Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a couple of cupcake tins with 15 liners.

In a large bowl, add the flours, sugars, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Whisk until combined.

Add the softened butter, and use a stand or hand mixer to incorporate. Whisk until the texture resembles bread crumbs. 

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, milk, lemon juice and vanilla until combined. 

Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl, and whisk the ingredients together until smooth, and there are no flour clumps.  Scrape the edges with a spatula, then measure out ½ cup of hot water. Pour this into the large bowl. Scoop the batter evenly into the cupcake liners. They should be about ¾ full.

Bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Remove from the pan immediately and allow to cool on a wire rack. 

For the vanilla swiss meringue buttercream, bring a pot, with a few inches of water, to a strong simmer. 

In a medium-sized stainless steel or glass bowl, combine egg whites and granulated sugar. Whisk to combine. Set the bowl on top of the pot with simmering water. The bowl should remain higher than the water level. Continuously mix and heat the egg whites and granulated sugar, until the sugar has dissolved. This will occur at 120F (50F). Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the bowl from the heat and transfer it to a new medium or large-sized bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the egg whites and sugar on high speed until stiff peaks have formed. The meringue will look shiny. This will take 5 – 10 minutes.

At this time, begin to add your soft butter in increments.  Add ¼ cup of butter at a time, until fully incorporated. Continue to whip at high speed, scraping the edges of the bowl in between. Once you have added all OR most of the butter, continue to whip until it forms a light and fluffy icing.  (During the process of adding butter, it may seem soft OR look like it is curdled- continue adding your butter and whipping on high speed. The buttercream will come together.)

Once the buttercream has come together, add the vanilla and whip on medium speed until fully incorporated.  Use immediately to frost cupcakes.

To make the caramel sauce, add the granulated sugar + water to a medium-sized pot. Using a spoon, combine the sugar are water together, not leaving any excess bits on the side of the pot. Place the pot on high heat and keep a watchful eye as it begins to change in colour. Do not stir the caramelizing sugar at this time. Add your heavy cream to a small bowl- heat in the microwave until warm to touch. Set aside. After 5 – 10 minutes, you will see the sugar turn into a deep brown-amber colour. At this phase, put on an oven mitt and hold whisk in that hand. Reduce the heat to medium, and pour about 2 tbsp of the cream into the pot.  Quickly stir the cream with the caramelized sugar. Repeat these two steps until all of the creams has been used and is incorporated into the sugar. If you see clumps of sugar, turn the heat up to high, whisk and cook until the caramel is smooth. Transfer the caramel to a glass or stainless-steel bowl and set in the fridge to cool for about 20 – 25 minutes. Stir every 5 – 10 minutes. Afterwards, remove the caramel sauce from the fridge. Using a hand blender incorporate the softened butter and salt in a couple of increments until fully incorporated.  Transfer the caramel sauce to the fridge until ready to use. 

Next, prepare a piping bag with a large star tip, and fill ⅔ full of vanilla swiss meringue buttercream.

To pipe, hover the end of the star tip 1 cm over top of the cupcake- besides the strawberry filling. Firmly squeeze the bag until icing comes out and touches the base. Continue to squeeze and move your hand in a circular motion around the filling while gradually layering the icing overtop. Once you have reached the centre, lightly press down and flick your wrist to create a peak. Repeat this for all of the cupcakes.

Next, using a spoon or squeeze bottle drizzle caramel sauce on top of all of the cupcakes. (reheat the caramel slightly if it is too stiff to drizzle)