Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

Love caramel and apples? Enjoy them together in these incredibly moist Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting that is simply heavenly.I’m not a huge cake fan but I really like cupcakes, probably because the ratio of cake to frosting is 50/50. Now, I don’t like just any cupcake. They’ve gotta be made-from-scratch, have a moist crumb, and have a smooth buttery (or cream cheese) frosting. These Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting meet all those criteria.

The apple in these cupcakes helps make them so incredibly moist. And it helps me feel a little bit better about eating a cupcake. ha!

On top of that moist cupcake is the smoothest sweet caramel buttercream frosting. To make the frosting you caramelize the sugar and then add the cream to make the caramel sauce. Let it cool and then add half of it to the creamed butter and your ready to pipe away.
These Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting are divine!  My toddler ate all the frosting off the cupcake and then said “Mmmm!  More butter!?” Haha!  I was pretty impressed she knew it was made of butter… and also proud that she likes butter as much as I do.

Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

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Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 36 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 6 minutes

Servings 12

Author Garnish & Glaze

Ingredients

For the Frosting:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 12 tablespoons butter room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups shredded apple peeled (any kind, I used Gala)

Instructions

For the Frosting:

1. Stir sugar and water together in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. DO NOT STIR. Let it boil for 5-6 minutes or until it starts to turn a light caramel brown color. Remove from heat and slowly stream in the cream while stirring. Stir in the vanilla. Let it cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Meanwhile, make the cupcakes. (This is also when I take the butter out of the fridge for the frosting.)
2. In a standing mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat the butter and salt together for 3 minutes at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix it in starting with a low speed. Add half of the caramel (reserve the rest for drizzling) and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy (scrape the sides of the bowl as needed).
3. Place frosting in a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Drizzle with caramel and serve.

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F and line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake paper liners.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger together. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture a little at a time until just combined and then add the buttermilk and mix until combined. Fold in the shredded apple.
4. Spoon batter into cupcake liners filling them 3/4 full (about 1/4 cup). Bake for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the tin and then remove onto a rack to cool completely before frosting.

I first shared this recipe for Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting on Handle the Heat.

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