about cupcakes…..

The project planning software is called Trello and its really helping me keep track of the myriad of tasks and subtasks. Not a paid promotion, the free version is nifty for a small project. I’m not using any of the collaboration features though.

The Davinator acquired a simple secondhand refrigerator for Operation Buttercream. It has been officially named the Beer Fridge even though its contents are primarily white wine and unsalted butter.

The groom is very fond of salted caramel and I’ve got a great recipe for chocolate cupcakes so this last of the four types was an easy choice. The big question – do I make the caramel or do I buy it? Making caramel involves a delicate balance of chemistry, timing and technique as does much sugar work. I may some day write a blog on the affair of the white chocolate fudge with macadamia nuts and candied cherries. With encouragement from the Davinator, I decided to make my own caramel. And it came out okay. But I am going to do the next batch on the induction hob with a different saucepan. I could prattle on about the complexities of sugar crystals for pages, but for the sake of the readers – I’ll keep it to myself.

Describing the cupcake: a chocolate cupcake, filled and topped with caramel, iced with caramel flavoured buttercream in a simple swirl design.

The order of my process steps: make chocolate cupcakes, make caramel, make the caramel buttercream. I made the cupcakes and the caramel on the first day. The caramel needs to cool and TBH you need time for plan B if it goes wrong. I made the buttercream, piped it and applied the decoration on the second day. I’ve included a recipe for caramel below but it’s worth watching some YouTube videos as well if you’ve never made caramel. Boiling hot sugar is not for the faint hearted.

Chocolate cupcakes: here’s my recipe. I have made a couple of changes, I added an extra egg and another 10 grams of butter. The version on my website has been updated to reflect this. I pipe the batter into the cupcake cases; weighing them as I do it. 55-60 grams is about right.

Caramel

Ingredients

• 200g Caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 60ml Water
• 60g Butter, cut it chunks
• 175ml Double cream
• 1tsp Vanilla extract optional, adds extra flavour
• ½ tsp Salt

Instructions

1. Prep your ingredients and have them to hand before starting. It can feel like juggling. measured out and ready before you start

2. Put the caster sugar and water into a high sided non stick pan, and heat on a low-medium heat. You can stir the mixture a little if needed. I used one of my cast iron teflon lined ProCook pans.

3. The sugar will dissolve, takes about 5 minutes, and the mixture turns clearer and doesn’t look as grainy. Turn the heat up to medium-high so the mixture bubbles, and do not stir. It will create crystals and may harden on you.

4. Watch the pan carefully, it will eventually start to turn golden. If you’re a numbers person, it will start to caramelise between 160C and 175C. It goes slowly slowy slowy and then all at once. Timing is dependent on your hob and the pan. Say 10 minutes or so but do not leave it unattended. This is the one time to watch the pot.

5. Once golden, remove from the heat and whisk the butter in quickly. Then add the cream and whisk as you’re pouring it in.

6. Add the vanilla and salt at the end.

7. Finally, transfer to a metal or plastic bowl, allow to cool. Once cooled, cover with cling film and refrigerate.

The caramel will keep refrigerated for up to two weeks. To take the pressure off, I will probably do this first.

Caramel buttercream

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 400g icing sugar
• 2tsp caramel flavouring
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 to 2 tbsp hot water
• Food colouring

Instructions

1. Beat the butter in your stand mixer at high speed until smooth and lighter in colour – 3 to 5 minutes
2. Add half of the icing sugar and 1 tsp of caramel flavour and incorporate, then repeat with the remainder.
3. Add a few drops of brown food colouring the salt and sufficient water to get a good piping consistency.

Assembly

1. Use a cupcake corer or small knife to cut a hole in each cupcake. See the cupcake gadget in this earlier post.
2. Fill with caramel.
3. Drizzle any remaining caramel over the surface of the cupcakes.
4. Ice the cupcakes. I went for a simple swirl design and used a 2D closed star tip.
5. Decorate if desired. I used tiny cubes of caramel fudge and some gold sugar beads.

Notes on this test bake

1. These cupcakes are very sweet, almost like a 3 Musketeer bar from my youth.
2. Using the cling film method to fill the piping bags is a game changer.
3. I will make the caramel well in advance. Working with hot sugar when feeling time pressure seems like a recipe for disaster.
4. Use the induction hob for the next batch of caramel.
5. Probably time to do the quantity surveying. It’s going to be a lot of butter, sugar and eggs. I’m more worried about any speciality ingredients like for colouring or decoration.
6. I’ve found another store – Hobby Craft – that I should not be allowed to go in without adult supervision.
7. The secondhand refrigerator was a genius move.

Okay, I’m off to inventory the transport containers. Thank you for reading the blog and going on the cupcake journey with me. Any clever suggestions much appreciated.