Wow, what a mouthful! And trust me, you are going to want to have a mouth FULL of these! A while back I made some caramel apple cupcakes, and they turned out good, but I knew they could be better. After running out of desserts in our house yet again I decided today was the day to play around and see what I could come up with.
Some of the ingredients I used today might not have been my first choice, but I was trying to stick to things I had on hand. For example, the confetti cake lol…. I would likely use plain white/vanilla next time. I might also throw in more than the 15 caramels I had on hand, or perhaps even throw in some caramel syrup to really bring the flavor up front and center in the frosting. Really though, even with the things used everything turned out great, and if I had those things on hand again I would use them in a heartbeat.
These cupcakes don’t rise a whole lot because of the density from the apples so I recommend filling them fairly full. When added the cinnamon to the frosting start with a little and add in small increments until you reach your desired amount. If you are like me and want to save a bit of time, or enjoy a bit of texture in your cupcakes you can leave the apples unpeeled, however I find kids prefer them peeled. Also, I know most apple desserts call for granny smith apples, but I used some firm golden delicious today and they worked very well, so don’t be afraid to use your apple of choice for this.
Spiced Vanilla Apple Cupcakes with Vanilla Cinnamon Caramel Frosting
Servings : 24 cupcakes Time to make : 35-40 minutes
Ingredients :
- 1 box cake mix (confetti or white)
- water, eggs according to box directions
- 1/3 cup applesauce (or however much oil the recipe calls for on box)
- 1 1/2-2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 2 apples, diced
- 1 can vanilla frosting
- 15-20 caramels
- 1 T. butter
- cinnamon to taste
Directions :
- Mix cake mix, water, eggs, and applesauce in a large bowl until moist. Continue on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, mixing well.
- Fold in apple pieces.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake according to box directions.
- Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- To make frosting : melt the caramels and butter in a glass bowl in microwave slowly, stirring every 10-15 seconds until smooth. Set aside and allow to cool a bit. Once cooled fold into the frosting until smooth. Add cinnamon to taste.
- Fill a piping bag, cut a small hole in the end, and pipe onto the cooled cupcakes. Then sprinkle a tiny bit of cinnamon on top.
Culinary Explorer 