A salted maple caramel centre, dark chocolate and crunchy candied pecans. These delicious vegan maple pecan caramel chocolate cups that taste like a candy version of maple pecan sticky buns. They're easy to make and gluten-free too.
Add the coconut milk, caster sugar, light brown sugar, maple syrup, and salt to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 3 minutes, without stirring.
In a small bowl, mix together the cornflour and non-dairy milk to form a paste. Add the cornflour paste, salt, and vanilla bean paste to the saucepan and whisk well. Simmer for another 5 minutes, whisking every 20 seconds or so. Remove the saucepan, cover, and set aside to cool to room temperature for at least an hour.
Coating
Lightly oil a frying pan or skillet and heat up until very hot. Add the pecans to the pan and allow them to toast for about 5 minutes until they start to brown and smell fragrant. Add in the 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and turn off the heat. Glaze the pecans by tossing them in the syrup, then remove from the pan and turn them out onto a sheet of parchment paper to cool and set.
Line a cupcake tray with 12 cupcake cases.
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler (bain-marie). Add one tablespoon of melted chocolate to each muffin case, and swirl the case so that the chocolate comes up around and coats the edges. Place in the freezer to set for 5 minutes. Repeat with the second layer of chocolate and place back in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Remove the chocolate shells from the freezer and add divide the cooled caramel sauce between them.
Pour the remaining melted chocolate over the caramel and top each caramel cup with a few caramelized pecans. Place back in the freezer to set for 5 minutes.
Storage
Store your vegan salted caramel cups in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a couple of weeks.
Notes
Coconut milk: Refrigerate the tin of coconut milk overnight, then only use the thick cream from the top of the can.
For a nut-free version of these caramel stuffed cups, you can swap out the pecans for some salted pretzels. You can also top them with some popcorn but bear in mind that the popcorn will start to soften after the first day or so.
Sea salt: These caramel chocolate cups taste even more amazing with a sprinkle of sea salt or Maldon flakes.