Sometimes when I'm writing recipes, they come to me as a fully formed idea. All the pieces already in place, I just have to actually pull out the ingredients and make the recipe. Other times they are vague ideas, more a possible combination of flavors and/or textures than an actual, fully-realized recipe. It's these recipes that become an obsession for me. I oftentimes feel the need to compulsively make them over and over again until they are right. These Salted Caramel Popcorn cupcakes definitely fall into the second category.
For me, the key to this cupcake was the combination of crunchy popcorn and creamy salted caramel buttercream. Once I got the salty-sweet popcorn-caramel combo in my head, I got a little obsessive about turning it into a vegan, gluten-free cupcake. The final product combines all the best elements of a movie night snack into one delicious cupcake wrapper. The salty, crunchy popcorn, sweet caramel gooeyness and buttery vanilla cake--it's all there! Plus, they're super cute too!
The magic starts with a simple vanilla cupcake. I cheated just a little bit here and used one of the Betty Crocker Gluten-free Yellow Cake Mixes. For the most part, I love these mixes. They are easy, quick, gluten-free and dairy-free. They can easily be made vegan (with the help of a few flax-eggs, vegan butter and non-dairy milk), and yield moist, flavorful cupcakes.
As good as these vanilla cupcakes are on their own, I wanted to amp up the caramel flavor. Since I kept the cupcake quite simple, I wanted to make sure there was caramel goodness in every bite. Enter my vegan caramel sauce. Now, this stuff is delicious in the center of a cupcake, but also would be quite nice on top of ice cream, added to an iced coffee or drizzled on pound cake with some fresh fruit. YUM! Here, it adds a nice additional layer of sweetness and stickiness to the center of the cupcake.
Topping off the cupcake is an knockout vegan buttercream. This frosting was my nemesis. I think I made at least 5 different batches before I finally got what I was looking for. The key is the shortening/vegan butter combination. The hydrogenated fats in the shortening help the frosting hold its shape and the vegan butter provides a bit of buttery flavor, as well as giving the frosting a smoother, creamier texture. The end result is a fluffy, salty-sweet frosting that can withstand a little heat without turning into a drippy mess.
The cupcakes are topped with crunchy, unsalted popcorn. I picked mine up at the St. Paul Farmers' Market from Farmer Bill's Gourmet Popping Corn. It's perfectly crunchy, light, great at soaking up flavors (can you say olive oil, sea salt & Italian herb popcorn? Yes, please). And, it's locally grown. Plus, it stays crunchy much longer than the supermarket variety. If you haven't tried local popcorn before, check it out the next time you're at the farmers' market.
Altogether, these components make a salty-sweet delight. Though they might not be the most healthy option, they are a great little treat that ensures that just about everyone can enjoy dessert together. They'd make a great addition to your next movie night! Happy snacking!
Gluten-free Vegan Salted Caramel Popcorn Cupcakes
Cupcakes:
Yellow GF Cake mix (Betty Crocker)
2/3 c. non-dairy milk
2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 flax eggs (3 tbsp ground flax 9 tbsp water à let sit 15 minutes in fridge)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ c. vegan butter
Combine finely ground flax seed with water and let sit for 15 minutes in fridge. Cream butter with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add in flax egg mixture, vanilla and non-dairy milk slowly. Mix until well combined. Scrape down the side of the bowl and then slowly add in cake mix , followed by baking powder. Scrape down the edge of the bowl and then beat the batter on medium high for 2 minutes. Once the batter is light and fluffy, add in approximately ¼ c. of batter to each paper liner in the cupcake pan. Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes or until a tester (toothpick) comes out clean.
Frosting:
½ c. vegan butter
1 cup dark brown sugar (not packed)
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
¼ cup non-dairy creamer (or milk)
½ c. shortening (cold)
5-6 c. powdered sugar
Combine vegan butter and dark brown sugar into a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly and cook for 1-3 minutes or until dark brown. Remove from heat, and whisk in the creamer, salt and vanilla extract until smooth. Allow this mixture to cool completely (30-40 minutes in the fridge or 20 minutes in the freezer).
Once caramel mixture is chilled, beat together cold shortening and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar in a mixing bowl until the shortening is well combined (the texture should be crumbly and sort of resemble wet sand). Turn mixer onto medium and slowly add in about 1/3 of the brown sugar caramel mixture. Once completely incorporated add in 1 cup of confectioners sugar. Repeat this process with the remaining two portions of the brown sugar mixture and the 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar. Scrape the side of the bowl as needed to ensure the frosting is evenly mixed. Beat on high for 5 minutes. Once combined chill the buttercream for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Caramel:
1 cup white sugar
¼ c water
½ c. non-dairy creamer
1 tsp salt
Combine 1 c. white sugar and ¼ c. water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the sugar-water mixture starts to come to a boil swirl the pan constantly until it begins to darken in color. This entire process (from adding the sugar and water-until the sugar darkens will take about 15 minutes). (DO NOT STIR WITH A SPOON OR WHISK, THIS WILL CAUSE THE CARAMEL TO LOOSE HEAT AND WILL ULTIMATELY BURN THE SUGAR). This is tedious but it works. Once the sugar starts turning a dark brown/amber colored remove from heat. Immediately start whisking the mixture and SLOWLY drizzle in the non-dairy creamer. The sugar will bubble up a lot as this happens, just keep whisking and it will come together. Once all the creamer has been add stir in 1 tsp of kosher salt to the mixture and return to heat. Bring the caramel back up to a boil over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute stirring constantly to avoid caramel sticking and burning. Once completed, pour into a heat-proof container and allow to cool (30-45 minutes in the fridge or 20 minutes in the freezer).
To Decorate:
Pipe approximately 1 tbsp of caramel into the middle of the cooled cupcakes. (I used a squeeze bottle to fill these and let the caramel soak in a bit before frosting). Once filled, frost the cupcakes with the vegan buttercream. Ideally there should be a little less than 1/4 cup of frosting on each cupcake. This allows enough frosting for the popcorn to stick to and makes sure each cupcake has a nice frosting to cupcake ratio. Finish by pressing popcorn into the frosting until covered to desired appearance.