buttercream

Sleep. Eat. Work. Run. Eat. Sleep.

Eat. Work. Run. Eat. Sleep.

Work. Eat. Yoga. Eat. Run. Sleep.

That was the jist of my life over the past week. Half-marathon training started with a bang and I’m pushing myself to establish a steady running schedule. It feels so good to be running again. Runner’s high, indeed!

The only problem is the weather. The last few days have brought temperatures as low as minus 44 degrees (celsius!) with the wind chill. Hello Winter!

I’m committed to this training. I really am. But a girl’s gotta draw the line somewhere, and for me the line gets drawn at about minus 25 degrees. Following a 7.5km run last weekend in minus 30 degree temperatures, I had a chill that I couldn’t shake for several days. Days. Thank goodness for a couple of local indoor tracks – I was able to keep up with the training schedule and get in a couple of indoor runs this week. Running indoors is a bit mundane, but it’s reassuring to know that I’ll still have all of my fingers and toes by the end of the run! I appreciate my extremities. 🙂

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), all this running has kicked my metabolism into overdrive. I am hungry all. the. time. And whether it’s wrong or right, I feel that eating cupcakes (I’m thinking right) and drinking red wine (yep, definitely right) is totally 100% justified by all of this exercise. It’s probably wrong…but if eating rich chocolate cupcakes topped with a swirl of salted caramel buttercream and then drizzled with more salted caramel is wrong, I don’t give a rough one about being right. Ever.

Plus, becoming a better cupcake decorator was one of my new year’s goals, and to become better at something, one must practice, practice, practice. I’m quite certain that taste-testing is mandatory.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

24 chocolate cupcakes – I used this, my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. It’s vegan too!

Salted Caramel Buttercream (from Good Thymes and Good Food)

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups icing sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

3 TBSP. salted caramel sauce + more for drizzling (I used store-bought, but you could make your own!)

2 TBSP. heavy cream

In a standing mixer, beat the butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add in the icing sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is combined, about 45 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until the mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape down the bowl and add the vanilla, caramel sauce, and heavy cream. Beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice. Frost the cupcakes however you wish (I used a pastry bag with a star attachment), and then drizzle with more salted caramel sauce. Filling a small Ziploc bag with the caramel and cutting a teeny, tiny hole in one of the corners worked beautifully for me. Devour!