Make the caramel sauce ahead of time: I recommend making the caramel sauce at least an hour (or up to a week) before making the cupcakes to give it time to cool down and thicken up.




A note on browning butter... Start with a few extra tablespoons of salted butter, since water evaporates as it browns. Also, keep in mind that European-style butter has less water content, so if you're using American-style butter you might want to start with even more butter.




Use cold cream cheese & room temperature butter. In order to create a sturdy, pipeable cream cheese frosting, pay close attention to the temperature of the ingredients. Cold cream cheese will ensure it's thick enough, while room temperature butter will ensure all of the ingredients cream together properly.