I am not just saying this because it’s a recipe that I developed I want you all to recreate (although, I do) these are HANDS DOWN the BEST cupcakes I have ever had. The vanilla cupcake is simple and sweet. The salted caramel filling is creamy, and has a spot on balance of sweet and salty. The salted caramel frosting is so luscious, and smooth. The salted caramel drizzle and Phyllo Dough broomstick on top just ties everything together visually and texturally. If that didn’t paint a picture for you, then I guess you’ll just need to make them for yourself and then get back to me 🙂

Salted Caramel Cupcakes With Phyllo Dough Broomsticks | The Squeaky Mixer

Making Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

Do not let this part of the recipe stress you out. I promise you that I was nervous the first time I made salted caramel sauce from scratch thinking that I messed it up every 10 seconds into the recipe. I promise that it is not as complicated as you may think. I’m going to give you some tips that may help you along the way.

I recommend using a wooden spoon, but if you don’t have one use a heat proof silicone spatula. If the sugar clumps are taking a long time to dissolve, let it sit for 15-20 seconds at a time instead of mixing constantly. This will allow the sugar to heat easier. You don’t however, want the sugar to sit for a long period of time without mixing.

Be extremely cautious when adding in the butter and then the cream. Both additions of these ingredients will cause the mixture to bubble. This makes it much easier to burn yourself so be super careful!

If at first the caramel mixture does not come together when you add in the butter, be patient. This step can take a long time. Do not increase the heat to speed up the process, this will only result in burning the mixture. Be patient and trust the process.

Making the vanilla cake batter is simple and will result in a super fluffy, delicious end result. Feel free to reuse this vanilla cake recipe for any other occasion where you need vanilla cupcakes and you can absolutely exclude the salted caramel filling and buttercream.

The butter and sugar creaming process of the vanilla cupcakes recipe is extremely important. Be sure to cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is much lighter in color and fluffier in texture.

Working With Phyllo Dough

The Phyllo dough will dry out quickly so be sure to work as efficiently as possible. I used a sharp knife to slice the sheets of phyllo dough into 1/8″ – 1/4″ strips. I then wrapped the strips at the end of a pretzel stick to create the broomstick. Be gentle and patient with this process.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do. As always, please tag me on social media @thesqueakymixer whenever you recreate a recipe of mine. It makes me so happy!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes With Phyllo Dough Broomsticks

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Maddison Koutrouba – thesqueakymixer.com

Servings

servings

Cooking time

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups 1 1/4 all-purpose flour
1 tsp. 1 baking powder
1/4 tsp. 1/4 Diamond Crystal Baking Salt
1/2 cup 1/2 unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup 1 sugar
2 2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/2 tsp. 2 1/2 vanilla
1/2 cup 1/2 buttermilk, room temperature
Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup 1 granulated sugar
6 Tbsp. 6 unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup 1/2 heavy cream, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. 1 1/2 salt
Salted Caramel Buttercream
3/4 cups 3/4 unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. 2 vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups 2 1/2 confectioner’s sugar
1-2 Tbsp. 1-2 heavy cream
Phyllo Dough Broomsticks
1 16 oz 1 frozen phyllo dough package
12-15 12-15 pretzel sticks
1/4 cup 1/4 unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp. 1 sugar
1/2 Tbsp. 1/2 cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with parchment liners. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate, larger bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Mix for 3-5 minutes or until the mixture has lightened in color and is fluffy.
Add in the eggs one at a time mixing between each addition. Add in the vanilla.
Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients alternate adding in the dry ingredients and buttermilk. Mixing a little bit between each addition.
Do not over mix the batter, use a silicone spatula to ensure that everything is combined nice and evenly.
Scoop and fill the cupcakes to fill the liners and fill them about 3/4 amount of the way.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow them to cool completely before decorating.
Making The Caramel
In a large pan, heat the sugar over medium heat. Try to avoid using a non-stick pan. Stir the sugar constantly using a wooden spoon. The sugar will eventually melt after about 8-10 minutes into a darker amber color. Do not increase the heat level to speed up this process – it will burn the sugar. The sugar will form large and small clumps – don’t worry! Continue to heat and mix.
Once the sugar has turned a darker amber color and melted down, stir in the butter over low heat. This will begin to bubble so be careful. Continue to mix over low to medium heat until the butter is fully combined in the sugar. This can take some time. Allow the mixture to sit for 15 seconds at a time and bubble a bit then mix. Repeat this until it’s fully combined. This process could take 5-10 minutes so don’t worry. Take your time and be patient.
Once the butter has fully combined with the sugar remove it from the heat then pour in the heavy cream. The cream will bubble rapidly, so be ready, aware, and careful.
Once the heavy cream is nicely combined into the caramel, stir in the salt and mix until it has fully disolved and is fully distributed into the caramel.
Pour the salted caramel into a glass jar and seal it tightly and let sit in the fridge to cool.
Making The Buttercream
To make the buttercream, use a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment or an electric mixer and combine the butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla while slowly adding in one tablespoon of heavy cream at a time. Mix until the mixture becomes light and fluffy and creamy.
Once the salted caramel has had enough time to cool, pour about 1/4 cup into the buttercream to make it a delicious salted caramel buttercream. Mix the salted caramel fully into the buttercream.
Making The Broomsticks
To make the broomsticks, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Slice the phyllo dough into thin 1/4″ strips. Wrap the thin strips around one side of the pretzel stick. Use a few strips of phyllo dough to tie the broomstick phyllo dough around the pretzel. Set the brooms down and continue the process until they are all assembled. Phyllo dough will dry out quickly, so work as efficiently as possible.
Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl then stir in the sugar and cinnamon.
Use a pastry brush to gently coat each broomstick in the butter, cinnamon, sugar mixture.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow these to cool completely.
Assembling The Cupcakes
Place a few scoops of the fully cooled salted caramel sauce into a piping bag. Fill each cupcake with salted caramel sauce. To do this, insert the piping bag into the top of each cupcake reaching about halfway down. Slowly fill and lift your piping bag up and out of the cupcake.
Once each cupcake has been filled, use a star tip to pipe the salted caramel buttercream on top of each cupcake.
Drizzle extra salted caramel sauce on top of each cupcake. Then top each cupcake with a phyllo dough broom stick.
Enjoy!