New Year Cupcakes - Pt 1

I just realised that this is a bit out of order, because I remembered that I did want to post something else! Sorry! So for Christmas mum gave me the Miss Melicious Cupcakes book. It's really awesome, the flavours are very original and it was a very cool present! So I decided to try out two of them, and this is the first one. I made them mainly because Cam loves caramel and they looked really cool! In the book they're called, "At The Drive-In". :)

Caramel Popcorn Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

Ingredients:
110g white chocolate, coarsely chopped
125g butter, cubed
1/4 cup golden syrup
2/3 brown sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup self-raising flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup caramel popcorn, crushed, plus extra to decorate

125g butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar
1T milk
2-3T caramel sauce (homemade recipe here)
1t sea salt

Directions:
Combine chocolate, butter, syrup, sugar and milk in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until melted, then cool for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 170°C and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Sift flours and mix into the wet mixture. Stir in egg, incorporating well. Mix in crushed popcorn. Fill liners three-quarters full and bake for 25 minutes or until tops spring back when touched gently. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool completely before frosting. Decorate with caramel popcorn.

Salty Caramel Buttercream:
Beat butter in a stand mixer and slowly add icing sugar until crumbly. Slowly add milk, caramel sauce and salt until the desired consistency is reached. Add more sauce if required. Beat for 3-5 minutes until light, fluffy and creamy, but still firm enough to pipe.