Apple Pie Cupcakes

Apple Pie Cupcakes

My dad's birthday is on Monday, and he loves apple pie. I decided to try and make something that would blend the greatness of my mom's apple pie with my own cupcake project. I'm really excited about this recipe: it's the first one I've made where the inspiration didn't really come from anybody else's blog. This is all me.

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (1 1/4 stick) butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking sugar.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Alternate sour cream and flour mixture. Be careful not to over mix.

Fill cupcake tins about 2/3 full.

Bake 10 minutes, turn, bake 10 minutes.

Let cool.

Makes 24.

Filling:

3 large granny smith or other tart apples, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp cinnamon

Dash of vanilla

Cook the apples, sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat until the apples are soft enough to give way to a fork. The mixture will be pretty mushy at this point, but not to applesauce proportions. Add the vanilla and let cool.

Pie Crust Toppers:

1 pie crust (recipe to follow)

cinnamon

sugar

[pie crust recipe:

4 cup flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 3/4 cup lard or butter

1 egg

1 tbsp white vinegar

1/2 cup ice water

Mix together flour and sugar. Use the lard into the dries using a pastry cutter or two knives, until it forms a crumb texture. Mix the egg and vinegar in with a spoon, then add just enough water for the crust to form a ball when you knead it. Be careful not to over knead. Let the dough chill in the fridge at least four hours; freeze any unused portion.

Makes 4 crusts]

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Using a round cookie cutter, cut out 24 small pie crusts. I made a few through lattice, but that's time-consuming and takes a lot of crust -- if you go that route, you may need two pie crusts instead of one.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the cut-out little crusts on the paper.

Spray the crusts with cooking spray,

then sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes. You can tell when the crusts are finished because they will feel firm, rather than yielding, when you touch them with your fingertips. For thinner crusts you will need to bake less time, for thicker crusts more.

Remove crusts from oven and let cool.

To combine:

Slice the tops off the cupcakes to level them, using a serrated knife.

Spoon a generous helping of the apple mixture onto each cupcake, then top with one of the crusts.

Before serving, warm the cupcakes for a few minutes in the oven or microwave.

Enjoy!

Cupcake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Piecrust recipe from my mom.

Apple pie mixture by me.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

These cupcakes are SO GOOD. I had no idea they were going to be so delicious and I was completely blown away. That said, summer is not the best time to make them, because they melt in the heat.

Cupcakes:

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp almond extract

3/4 cup cake flour

5/8 (about 2/3) cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened and cuber

2 eggs

1/2 granny smith apple, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Stir together milk and almond extract.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flours, sugar, bp, and spices. At in cubed butter a little at a time, mixing on low speed, until the batter looks sandy in texture.

Add eggs, then milk mixture. Mix until combined. Add apple pieces.

Fill cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 10 minutes, turn, bake 12 minutes. The cupcakes will be brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Makes 18.

Cinnamon Frosting:

1 stick butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp cream or whole milk

1 tsp cinnamon

green food coloring, if desired

Beat butter until soft and fluffy. Sift in powdered sugar and cinnamon, then add cream. Beat until frosting reaches the correct consistency for piping. Add one or two drops of food color.

Caramel coating:

1 bag unwrapped caramel pieces

2 tsp cream or milk

Melt the caramel and milk together. If you do this in the microwave, be careful to do it in small increments and with lots of stirring to prevent the caramel from burning. It may take a while for the ingredients to combine fully. Let the mixture cool for a little while.

When the cupcakes are cool, pipe a spiral of frosting on top of each. Dip the frosted cupcakes upside down into the caramel. You need to do this somewhat quickly, especially if the caramel is still warm, or it will melt the icing. Let some of the excess caramel drip off if possible.

As soon as the cupcakes are coated, move them to freezer and let them sit for a while so the caramel can sit. The milk will keep it from becoming crunchy, but it will firm up enough to look really good. In this weather, they will melt almost immediately, so keep them in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to serve them.

Warning: these cupcakes are super messy!

Adapted from The Baking Robot.