Gluten Free Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes!!

Today is my friends birthday! Happy Birthday Derek! Yaaaay! 

*ahem* 

What better way to celebrate a birthday than with cupcakes?! Unfortuantely my friend has a gluten intolerance so for a long while has only ever been able to eat those icky carboardy gluten free cupcakes that you buy in the supermarket *plegh*. That was until... he met me! Every year I send him cupcakes for his birthday... did you know you can send cupcakes in the post?? I found out a little while ago that there are a few products on the market like these very functional Postable Cupcake Pods or these Cakes-Away Postable Cupcake Boxes that look so pretty! I've used both with great success sending them to friends on random occassion because hey who doesn't like getting surprise cupcakes in the morning?? 

Anyway, birthday cupcakes, so every year I try to make him some delicious cupcakes for his birthday and a really awesome resource for gluten free cupcakes (and everything else!) is Gluten Free Canteen I've made so many things from there like these Double Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes and these Drunken Chocolate Cupcakes and so many others! All of them have been so delicious, in fact my non gluten free friends can't taste the difference that's how good they are!

Today I wanted to make something a bit different. I love salted caramel and I found a jar in the supermarket the other day and thought it would be perfect for the cupcakes. I've made Salted Caramel Cupcakes before that were a total hit so why not make a gluten free version to share with my dear friend? So using my go to resource I found these Chocolate Sundae Cupcakes which I adapted slightly to my purposes (also reducing the sugar a little) since I just wanted a really good chocolate cupcake base and they certainly didn't dissapoint! Rich, dark, perfectly moist and oh so chocolatey... delicious! Then I cut out a little hole in the top and filled with Salted Caramel Sauce and topped with more salted caramel flavoured buttercream and drizzled with even more salted caramel sauce and finally topped it off with a little square of chocolate just to set it over the top! (hey it is his birthday!)

Don't they look worthy of a celebration cupcake??

Salted Caramel Cupcakes: makes 12

Ingredients: 
For the Cupcakes

•  140g Gluten Free Flour*
•  85g Cocoa Powder
• 1tsp Baking Powder (make sure it's GF!)
• 1tsp Instant Espresso Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 140g Golden Caster Sugar 
• 125g Butter - melted and cooled
• 3 Large Eggs
• 85g Sour Cream
• 55ml Boiling Water
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Frosting: 

• 150g Butter
• 350g Icing Sugar
• 4tbsp Salted Caramel Sauce 
• Pinch of Maldon Sea Salt Flakes

To Assemble:

• 12tsp Salted Caramel Sauce
• 12 Chocolate Squares (I used Dr. Oetker Chocolate Crunch Squares)
• A few tsp of melted Salted Caramel Sauce

Method:
For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 175c/150c Fan/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl sift together the Flour, Cocoa, Baking Powder, Espresso, Salt and Bicarbonate of Soda then add in the sugar and whisk to combine.
3. To the melted butter whisk in the egss one at a time until well incorporated then whisk in the sour cream and vanilla.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until you have a smooth, thick and lump free batter.
5. Add the hot water and mix in thorogouhly.
6. Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 cupcake liners, I find using an ice cream scoop really useful for this!
7. Bake for 18-22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Remove from the pan and leave to cool compeltely on a wire rack.

For the Frosting:

1. In the bowl of a mixer place the butter and icing sugar and beat on high speed until combined. Continue to beat for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
2. Add in the Salted Caramel Sauce and a pinch of Maldon Seas Salt Flakes and beat on high for a couple of minutes until well incorporated.

Assembly: 

1. Using a sharp knife cut a hole out of the top of each cupcake (keep the tops!) and gently scrape out a little more cupcake to make a nice hole.
2. Fill each hole with 1/2 - 1 tsp of Salted Caramel Sauce and then put the tops back on to cover the sauce (you can eat the crumbs that you scraped out!)
3. Using a piping bag and your favourite tip pipe the Buttercream on top in your favourite pattern.
4. To melt the salted caramel sauce for drizzling I just put the jar in a bowl of boiling water for a few minutes until its pourable. Then using a spoon drizzle over the top of the frosting.
5. Finish off by placing a square of chocolate on each cupcake.
6. Enjoy! They are delicious with coffee or tea or just on their own.

Wouldn't you just love these to turn up on your doorstep on your birthday??

* I used Dove's Farm Gluten Free Plain flour for simplicity but over at Gluten Free Canteen they have an amazing post on Gluten Free flours!