These Rolo Cupcakes were a bit of an experiment, and I'm pleased to say they worked pretty well! Like my Raspberry & White Chocolate Easter Cake I knew exactly what I wanted to do, it just took a bit of research to find the right recipes to combine to make my vision a reality. After a lot of consideration I decided on a fluffy chocolate sponge topped with a sweet caramel frosting and crowned with a Rolo (I couldn't make my mind up with the chocolate/caramel cake/frosting combination!).
This is a ridiculously easy recipe. I'm not kidding: it's virtually impossible to go wrong with and it requires very little baking knowledge at all. So, if you're not the most confident of bakers this is the recipe for you!
I've combined a couple of recipes here. The chocolate sponge is originally from Lorraine Pascale's Let Them Eat Cake Cake (found in Fast, Fresh and Easy Food), and the caramel frosting can be found in The Hummingbird Bakery book, Cake Days. As ever, they're also below with my notes and photographs. These quantities make 20-24 standard-sized cupcakes.
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
150g really soft butter
250g caster sugar
150g self-raising flour
125g sour cream
4 medium eggs or 3 duck eggs (I used duck eggs - thank you lovely neighbours!)
50g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ vanilla pod / couple of drops of vanilla extract/paste
For the frosting:
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter
50ml whole milk
100g tinned caramel / dulce de leche
Sharing bag of Rolos
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4 and line a 12-Hole Deep Bun Tin with paper cases.
Add all of the sponge ingredients to a large mixing bowl or a free-standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment.
The original recipe calls for 4 medium eggs but I used 3
Beat until smooth. Yes, it really is that easy.
Spoon the cake batter into the cases. I found a level scoop of mixture was the perfect amount using my trusty Lakeland Ice-Cream Scoop (seriously: if you don't have one of these, then why not?!).
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are springy to touch and well risen.
Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting. In a free-standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment mix together the icing sugar and unsalted butter until it reaches a sandy consistency.
Add the milk and beat until smooth. Beat in the caramel.
Transfer to the fridge until ready to use if necessary.
Once the cakes are cool, pipe the frosting on top in swirls and finish with a Rolo. Enjoy!
I love it when a plan comes together!
These are exactly as I pictured them in my head which is a bonus! I'd made both of the individual recipes before so knew what they should be like, but combined they're so, so much better. The chocolate sponge is light, fluffy and ridiculously moist (thanks to the sour cream), and the super sweet caramel frosting compliments it perfectly.
For an experiment I'm pretty pleased. When I make them again I'd be interested in going a step further and maybe adding a caramel centre to the sponge? I don't know whether it would be worth adding a blob of caramel or chunks of toffee to the batter before baking, or injecting a splodge of caramel just under the frosting. Either way it might add a more Rolo-y flavour and more dynamic texture to the cupcakes. They're fine as they are though, but as they're so quick and easy to make it may be fun to work on them a little more!
I also enjoyed photographing outside for the first time this year (hence no filters or editing required for the photos above), and given how I only had one casualty carrying them outside - thank God I had lots of spares... - I'd say it was a massive success!
Will you be trying out these Rolo Cupcakes? Do let me know if you do, and who you'd give your last Rolo to, in the comments below!
[N.B. this post contains affiliate links to Lakeland products.]
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