Salted Caramel Mocha cupcakes

When I first returned from Germany, I was SO excited to be able to bake again. You'd think that in Germany I'd have been a baking fool, seeing as how the country is full of delicious baked goods and daily life usually involves cake and coffee. Imagine a long-term stay hotel room with a kitchenette, and that's basically what my little home was like. I spent the year oven-less and only got to bake on a few occasions at Anja's house (see: this post).  Once settled back into my house in DC, I got down to business. After all, I had a cupcake-loving man to bake for and one year of ideas to test out.

The first batch I made were inspired by Starbucks' Salted Caramel Mocha latte.  It's delightful, and I felt it was not out of my league to whip up a couple.  Of course, this meant I had to do research.  I sat at my local Sbux, drank the hot beverage, sweat because it was warm outside, and wrote down the essences I wanted to capture.  After a trip to the grocery, the baking began.

My old apron from my Starbucks days. Seemed appropriate.

In the days when the oven clock worked and I could bake in Fahrenheit! When the power came back on after Hurricane Sandy, the clock was out and it only functioned in Celsius. What?!

I used my chocolate cake recipe and dabbled with instant espresso for a nice mocha flavor

Caramelized sugar to make toppers.

The future toppers, cooling.

Carved out the centers and put a bit of fleur de sal in each

Made a batch of caramel for filling and drizzling over the frosting

Added some of the caramel to mascarpone and filled the cupcakes

Made a chocolate ganache-like frosting, drizzled with caramel, added a few flakes of fleur de sal, and topped with the caramelized sugar pieces

It was delightful.

Overall, I give my creation a 4 out of 5. They were really tasty, but the standard mocha cupcakes I've made in the past top these salted caramel ones.