Rolo cupcakes
If you love anyone enough to give them your last Rolo, why not give these gorgeous Rolo cupcakes a go?
They have a light but rich chocolate sponge, caramel centre and caramel buttercream. They’re topped with a silky smooth chocoalte ganache and a single rolo, making them a gorgeous treat with a big mug of tea or coffee. I hope you love making (and eating) them as much as I do. Enjoy!
Equipment
Cupcake tray (12 holes)
Piping bag x 2
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
100g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
Pinch salt
2 large eggs
100g caster sugar
100g soft light brown sugar
80ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g buttermilk OR 110ml whole or semi-skimmed milk and 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
For the buttercream
120g unsalted butter, room temperature
200g icing sugar, sifted
Half the caramel
For the caramel
200g caster sugar
100g water
200g double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g butter
Pinch salt (optional)
For the ganache
100g milk chocolate
100g double cream
To decorate
12 rolos
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 190°C/170°C fan/Gas mark 5
If you’re making you’re own buttermilk (it’s quite hard to get hold of in the UK), add 110ml milk to a jug followed by 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice. Stir and leave to one side. It will curdle and look revolting. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to!
Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, bicarb, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Then add the caster sugar and soft light brown sugar and combine.
Add the eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to a medium-sized bowl and whisk for 20-30 seconds with a fork
Add half of the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients, followed by half of the buttermilk, and combine. Then add the other half of the wet ingredients and the buttermilk and whisk gently until you can’t see any more pockets of flour
Add the mixture to 12 cupcake cases. You only need to fill them half way. For reference, 4 tbsp was enough to fill each of my large cupcake cases half way (any more than that and they will overflow)
Bake the cupcakes for 18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
To make the caramel, add the sugar and water to a small pan on a high heat. Do not stir. Once it reaches a golden amber colour, take it off the heat and quickly pour in the double cream and vanilla. Whisk it very quickly and be careful as it will be extremely hot. Once everything is combined, add the butter and a pinch of salt (optional) and leave to one side to cool
To make the buttercream, add the butter to a large bowl (or stand mixer if you have one) and beat for 2 minutes on a high speed until it’s paler in colour. Add half the icing sugar, then beat for a further 20 seconds before adding the second half. Beat for one minute on a high speed, then add in half of the (cooled) caramel you made earlier
To make the ganache, heat the double cream in a microwave or in a small pan on the hob. Heat it gently. When it starts to simmer, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds before combining. Then add it to a piping bag. If the mixture splits and looks lumpy, add a dash of cold double cream to rescue it. It should be smooth and shiny.
To assemble the cupcakes, scoop out a small hole (about 2 x 2cm) in the centre of each cake (a cupcake or apple corer are great for this if you have one). Spoon in the remaining caramel from earlier into each hole. Add the caramel buttercream to a piping bag fitted with any nozzle you like. Swirl it on the top of the cupcake, then snip off a tiny bit of the end of your piping bag with the ganache and drizzle it over the top. Finish with a single rolo and enjoy!
