makes
12
prep
20 minutes
cook
1 hour
difficulty
Easy
makes
12
serves
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
1
hour
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
Salted caramel sauce
- 1½ cups (330g) white sugar
- ½ cup (125ml) water
- 2 tbsp glucose syrup (or corn syrup)
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- 50 ml thickened cream
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 150 ml golden syrup
Frosting
- ½ batch fluffy
- 2 drops yellow food dye
- 125 ml golden syrup
- ½ batch fluffy
Cupcakes
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 175 g all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 225 g caster sugar
- 175 g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 175 ml milk
- 12 ice cream sticks to decorate
- 1 cup crushed honeycomb (with or without choc coating)
- 150 g crushed shortbread cookies (cut into small chunks)
- 150 g crushed honeycomb or salted caramel sprinkles (cut into small chunks)
- chocolate sauce, to drizzle
Instructions
To prepare the salted caramel sauce, place the sugar, glucose syrup and water in a medium saucepan over low heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 10–12 minutes, without stirring until it becomes a deep caramel colour. Remove from the heat and add the salt, cream and butter and whisk to combine. Allow to cool completely. Then stir in the syrup until combined. Set aside.
To prepare the frosting, add yellow food dye and golden syrup to one half of the vanilla buttercream and mix until well combined. Place the vanilla buttercream in a piping bag and the yellow golden syrup into another bag. Snip the end off each one and pipe swirls of it into a large mixing bowl. Gently tap the bowl on the bench to help get rid of any air bubbles. Freeze for 1 hour. Use a large ice cream scoop to scoop frosting out like ice cream and set aside on to a baking tray until ready to use.
To make the cupcakes, preheat a fan-forced oven to 160°C (320°F) or 180°C (356°F) for a conventional oven. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cocoa powder, plain flour, salt, bicarb soda and sugar. Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to mix for a couple minutes to help everything combine well (alternatively you may do this by sifting the ingredients together). Add the softened butter there is no butter visible and it’s well incorporated into the dry.
Next, add milk and eggs in a jug and whisk until well combined.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in a slow and steady stream until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl, add crushed honeycomb and mix for another 20 seconds.
Fill each paper ½ of the way (using an ice cream scoop to transfer the batter into the cupcake liners makes this a quick and easy process otherwise you can use two tablespoons). Bake for 20-25 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow them to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.
Core the centre of each cupcake and fill with prepared caramel sauce.
Fit the end of a piping bag with a round tip and frost a low swirl of fluffy chocolate buttercream on top of each cupcake. Start at the side of the cupcake so the sauce doesn’t spill out the centre and make your way in, kind of creating a barrier of buttercream. Dip the chocolate frosted cupcakes into the crushed honeycomb/salted caramel sprinkle and cookie mixture. Gently place an ice-cream scoop of buttercream ice-cream on top.
To finish off drizzle the top with chocolate sauce and add an ice cream stick (optional).
Notes
• If you don't want to make your own salted caramel sauce you can use storebought and simply stir in the golden syrup and set aside.
• Storage: store in an airtight container for up to 3 days (refrigerated or unrefrigerated).
• Cake: recipe can be used for one 8” cake tin - adjust baking time to 30-40 min and bake at 180°C. These cupcakes typically bake on a lower temp and for a little longer than regular cupcake recipes. That’s what helps get that gorgeous even dome shape on top. The cupcakes don’t dry out. Bake your cupcakes for 20 min. If you insert a skewer and it comes out with wet batter, bake for an extra 5 min until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with moist crumbs.
This recipe, photography and styling is by Nick Makrides from You can check out his Instagram for more.
Feeling nostalgic? We want you! For the month of November, SBS Food is asking food lovers far and wide to get creative by putting a multicultural twist or your creative spin on an Australian classic... Welcome to
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
