Caramel Apple Cupcakes

I love Autumn, it's my favourite time of year. Particularly the lead up to Halloween, just as the leaves turn golden brown and you can spend your evenings snuggled up under a blanket with a cup of tea and a piece of cake! I love autumnal woodland walks with the dog, too. But probably the main reason I love Autumn is it really gets me in the mood for baking lots of home comfort treats. Hot puddings and custard, rich cakes, sweet pies. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! The Americans are big on Halloween and fall baking (pecan pie, pumpkin pie, toffee apples...) and after living in both the US and Canada this tradition has definitely rubbed off on me.

So to kick off the Autumn season I decided to take the traditional caramel apple and turn it into cupcake form.

A deliciously moist apple and cinnamon sponge with a big dollop of caramel buttercream, fudge chunks and a lollipop stick (for authenticity!). I also melted down some chewy toffees and spooned them into the centre of the cupcakes. This made for a sweet, chewy candy surprise in the middle. You could also use fudge or something softer to make a gooier centre. Or nothing at all (I personally think the cupcakes will be just as yummy without it!)

I spent a while searching the net for a good recipe for these cupcakes, but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. So I decided to experiment a bit and bought together a few different recipes. I was more than happy with the result!

My Caramel Apple Cupcake Recipe (makes approx 12 large cupcakes)

For the apple cinnamon cupcakes

• 200g soft light brown sugar
• 150ml vegetable oil
• 1.5 tbsp ground cinnamon (I LOVE cinnamon!)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 200g plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced

For the caramel buttercream topping

• 150g butter, softened
• 500g icing sugar
• 120g tinned caramel

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin sized cases
2. Beat together the sugar, oil, cinnamon and vanilla
3. Add the eggs one at a time to the sugar mixture
4. Sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt then gradually fold it into the sugar and egg mixture
5. Stir in the apples
6. Pour into the cases and bake for approx 22mins
7. For the frosting, beat together the ingredients until smooth and creamy then spread/pipe on top of the cupcakes. Decorate with lots of fudge chunks, or nuts or sweets if you wish!
8. If you decide to make a toffee filling, just melt a handful of toffees in the microwave. BE CAREFUL- THIS GETS VERY HOT!!!! Cut a hole in the centre of each cupcake and fill.

Why not decorate your caramel apple cupcake with sweets or nuts instead of fudge? Be as creative as you like...!


Watch this space now as I really get into the full swing of Autumn baking! I have already found a recipe for a delicious looking crunchy caramel apple pie, so I'm thinking that will be my next experiment...

Happy Baking!!!

Love Becca xxx