Quick Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

I was itching to bake something tonight, but my baking pantry was pretty sorry. So, I pulled out every baking item I had and tried to figure out what I could possibly make. I didn't have enough ingredients to make anything from scratch so I had to use a box of chocolate cake mix. It's not my favorite thing to use, but in a pinch I came up with these yummy cupcakes.

Someone just couldn't wait :)Chocolate Cupcakes: Follow instructions for making chocolate cupcakes on the back of the cake-mix box. I used brewed coffee for half of the amount of water called for, just to shake it up a little. The coffee flavor wasn't overwhelming, so if you have some brewed, use it! Once you bake the cupcakes, make the frosting while they cool.

Caramel Frosting:
1 stick butter (salted, room temp.)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk or heavy cream
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted, so the frosting isn't lumpy)
Pinch salt

Melt butter in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling; remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually stir in powdered sugar. Place saucepan of frosting in bowl of cold water. Beat until smooth and of spreading consistency. If frosting becomes too stiff, stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Frosts a 13 X 9-inch cake, 12 large cupcakes or fills and frosts two 8- or 9-inch cake layers.

This frosting is very rich, so use sparingly. Frost the cupcakes as soon as they cool and work quickly as the frosting will thicken as it sits.