The leaves are changing colors and the air is crisp. Fall is here. My roommates and I decided to celebrate by having a fall-themed party over the weekend. I, not so surprisingly, was in charge of the cake desserts. I somewhat feel pressured to never repeat the same recipe at parties, so I tried Stephani Pollack of the Cupcake Project's Caramel Apple recipe. I selected it not only because her recipes always turn out delish, but also because I like that it included apple butter. I decided to give it a go.
You can check out her recipe here. If you plan on making mini-cupcakes, it will make over 4 dozen and the baking time will be closer to 14 minutes. It is a great apple cake recipe. Next time I might even add more fresh apples to the mix.
To make them caramel apple cupcakes, I devised a caramel frosting recipe with the help of Erin, my taste tester and fabulous baking helper.
Caramel Buttercream Frosting
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (approximately 1 pound) confectioner's sugar
- 1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping
- Cream the butter until pale and fluffy.
- Add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time to the confectioner's sugar. Mix on high speed for about 15 seconds after each addition to keep the frosting nice and fluffy.
- Add the caramel ice cream topping to the frosting and mix well. Once completely combined, mix on high speed for 20-30 seconds to aerate the frosting and keep it fluffy.
The frosting and cupcake combination was a success. We added some fall sprinkles
because sprinkles make everything more fun.
While making these cupcakes, I couldn't help but think back to my first year of medical school when Sara and I made apple pie. I had never made apple pie before, and I didn't know that apple pie required cinnamon. Sara was in shock at my lack of knowledge of the blissful union of apples and cinnamon. Reflecting on these cupcakes, that 1 tsp of cinnamon is pretty important :)