Caramel Chip Chocolate Cupcakes With Meringue

I’ve only ever had cupcakes with frosting, nothing else. When I saw a recipe for brownies with meringue topping at crazyforcrust.com I wondered if this same topping would work on a cupcake. I chose a chocolate cake recipe I’m familiar with, halved it,  and instead of chocolate chips, I went with caramel chips which worked in perfectly with the brown sugar. These are melt-in-your-mouth chocolate and meringue goodness.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
100g dark chocolate, melted (I used 70%)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup caramel chips

For the meringue:

2 egg whites
1 cup brown sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (175 degrees celcius). Line 2 jumbo cupcake or Texas muffin pans with cupcake liners.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and the brown sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well. Stir in the vanilla and melted chocolate. Add half the sour cream and then half the dry ingredients and alternate, mixing until everything is incorporated.

4. Add the boiling water and mix well. The batter will be very runny, this is what you’re looking for.

5. Spoon batter into the cupcake liners, until they are 3/4 full. Add the caramel chips.

6. To make the meringue, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the brown sugar and fold it into the egg whites.

7. Spoon the meringue over the cupcake batter. Bake the cupcakes for 22-25 minutes. Be careful to check on the meringue after about 18 minutes as it can burn very easily. Once you see that it is nicely browned place some aluminium foil over the top so that the cupcakes can finish cooking and the meringue won’t burn.