If you’re a fan of “Turtles” like I am, then you will love these cupcakes. “Turtle” is the original candy name for chocolate covered caramel and pecans. I wanted to mimic the flavors, but add my own design twist. I started with my chocolate cupcake. I have copied the recipe here, from my prior post on “chocolate cupcakes”.
One recipe will make about 15 regular size cupcakes. (Feel free to double this for more!) Prepare muffin pan with paper liners. Bake at 350 degrees for 16 – 18 min.
Ingredients:
3 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped.
1/3 c Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 c hot coffee
Combine chocolate, cocoa powder, and coffee in a small bowl, and let sit for about 5 min – to melt the chocolate. Then stir gently using a whisk, til blended and smooth. Set aside to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add:
2 large eggs
1/3 c vegetable oil
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix til blended. SLOWLY pour chocolate mixture into mixing bowl, while mixer set on LOW speed.
Combine dry ingredients into a separate bowl, and sift together, or blend using a whisk.
1 c all purpose flour
1 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Add dry ingredients SLOWLY into mixing bowl with wet ingredients. Keep mixer on LOW speed until all dry ingredients added, then increase speed to med. Blend until very smooth.
Using a large ice cream scoop – add batter to each cup til 3/4 filled. (I usually use 1 1/3 scoop for each cup). Batter will be thin – this is normal.
Bake at 350 for 16 – 18 min., until tops are rounded, and no longer “wet” looking. Test for doneness using a toothpick – should come out clean when inserted into the center.
Let these cool completely before frosting. I topped these chocolate cupcakes with my cream cheese buttercream frosting.
Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
4 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 Tbsp caramel sauce
Add butter, cream cheese, and vanilla to a stand mixing bowl, with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until very smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Start the mixer on LOW (you can even pulse it a few times, to incorporate the sugar into the creamed mixture, to avoid the sugar going all over you and the counter!) Then mix on med – med high, til well-blended. Once all 4 cups of sugar are incorporated, blend on high til there is a smooth, whipped appearance. Add caramel sauce, and blend again.
For this recipe, I whipped in some store-bought caramel sauce – the kind you would use for topping an ice cream sundae. This turned my frosting into caramel buttercream frosting! So good! I piped this onto the cooled cupcakes. Then I drizzled the frosting with chocolate ganache, topped with chopped pecans, then lightly drizzled with a little more caramel sauce. They look amazing, smell heavenly, and taste unbelievably like a “Turtle”!!
