Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.

Step 2

Melt butter and add to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add sugar and beat together on high for 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine.

Step 3

In a separate medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and baking soda. In another small bowl, whisk buttermilk and room temperature brewed coffee. With mixer off, add ⅓ of flour mixture to the butter mixture. Turn mixer on low to combine. Add ½ of coffee mixture and mix on low to combine. Repeat again. End with mixing in the last ⅓ of flour mixture. Stop as soon as the flour is mixed in.

Step 4

Pour cupcake batter into prepared muffin cups, filling only about ¾ full. Place cupcakes into the preheated oven and bake until the centers of the cupcakes are set, about 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes cool completely before topping with caramel buttercream frosting.

Step 5

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream. Add softened butter to a bowl fitted for a stand mixer. Beat on high until light yellow and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat on high for another 2 minutes. Add ½ cup of salted caramel sauce to buttercream. Beat on high for 2 minutes. Taste buttercream and add salt, if needed.

Step 6

Add buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip. I used a Wilton large open star tip. Starting on the outside, slowly pipe a cone of caramel buttercream onto cooled cupcake. Finish with a drizzle of caramel sauce. I used a small squeeze bottle to make the drizzle process easy. Repeat with all cupcakes.