Great tasting cupcake! Of course it is, it’s heavy on the butter but OH SO GOOD.
You don’t need too much frosting on these…like I said, butter!

Cupcakes (makes about 13-15)
1 1/2 cups (188 gms) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (115 gms) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed (125 gms) + 2 tbsp brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350F and line your muffin pan with paper cups. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Then cream the butter, vanilla and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until well incorporated into the sugar mixture. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating it with two additions of buttermilk and milk. Beat until well combined. Place the batter into the lined cups, filling each to about half. Bake for about 20 minutes. Let them cool down in the pan for 10 minutes, then put them on a wire rack to cool down completely.

Salted caramel
1 cup (180 gms) sugar
10.5 oz (300 gms) whipping cream
2 Tbls (27 gms) salted butter

Put 1/3 of the sugar in a pan and let it melt on a medium heat. When melted, add another 1/3 of sugar and let this melt too. Do the same for the remaining 1/3. When all the sugar has melted, let it caramelize until it becomes a very dark amber color. Remove from the heat and add the 2 Tbls of salted butter. Stir well. Add the cream and stir (don’t worry if the caramel hardens at this point, it will still melt during the next stage). Put the pan back on the stovetop and cook until the caramel reaches a dark amber color. Turn off and cover the caramel with plastic wrap (the wrap has to touch the caramel) to prevent a skin from forming. Let it cool down COMPLETELY before the next stage. If the caramel is too warm, it will melt the butter and the butter-cream will not come out as expected.
When the cupcakes are cool, cut a small round piece out of the tops of each cupcake and pour 1 teaspoon of caramel inside it. Replace the cake piece and set cupcakes aside.

Salted caramel buttercream
9 Tbls (125 gms) softened butter
Beat 9 Tbls of butter for a few minutes and then incorporate the remaining salted caramel (recipe above) into it. Mix well.

Candied caramel tops
½ cup + 2 Tbls. granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup water

Lay out a large piece of parchment paper on your counter.
Put the sugar, salt and cold water in a heavy pan.
Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Now increase the heat and bring the syrup to a boil. Lower the heat slightly and swirl the pan as the syrup caramelizes so it will become even in color (do not stir). When the caramel is a deep dark amber color, dip a spoon in the caramel and let the caramel fall onto the parchment paper in a drizzle. Pointing the spoon straight down. Move the spoon in a circular motion to obtain the caramel designs. Repeat 15 times. If the caramel in the pan thickens too much, put it back on the stove (on a low flame) for a couple of minutes and start again. Cool down completely before detaching them. Careful they break very easily!