Caramel Latte Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a friend’s Mum’s 50^th at the weekend – her party involved many a game of spoof, lots of (even possibly a little too much) tequila, and the best sausage rolls I’ve ever had!

But back to the cakes… the hidden pockets of caramel and the booze in the frosting make them irresistible, but feel free to leave out the alcohol and replace it with more milk instead.

Ingredients:
For the sponge:
6oz unsalted butter
6oz sugar
2 eggs
6oz self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1tbsp boiling water

1tbsp instant coffee granules

For the topping:
1 small can caramel
120g unsalted butter
300g icing sugar

1tbsp milk

1tbsp Espresso vodka or coffee liqueur

Caramel biscuits to decorate

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cases.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.

Next, sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and gently fold in until thoroughly combined.

Dissolve the coffee granules in the boiling water and gently stir into the mix.

Divide the mix between the cases and bake in the centre of your oven for 20 minutes, or until they are springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before moving onto the next step.

Once the cakes have cooled, use a small knife to cut a well into the top of each cake, taking care to leave a border around the edge. You won't need to use the small pieces of sponge that you've removed so feel free to eat this as you go along!

Next, fill each of the wells with a generous teaspoon of the canned caramel.

To make the frosting, cream the butter and half of the icing sugar together in a bowl. Add the milk and vodka/liqueur and gently stir in before mixing in the rest of the icing sugar. Using a piping bag, spiral the frosting onto the cakes, making sure to fully cover the wells of caramel. Add a shard of caramel biscuit to each cake to decorate.