Sunday, October 12, 2008

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

One of favorite fall treats are Caramel Apples. A few weeks ago, I was strolling through the produce section when this glorious display of caramel apples caught my eye. I did what any pregnant woman would do and ripped open the package to bite into that sweet juice absolutely delicious fall treat. As I stood there licking the caramel off my figures, the strangers now staring at the pregnant woman eating in the middle of the store meant nothing to me because all I could think about was how great it would be to make this wonderful sweet into a whole batch of cupcakes. Thus, my caramel apple cupcakes were born!

Apple Cupcakes

2 sticks butter (room temperature)
1 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar
2 cup of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
2 cups finely chopped apples (I used one Gala and one Fuji)

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs. Mix together flour, salt, baking powder. Add flour to cream mixture. Mix in applesauce, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Fold in chopped apples. Fill cupcake wrappers. Bake at 350 for 25 min. Eat some hot out of the oven before proceeding to frost the others. I thought they tasted just like apple pie filling.

Thick Caramel
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup6 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon heavy cream1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups of nuts (garnish)

Bring the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk to a boil over medium-high heat stirring to combine. With a wooden spoon, stir all ingredients together and then slowly add the heavy cream. 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.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. Drizzle caramel on top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle with nuts.

1 comment:

3 Little Monkeys said...

OMG!!! These were soooooooo good! The caramel was the best part. Thank you so much for sharing them Shana!