Tasty Tuesday: Caramel Brownie Cupcakes

I asked Zac what he wanted to make for his half-birthday. Of course, he said, "Pupcakes! Blue ones with princess on top." Apparently he was pretty impressed with Alyssa's last birthday cake (pic toward the bottom of the post.)  I suggested these cupcakes instead. And though they're neither blue nor princessy, he was very excited. He's so laid-back and easy-going, just like his daddy.

Since it was his special day, Zac got to do most of the prep for the cupcakes.

 He did all the dumping.

 All the pouring.

 And all the stirring.

He even did all the cracking.

Kidding. Though he begged to crack the eggs, I figured he wasn't quite ready yet.

Besides, we had a big enough mess with one that Alyssa smashed.

This beauty was one of my Mother's Day presents. I had complained mentioned many times how my old mixer's lowest speed was not slow. Every time I used it for something like whipping cream, it splattered liquid all over my kitchen. Leighton took the kids shopping and narrowed down the choices. This is the mixer they chose. It's pretty, has its own storage case and 3 types of beaters. Best of all, it has 7 speeds with the lowest setting actually being slow. No more splattered kitchen!

Who am I kidding? I bake with 3 little kids. I should say, 'not as much splattered kitchen.'

 

As soon as Zac saw the mixer, he said, "Dat loud. I go sit on couch?" So he climbed down off the counter, and Alyssa took over.

 He made sure to come back to lick the beaters though. And he actually got both of them!

 Alyssa used our large cookie scoop to fill the liners with the cake batter.

Then, I used my Dessert Decorator Pro to add the brownie batter. I used a #199 star tip, but any one with a large opening will work to dispense the chilled batter. If you don't have a decorator or pastry bag, you could just scoop both batters in with a spoon, but the 2 layers will be very distinct. 

Yum! Chilling the brownie batter helped keep the centers fudgy, while still allowing the cake to fully cook. We didn't even add frosting to them since they're already pretty rich. 

The recipe is super simple to adapt. You can try it with red velvet cake with buttercream frosting or white cake with peanut butter frosting or pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Experiment and have fun!

Caramel Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 package brownie mix (prepared according to package directions)

1 package caramel cake mix (prepared according to package directions)

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 350° F (175° C.) Line muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Place in refrigerator.

3. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. 

4. Spoon the cake batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 1/3 full. 

5. Fill a dessert decorator or pastry bag with chilled brownie batter. Insert tip of decorator in the center of the cake batter and fill each liner until 2/3 full.

6. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.