This weekend my family got together to celebrate my Aunt and Uncle’s 25th wedding anniversary. I was asked to make desserts for the party and decided that I wanted to highlight some fall flavors – mainly apple and cinnamon.
These cupcakes were very moist and the caramel frosting was the perfect topping. Everyone loved them!
Cupcake recipe adapted from Two Frog Home.
Frosting recipe from Annie’s Eats.
INGREDIENTS
For the cupcakes
1C. Apple Pie filling, chopped lightly
2C. AP Flour
1 1/2t. Baking powder
1T. Ground cinnamon
1t. Ground nutmeg
2/3C. Unsalted butter
1C. Packed brown sugar
2 Eggs
1t. Vanilla
3/4C. Apple juice
Pinch of Kosher salt
For the frosting
16T. Unsalted butter, at room temperature
1lb. Confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2t. Vanilla extract
1/3C. Caramel sauce
Pinch of Kosher salt
2T. Heavy cream
For the caramel sauce
8T. Unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1C. Sugar
1C. Heavy cream
1/4t. Vanilla extract
Pinch of Kosher salt
DIRECTIONS
To make the cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with papers or grease. Sift dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla. Alternate the flour and apple juice into the creamed mixture until well combined. Fold in the pie filling. Fill muffin tin wells 3/4 full and bake 18-22 minutes. Let cool.
To make the caramel sauce
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar begins to foam a bit. It will look and smell like it’s on the verge of burning. Remove from the heat and add the heavy cream. Stir until the sauce is smooth, then mix in the vanilla and salt. Let cool. (This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.)
To make the frosting
Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed 1 minute until smooth. Blend in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla, caramel sauce and salt until incorporated. (Note: the caramel sauce should be just warm enough that it is workable, but not warm enough to melt the butter in the frosting.) Add the heavy cream and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
Husband Rating – 5 out of 5 – “Delicious! Actually, thanks for reminding me that there are some leftover in the kitchen, I’m going to go have one right now!“
