Caramel Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting {Guest Post}
A fellow New Englander and Momma to three. Carrie of Bakeaholic Mama is one of my new blogging buddies from this past year. Not only do we have pretty basic things in common, but she has a way of enticing me with recipes like this. Seriously can’t stop thinking about it. And then there are these cupcakes…look how high she piled the frosting! Seriously need.
Fall is here. Almost. Just two more days for those who are counting, like me! Here in New Hampshire, fall has been in the air for several weeks now and I for one am loving every second of it! Come on… who doesn’t love an excuse to bake with the windows open, cuddling up in your favorite over sized sweats, foliage, pumpkin lattes, and of course, apples!
This is exactly why every spring I start a diet. Because the fall/winter is spent in sweatpants sipping lattes and eating anything filled with butter and sugar…
When I was a kid every fall, my dad (who can’t cook to save his life!) made a delicious apple cake that reminded him of something his mom made for him. It was a simple spice cake with chunks of apples through out. No frosting, just baked in a pan and cut into squares. To this day apple spice cake is one of my favorite fall treats!
So for Rachel’s Apple A Day Party, I wanted to share a twist on my dad’s famous apple cake!
These cupcakes are moist, filled with chunks of apples, lots of warmth from the apple pie spice, topped with a creamy cinnamon cream cheese frosting and to make everything that much better, drizzled in caramel. What I love most about this recipe is that it does not make a ton of cake.You’ll be left with about 8 servings unlike the normal cupcake recipe which yields about 24!
Caramel Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 1/3 C all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp apple pie spice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 C granulated sugar
- 2/3 C unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 C milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 medium apple, peeled and chopped
Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2-3 C powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
Caramel
- 6-8 caramel squares, unwrapped
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F°.
- In a bowl sift together, flour, apple pie spice, baking powder and salt. Set bowl aside.
- With an electric mixer cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix until incorporated. Slowly mix in your dry ingredients while mixing on medium/low speed.
- With a rubber spatula fold in apples pieces. Pour batter into lined cupcake tins about 2/3 full or a greased/floured 8 inch cake pan.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until a tooth pick is inserted and comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool.
- Meanwhile for your frosting, in a an electric mixer blend cream cheese with vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon and 2-3 cups of powdered sugar. It's a personal preference for how sweet you like it and how stiff you want it to be. If it's too thick you can add the heavy cream to lighten it up. Whip until smooth.
- Frost cooked cakes.
- For your caramel drizzle, in a small sauce pan add caramel candies and cream. Mix continuously until melted and smooth. Allow to cool slightly so it's not too hot to the touch. Drizzle over cupcakes
You can find Carrie on Facebook and Twitter.
Check out some more of Carrie’s delicious recipes: Roasted red pepper alfredo with bacon, Crab rangoons and Cinnamon swirl pumpkin pancakes.
Yes, I also eat and cook more sweet/tempting things when the weather gets colder. :)
The cupcakes look and sound really delicious.
Thanks for inviting me to guest post Rachel!!
these look fantastic! I always adore Carrie’s recipes. =)
Looks like I need to go apple picking!
Oh my gosh, these are totally phenom. I’m kinda obsessing over that glorious caramel drizzle action, just sayin’.
That caramel drizzle is calling my name, I need it!! Love these cupcakes, the perfect fall dessert!
Oh I just love these! So pretty. I absolutely love the caramel drizzled over it. Perfect!!!
Bring it on! Please pass me my sweatpants…
Oh my those cupcakes look amazing! I can not get enough of apple month!
These sound amazing! Adding them to my ‘to-do’ list :-)
I need one of these right now!
This is so perfect!
omg, i’m obsessed with this drink at starbucks..i’m totally make these cupcakes asap cause it’s like drinking the drink but eating it…..all!
Woahhh, these look amazing!
I made these for my daughter-in-law’s birthday. They were fabulous! My whole family raved about them and my daughter-in-law said they were possibly the best cupcakes she’d ever had! Thanks for a great recipe!
was very excited about making them, there currently in the oven. only concern is that the mixture was rather thick. is it suppose to be?
I made these tonight, and I must say YUMMY. I made an enhancement (in my mind) I made homemade caramel sauce, and I added bacon to it.. DELICIOUS!!
Thank you!