Jon & I made a trip to Louisville to visit his family for a long weekend. And of course, since Amber lives there too, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to bake together in person. And it's a good thing we did this together! From getting the ingredients on the counter to cupcake in mouth, it took a good 4 hours! And it required the help of Jon's mom, as she cleaned up our messes so we could make a bigger mess with each step!
This recipe required attention to details, with lots of steps along the way, but it was worth it! I really, really love the apple cake! I could eat it like a muffin for breakfast! And the homemade caramel was a big mess, but tasted just like you want a caramel apple to taste like!
Since it only made 9 regular size cupcakes, we made 5 regular size and 9 tiny ones.
Here's the recipe Amber found:
Caramel Apple Cupcakes
From www.thecupcakeblog.com
Yield: 9 regular cupcakes
Apple Cupcakes
2-3 apples, granny smith
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs
½ cup oil
¼ cup apple juice
1 tsp vanilla
1) Rinse and core the apples. Place them on an ovenproof pan or baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes until soft.
2) Remove the apples from the oven, let cool slightly, then remove peel and mush the apple with the back of a fork. Measure out 1 cup of apple mush and set aside to cool.
3) Combine flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
4) Crack the eggs into a separate, medium sized bowl and beat with a form to break up. Add the oil, apple juice, vanilla, and cooled apple mush and mix to combine.
5) Combine the wet and dry ingredients until all ingredients come together.
6) Scoop into cupcake papers about 3/4 full so cupcakes will have a significant dome. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes, rotating the pan after 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cream Cheese Filling
4 ounces Philly cream cheese
1/4 stick butter
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1) Be sure to bring the butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours. Then beat the butter vigorously with an electric mixer.
2) Scrape the bowl and add the cream cheese and beat until combine. 3. Add the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Fill Cupcakes
1) Cut out a cone from each cupcake. Flip the cone and cut off the excess. Set the top aside.
2) Fill each cavity with the cream cheese filling.
3) Replace each top.
Thick Caramel
***NOTE: Don’t make this until the cupcakes are cooled & stuffed.***
½ cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
6 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbls heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
1) Bring the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk to a boil over medium-high heat stirring to combine.
2) With a wooden spoon, stir all ingredients together and then slowly add the heavy cream.
3) Continue to stir for about 20 minutes until the caramel reached 248 degrees. It is important to continuously stir the mixture and to allow it to reach temperature.
4) 4. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Transfer to a bowl and continue to stir for 2-3 minutes allowing the caramel to cool slightly.
Final Assembly
1) Using a small offset spatula, frost each cupcake with the caramel.
2) If desired sprinkle warm caramel with any number of toppings, like coconut or crushed nuts.
3) Transfer the cupcake into the freezer to allow the caramel to set without dripping over the edge of the cupcake paper.
4) Continue frosting and topping the cupcakes and try to work fast. As the caramel cools, it becomes less spreadable. If possible work in pairs and let your helper top the cupcakes and transfer them to the freezer. By the time you reach the last few cupcakes, you will not longer need to freeze them and you can take all the cupcakes out and transfer them to the counter.
We had so much fun! These were tasty apple cupcakes! The caramel was super chewy, but oh so yummy!
