Apple Pie Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

As you know from my post titled Cupcake Mania I have had a lot of cupcake inspiration lately. And one of my latest inspiration came from apples. Before my little cupcake obsession, probably a year or so ago, I had this obsession with perfecting the apple pie. And when I say obsession, I mean obsession, I am pretty sure I made apple pie every weekend until I felt that I had the recipe just right. So when I see apples I have a tendency to think apple pie! And well nothing quite goes with apple pie like caramel! And considering my cupcakes obsession as of late, when I saw the apples sitting on my table, I immediately jumped to the idea of an apple pie cupcake! 

And let me tell you, that was the best idea I have ever had! Seriously, these were the best cupcakes I have ever eaten, my husband had 5 and tried to convince me to let him eat my childrens! That is how good they are. In fact as I am sitting here typing this blog post I am thinking about the possibility of making them tomorrow.

And now I am going to pass this little recipe to all of you! 

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Yield: 18 Cupcakes

Apple Pie Mix

2 Gala Apples, cored and cubed

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. Corn Starch

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

Cake

1 Pillsbury Classic Yellow Cake Mix

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/8 tsp. Nutmeg

1 Cup Water

3 Eggs

1/4 Cup Flour

1/4 Cup Oil

In a medium sauce pan, combine: apples, brown sugar, corn starch, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg and heat over medium heat, mixing every once in a while. Cook until apples are just fork tender. Remove from heat, set aside and allow to completely cool. In a large mixing bowl combine, cake mix, flour, eggs, water, oil, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix thoroughly. Then add the apple pie mixture and mix it a couple of times. You don't want to mix it too much and smash the apples. Fill cupcake liners a little more than 3/4 of the way, the fruit will prevent it from overflowing. Cook according to directions on the box. Once the cupcakes spring back or a toothpick comes out clean, remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Caramel Buttercream

Caramel

1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

2 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

In medium, heavy sauce pan, heat the sugar over medium heat, until the sugar liquefies. Do not stir, once the sugar turns to liquid swirl the sugar around the pan and cook until the sugar turns a nice amber color. *Warning: this next part can be very dangerous. It is always a good idea to wear oven mitts for the next part. Once the sugar has turned a nice amber color, add in 1 Tbsp. of butter and whisk. Then slowly add in the cream, make sure you lean back from the pan for this, it will be extremely hot! Don't worry, the sugar will solidify, then add the last tablespoon of butter and whisk. Continue to cook, whisking constantly until the sugar has remelted. Remove from heat and allow to cool, completely, otherwise you will melt your buttercream.

Caramel Buttercream

1 Cup Butter or 2 Sticks Butter at room temperature

1 Cup Butter Flavor Crisco (can use regular Crisco if can't find butter flavor)

1/4 tsp. Vanilla

Caramel

~2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

In a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, cream together butter and crsico. Once they have been creamed together add vanilla and 1/2 cup of sugar, mix thoroughly. Then add another 1/2 cup of sugar, mix again. Scrape the side of the bowl  and add a quarter of the caramel, mix thoroughly. Then add another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and more caramel, mix completely. Continue to do this until the caramel has been incorporated and/or the frosting has reached the desired consistency and flavor. You want a frosting that will not fall off a spoon and one that is soft, if you add too much sugar it get's harder. If the buttercream is not thick enough add more sugar. Remember that the humidity and heat in your house will directly effect the amount of sugar you will need to add to your buttercream. Then add to a large ziploc bag, cut off a small tip and pipe onto your cupcakes! To push these right over the edge of awesome drizzle a little caramel over the top! 

There you have it folks, my favorite cupcakes thus far! Now I dare you to eat just one! 

So, what do you think? Sound like something you might want to try?

"Devouring worlds, one book and recipe at a time."