The caramel in these chocolate cups is not the easy kind where you boil sugar and cream together. You heat granulated sugar in a dry pot over medium-low until it liquefies on its own, turning from white crystals to liquid amber while you stand there watching it, afraid to stir too much. Then you pour in warm milk and butter and everything erupts.
These take time. The caramel alone needs to cool to 90°F (32°C) before it can go into the chocolate shells, and the chocolate shells need to set before you fill them. It is an evening project, something to do while you have music on and nowhere to be. We make these every time we want dessert to feel like an event instead of an afterthought.
Tips for Making Caramel Filled Chocolate Cups
The dry caramel needs patience
Do not stir the sugar while it melts. Gently scoop melted sugar over unmelted sugar with a heat-safe spatula to encourage even heating.
Watch the colour. Pale amber is mild. Rich golden-rust is what you want. Any darker and it turns bitter.
This is an all-milk caramel, and that makes it trickier
Alexandra used milk here rather than cream, deliberately, to keep the cups a little less rich. She also warned that it is a little trickier than a cream caramel, and she was right: milk carries far less fat, and fat is what keeps a caramel smooth.
That makes the butter worth measuring properly. One ounce is two tablespoons, or 28 g.
Warm the milk and butter first
The recipe microwaves milk and butter for about 90 seconds before adding them to the caramel. Cold liquid hitting hot sugar causes violent seizing.
Pour the warm mixture slowly while stirring. The bubbling is dramatic but normal. Keep stirring until it settles.
If it seizes anyway, that is normal and recoverable. The fix is heat, not stirring: return the pot to the burner and keep cooking until the seized bits of sugar melt back in, as the recipe instructs. Stirring hard off the heat will not bring it back.
Let the caramel cool before filling
The instructions say to cool the caramel to no warmer than 90°F (32°C). Hot caramel melts the chocolate cups you just moulded.
Set the pot on a cool surface and be patient. Rushing this step ruins the chocolate shells.
Tempering is optional, but it changes where you set them
Alexandra tempered her chocolate for these. You do not have to. But if you skip it, set the cups in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature, which is the choice the recipe now spells out at both stages.
Caramel Filled Chocolate Cups with Spiced Rum
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Makes 12
- Diet: Omnivore
Description
Rich chocolate cups filled with a luscious homemade caramel spiked with spiced rum. A boozy, delightful treat!
Ingredients
- 11-12 ounces (312-340 g) chocolate, finely chopped, divided
- 10 1/2 ounces (300 g) granulated sugar
- 6 3/8 ounces (177 ml) milk
- 1 ounce (28 g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 ounces (60 ml) spiced rum
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
- sparkling sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Place 12 mini muffin liners on a plate or tray.
- Melt, preferably temper, 5-6 ounces of chocolate. Spoon a small amount into the bottom of each mini muffin liner and use the back of a small spoon to brush around the bottom and up the sides, coating the entire liner. Repeat with remaining liners. Set aside to allow chocolate to set, at room temperature if the chocolate has been tempered, or in the refrigerator if not.
- Place sugar in a large pot over medium-low heat. Heat until the sugar begins to liquify, checking frequently to prevent burning. Once the majority of the sugar has liquified, gently scoop melted sugar over unmelted sugar with a heat-safe spatula to encourage the remainder to melt. Once all has melted, continue to heat, stirring lightly, until the color is a rich golden-rust color.
- Meanwhile, microwave milk and butter for about 1 minute 30 seconds, until the mixture is very warm and the butter has melted.
- Remove sugar from heat and immediately pour in the milk mixture slowly while stirring. The mixture will bubble violently. Once all has been added, continue to stir until bubbling subsides. Return to heat and cook until any seized bits of sugar have melted and the mixture registers 240ºF (116°C) on a candy or instant-read thermometer, stirring very frequently to prevent the caramel from boiling at all. Once the caramel begins to thicken, allow it to come to a sluggish simmer before stirring again.
- Remove from heat when caramel reaches 240ºF (116°C). While stirring, pour in rum. The mixture will bubble again; stir until bubbling subsides. Stir in salt.
- Set the pot on a cool surface and allow to cool until no longer hot, preferably no warmer than 90ºF (32°C).
- Spoon small amounts of caramel into the set chocolate cups, up to about 1/8”-3/16” from the top of each cup. (There will be extra caramel left over.)
- Melt, preferably temper, the remaining 6 ounces of chocolate and spoon small amounts over the caramel in each cup, using the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula to gently push chocolate across the top of the cup towards the edges. Make sure there are no gaps in chocolate. Tap each cup on a soft surface to settle the chocolate in a smooth layer.
- Place remaining chocolate in a pastry bag fitted with a very small round tip and drizzle over the tops of the cups. Sprinkle immediately with sparkling sugar and a bit of sea salt after each drizzle.
- Leave to set at room temperature if the chocolate has been tempered, or in the refrigerator if not, before serving.
Notes
- This is an all-milk caramel rather than a cream caramel, which is a little trickier to keep smooth. If the sugar seizes when the milk goes in, that is expected — return the pot to the heat and cook until the seized bits melt back in, as in step 5. Stirring off the heat will not fix it.
- For easier pouring of the hot caramel, use a small, heat-resistant pitcher or pouring cup.
- If you don’t have spiced rum, substitute with dark rum or bourbon for a similar flavor profile.
- Store the finished chocolate cups in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 40
- Sodium: 50
- Fat: 20
- Saturated Fat: 12
- Unsaturated Fat: 5
- Carbohydrates: 45
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 3
- Cholesterol: 15
Frequently Asked Questions
My caramel seized and went gritty when I added the milk. Can I save it?
Usually, yes. Seizing when dairy meets molten sugar is normal and the recipe expects it. The fix is heat rather than stirring: return the pot to the burner and keep cooking until the seized lumps of sugar melt back in and the mixture reaches 240°F (116°C). Stirring hard off the heat will not dissolve them. Two things make seizing worse. Cold dairy, so warm the milk and butter first as the recipe says. And too little fat, so measure the butter properly at one ounce, two tablespoons or 28 g.
What can I use instead of spiced rum?
Dark rum works well. If you prefer no alcohol, use one teaspoon of vanilla extract with a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg. The spiced rum adds warm notes that complement the chocolate and caramel, so the substitute should mimic those flavours.
Why does the caramel need to reach 240°F (116°C)?
At 240°F, the caramel is at the soft ball stage, which means it sets firm enough to hold inside the chocolate cup but stays chewy when you bite into it. Under that temperature, the caramel stays too liquid. Over it, the caramel hardens into candy.
Can I make these ahead of time?
Yes. Store finished chocolate cups in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Let them sit at room temperature for ten minutes before serving so the caramel softens slightly.
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Unfortunately did not make a smooth, luxurious caramel. When I put in the milk and butter it all seized up and never got smooth again in spite of lengthy, vigorous stirring. It looks and feels gritty. I’m letting it cool as instructed to see if I can still use it, but it’s disappointing since it was a longer and sweatier process than with other recipes that have been more successful.
You were right, and thank you for flagging it. The butter quantity on our page was wrong — it said 15 g where it should have said 28g, so anyone cooking in metric was adding half the butter, and with an all-milk caramel that’s exactly what makes it turn grainy. It was an editing glitch introduced while we were updating the recipe to be easier to read. It’s fixed now, along with a note on how to rescue a caramel that seizes: return it to the heat rather than stirring, and the lumps melt back in. My apologies to you Karen, and THANK YOU for bringing this to our attention!!
stood over that pot convinced id ruined it right up until it finally went amber, then everything came together in about a minute and i stopped panicking