Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

Wow...you must make these! They were so rich, fluffy and delicious. I used this recipe for the base of the cupcakes. I altered it some by placing a caramel candy into each cupcake before baking. When these came out of the oven, the smell was like walking into your very own bakery.

For the frosting I chose a peanut butter buttercream. I searched for a recipe and finally ended up combining a couple.

Here's what I did:
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 creamy peanut butter
2 Tbs milk

With an electric mixer, beat together sugar, and butter until creamy. Add peanut butter, beating well. Add milk and beat until smooth and creamy. The icing will seem very stiff, but is quite easy to pipe.

Verdict:  The cupcakes were moist and crumbly.  They were so decadent, I could only eat one at a time (but we did finish off the dozen during the weekend...did I mention that we have sweet teeth?).  The melted caramel in the center left a gooey layer of sweet, sticky goodness near the bottom of the cupcake.  Next time, I'll add more caramel to each one.  Have you seen the caramel bits in the chocolate chip aisle...next time I'll experiment with them.  The frosting was very peanut buttery...if that's a word.  If you like peanut butter, this is the recipe for you.  Next time I might cut down on the peanut butter, though my better half might not agree!  He's a fan!  We even let Little Man try them, and he was more than happy to eat more!

As a final note, I am working on my piping skills, obviously.  It's evident that I didn't use the right tip and promptly went out and bought the Wilton Jumbo 1M tip.  Much better!  The next cupcake experiment turned out better!  I also have very limited food photography skills, though I am trying to get better.  I've been reading blog after blog on just about every aspect of food photography, cupcake recipes, blog design and who knows what else!  Bear with me as I start this crazy ride!