Oscar’s Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes

It is not a secret at all that I love cupcakes. After all, I put them center stage at my Hollywood Glam Halloween party last week. And, as promised, I have the recipe for those delicious homestyle chocolate cupcakes and the amazing caramel cream cheese frosting that topped them. I decided to call them Oscar’s Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes. No, not after the little green monster in a trash can. Rather, after that beautiful, golden trophy that goes to award-winners. The frosting on these and the drizzle are strikingly similar, of course.

I’m one of those lazy bakers most of the time. I love the taste of homemade cupcakes from scratch, but, hello… cake mixes are awesome. They don’t take a ton of complicated ingredients and they definitely don’t require too much time.

So, let me just tell you right now… this homestyle cupcake recipe is as easy as using a cake mix, but tastes like a homemade cupcake. It’s amazing. And really, truly deceptive. They’re moist. They’re just… perfect!

Start with your cake mix- in this case, I used a dark chocolate fudge cake mix. Add three room temperature eggs, one cup of buttermilk, and 1/3 cup oil.

What’s that, you say? You don’t keep buttermilk on hand for making cupcakes? Shame on you!

No. I’m totally kidding. I don’t, either. Why? Because there is an incredibly easy substitute using totally normal ingredients. Grab a 1 cup measuring cup and put in 1 tablespoon of either lemon juice or white vinegar. Then, fill to the 1-cup line with milk. Wait for five minutes, give it a stir, and use it!

From there, you just bake as directed on the box, and no one will be the wiser (unless you forget to hide the box at the bottom of the trash can…)

Now, it’s time to whip up the frosting.

Start with a container of Philadelphia Indulgences Caramel Cream Cheese Spread. It’s intended for putting on bagels and fruit and other dippables, but my preferred dippable is a spoon, or, if no one is looking, my fingers.

However, use your willpower and keep your fingers out of this one, because you’ll need the whole thing to frost these yummy cupcakes.

Whip up that cream cheese with 1 stick of room temperature butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and 3 cups of powdered sugar. If it’s not to the consistency you desire, add some more powdered sugar to thicken it up.

If you’re skilled at filling and frosting cupcakes with a single bag, go for that. I am not, so I opted for two bags. For the first, I just cut the tip off, and for the second, I put a star tip in. Fill both bags.

For the bag with the tip cut off, stick it into the cupcake, squeeze, then pull it out as you release. Use the star tip bag to swirl frosting on gently. Don’t like filling? That’s fine, too- just pipe frosting on top!

Once the cupcakes are frosted, dip a spoon into a jar of caramel ice cream topping, then drizzle that lightly over the cupcakes.

Um. Hello. Wow.

Finally, share them. Or hoard them all to yourself. I won’t tell.

Fall Flavors Tour: Caramel Apple Cake

If you’ve been watching my facebook page at all, you know that today is the beginning of my Fall Flavors Tour… basically, it means that I’ll be spending the week exploring some exciting autumn flavors throughout some really great recipes! If you want to make sure you see all of the posts, subscribe by email in the right sidebar, or like me on facebook, also in the sidebar.

Today, we’re starting with some very fall-ish flavors– Caramel and Apple.

I want to give a little backstory on this cake. When I was in college, I had some friends over for a Halloween party, and we decided to make this outrageous cake that had a fudge cake base and then caramel, sweetened condensed milk, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, Snickers, all kinds of really insanely rich things, all piled into one cake.

The cake was really crazy rich, obviously, but it stuck with me, and I thought I just had to try to modify the concept a little bit, with a lighter, fresher fall flavor.

Start by taking one Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (any brand will do, though), 3 eggs, and a can of Duncan Hines Comstock Wilderness Apple Pie Filling (again, any brand will do if you don’t have Duncan Hines handy). Dice up my pie filling into small chunks if possible, then mix the ingredients together. That’s it– no oil, no water, nothing else. Just the eggs, cake mix, and pie filling.

Pour that into a greased 9×13 pan and bake it at 350 for 35 minutes, then remove from the oven. Go ahead and turn off the oven so it can begin cooling, and then poke holes into your beautiful cake using a straw.

All over. Everywhere. Leave an inch or so between the holes, of course, so you don’t go too horribly overboard!

Now, pour an entire jar of Hershey’s Caramel Ice Cream Topping on top. No, I’m not kidding. The whole jar. Do it. Just trust me. Spread it so it covers the entire cake and starts seeping into the little holes. Then, put that into the warm (but NOT on!) oven for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes is up, let it cool, then stick it in the refrigerator until completely cool, at least 3 hours, but preferably overnight. Once it’s totally chilled, go ahead and dump about a cup or so of Cool Whip on top.

Then, grab a bag of Limited Edition Caramel Apple Milky Ways. Yes, they taste just like an incredibly sweet caramel apple, perfect for fall, crisp and delightful.

Go ahead and cut each mini up (I cut mine into fourths, because I’m OCD, but go ahead and just dice those up however you’d like). Now, sprinkle them all over the top of that cake.

And, viola!

Seriously, this cake encompasses so much that is fall, and it’s got a really great texture.

My taste testers had some amazing ideas, as well, to either leave the Cool Whip frosting and Milky Ways off entirely, or substitute a different frosting. We also discussed adding walnuts, which you could absolutely do on top of the caramel (or below the caramel, or on top of the Cool Whip, or mixed into the cake…). You could frost the entire thing with Caramel Frosting (Duncan Hines Frosting Creations, anyone?), or just leave it naked. It truly is a versatile cake that could be eaten many different ways, but personally, I love mine with the Cool Whip and Caramel Apple Milky Ways… it’s better than that crazy rich fudge contraption of my college days, for sure. Plus, isn’t it just so pretty?

This cake is perfect for potlucks, family functions, or even just an evening playing board games with the family. I had taste testers of all ages who loved this dessert, and it’s easy to transport (plus you can always bake it in a disposable pan, of course!)

Caramel Apple Cake

1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1 can Duncan Hines Comstock Wilderness Apple Pie Filling
3 eggs
1 jar Hershey’s Caramel Ice Cream Topping
1 Cup (approx. 8 oz) Cool Whip
1/2 bag Caramel Apple Milky Way Minis

Cut pie filling into smaller pieces, and mix with eggs and cake mix. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Poke holes in cake, pour jar of caramel ice cream topping over cake and spread to cover. Place cake back in warm (turned off) oven for 10 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate for 4 hours or more, overnight if possible. Spread with Cool Whip. Dice Caramel Apple Milky Ways and sprinkle over the top of the cake. Serve chilled.

_____________________________

Stay tuned as we continue along the Fall Flavors Tour and see what other exciting flavors we encounter next. See you tomorrow with another fun recipe!

If you’re trying any of these recipes along with me, I’d love to see photos or comments about it in the comment section below!

SNAP!
It's Overflowing