Caramel Apple Pie Cupcakes ♥

Fall Caramel Apple Pie Cupcakes ♥

These are a few of my favorite things...

about Fall.

By: Amanda Cupcake

 The cupcake is a conglomeration of spicy fall flavors swirled with salted caramel frosting, dripping with caramel on top. A mini handmade apple pie rests on top of each little cupcake creation (and although some might say the pies are too pretty to be eaten, I say that the pies are yummier because they are pretty!)

..And a surprise inside! 

Do you see the apple pie that is baked inside?

Pie and Cake together..I've said before..and I will say it again.

Somehow this pie & cake combo is a movement toward World Peace. (because..it unites pie & cake people!):

Watch my video tutorial here on how to bake a pie inside of a cupcake:

..The recipe for Fall in a Cupcake here, from start to finish:

Your first step,  Mini Handmade Apple Pies, by you:

Use a ready made crust…Pillsbury is the ready-made pie crust I recommend!

Ingredients Needed:

Apples (4-6 depending on how many mini pies you are making)

Dash of lemon juice

¼ Cup of Sugar

1 Tablespoon of All Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp ground Cinnamon

1/8 Tsp Ground Nutmeg

For Mini Pie Crusts:

1. Use tartlett cutters as your tools to cut out pie crust shapes.
2. Take out a mini cupcake pan, and spray with non stick spray.
3. Mold the mini pie crusts into the mini cupcake liners. Make sure they are deep enough to get filled with delicious pie filling
**I always bake enough mini pies to bake inside of the cupcakes and also to use as decoration for the top of the cupcakes. For example: If you are baking 18 cupcakes, you'll need to bake 36 pies.  One pie for the inside of each cupcake, and one pie for the top of each cupcake.

For Filling:
1. Dice apples as tiny as you can get them (they have to be able to fit into a mini pie crust).
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together.

3. Add diced apple to this mixture and toss all of the ingredients together.

4. Fill each of the mini pies with your apple pie filling and bake at 350-375 for appx 15-20 minutes, until crust is crispy and brown (but not burnt or overbaked).

To take pies out of the pie crusts:
Use a toothpick or a fork.  They come out of the mini pie pans best after cooling in the mini cupcake pan for about 10-15 minutes (so they are still slightly warm).

Your second step..Spiced Cupcake Batter:

Dry Ingredients:

2 Cups all-purpose Flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger

Creaming Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Butter, Softened
1 1/4 C Packed Brown Sugar
3 Large Eggs

Liquid Ingredients:
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/1/4 C Milk

Instructions:
1. Preheat the Oven to 325.
2. Line your cupcake pans with about 18 liners (this makes about 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes).
3. In one bowl, sift flour.
4. Add remaining dry ingredients and whisk together with flour.
5. In a second bowl, combine your liquid ingredients (milk & vanilla extract). Set aside.
5. Cream Sugar & Butter together in your mixer for about 2 -3 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the bowl as needed so all the delicious ingredients are evenly combined.
6. Add eggs one at a time and blend well.
7. Add one-third of flour mixture to the creamed mixture.
8. Add one third of liquid mixture.
9. Repeat about two times until all ingredients are evenly blended.
10. Remember: There may be some amazing yummy-ness being left on the bottom of your bowl so I would recommend scraping the bowl with a spatula several times throughout mixing.

Before you scoop the batter into the cupcake liners..read below:

Your Third Step, Baking the Mini Pies & Cupcakes together!

1.  Make sure your cupcake pan is lined with cupcake papers!
2.  Fill a ziploc or a piping bag with your cake batter.
3.  Pipe some cake batter into the bottom of your cupcake liner (with a small amount of batter - just enough to cover the bottom of liner) and stop here.
4. Place your mini pie on top of the batter.
5.  Pipe the cake batter on top of the pie, and fill liners about ¾ full.
6.  Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes.
7.  The result: A trip to the apple orchard inside of a cupcake.  (I like to cut the cupcake open and look inside before I eat it, because it looks so festive and pretty!)

Simple Salted Caramel Frosting:

Ingredients Needed:

1 Pound of Butter (cut up into squares)
6-8 Cups of Powdered Sugar3/4 Cup of Ready Made Caramel (You can find it in the ice cream section at the grocery store. I use Mrs. Richardsons brand).1 Tablespoon of Sea Salt1 Tablespoon of Vanilla

Instructions:

1. Blend Butter Squares in your mixer until creamy and light like butter should be.
2. Pour the caramel into the butter, and enjoy this moment. (It looks really pretty when you do, swirls of light caramel in the butter! Yum!)3. Blend your Butter & Caramel together until the mixture is a very light brown. Sadly, the swirls will disappear. But they have gone to a wonderful place.4. Mix in Sea Salt.5. Add The Vanilla Extract6. Make sure your mixer is turned down low. (Unless you want snow showers of powdered sugar which could be fun in some kitchens..)7. Gradually add the powdered sugar until the frosting looks light, airy, and dreamy.8. Optional: You can add 1 Tablespoon of Milk or Heavy Whipping Cream if you want a more "spreadable" frosting. (I add milk all the time to the frostings I use to spread on cakes).

For Decorating:  Cut a hole in the end of a disposable piping bag. You can push piping tip 1A through to the tip of the bag and swirl your frosting on with the tip! Or you can simply cut a hole at the end of the bag and pipe the frosting out ♥
Drizzle caramel on the top of your cupcake, and adorn each cupcake creation with a second mini apple pie!

A Sparkly Apple Cupcake Kiss. ♥

 I am very happy to say that people *love* that I add sparkles to my cupcakes.

This is what happened to my lips the other day after I ate one of my cupcakes:

The best thing is when a man comes to visit me while I am working in the kitchen (whether it be friend, potential romance, or even my dad)..and the second he graces my presence, I see a speck of glitter on him.  I don't know how it happens so fast, but it does. I don't even have to touch him! It is quite endearing seeing a speck of glitter on a man's face, t-shirt, anywhere..really! The thing is, none of the men that have graced my glittery presence have seemed to mind at all.

                                                             ♥

Wouldn't James Franco look great with a speck of Amanda Cupcake glitter on him?

♥

So yesterday I went out looking for my dreams, a trail of sparkles leading me.
For a place to call home. My future cupcakery.  I am not sure when it will happen, but I know that it has to!

This is a quote my sister-in-law posted on facebook this week and it is so true to any of us who have creative dreams. The creative dreams that live in our mind that we want to become tangible!

Wouldn't it be great if Audrey was eyeing my cupcakes in this window? Cupcakes for breakfast. Quite a vision and a dream I have.

After my search for my dreams yesterday, I went straight to the kitchen to work on a new cupcake.  I was inspired, and I think I reached a whole new level with these:

Apple Crisp-Pie Cupcakes ♥

I baked  mini apple pies inside of a spiced cupcake. So it sort of became this moist autumn spiced cinnamon-a-licious apple pie cake masterpiece in my mouth. 

I always like to cut my cupcakes in half to reveal the beauty that is yummy.

Just so people know what they are in store for.. I baked additional mini apple crisp pies to top the swirl of salted caramel that is on top of the spiced apple-crisp pie cupcake!

♥

The cupcakes sold out today at Cronie's in Waupaca.

♥

My friend that was watching me create this concoction (and yes..I saw glitter on him).. said that I looked like a mad scientist! (In a cutesy cupcake-ish polka dot apron sort of way).

I love being the mad sparkly cupcake scientist who wears polka dots and gets my apron "dirty" with glitter.

Or if I forget an apron, I sacrifice my jeans to the glitter and frosting.   I didn't even really want to wash them.

You can be a mad sparkly scientist who goes all crazy surprising people with edible gifts inside of cupcakes too:

My recipe for mini apple crisp pies:

(These are also perfect alone. Think....delicious finger food at a Fall Soiree!)

I tested the Apple Crisp recipe from one of my mentors Martha Stewart and adapted it to fit Amanda Cupcake.

You will need:

Stuff:

• Mini Pie Tins or Tart Tins (make as many as you want.  You might eat some of them while on your baking journey).
• An Apron
• Disco Dust (Preferably in Rainbow or Hologram Gold)
• An Apple Corer

Yum:

• 3 Pounds of Baking Apples (sliced into tiny tiny tiny thin slices so they fit inside of the mini pie crusts)
• Pillsbury Pie Crust
• 3/4 Cups of All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Cup Plus 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
• 1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

(you can store any leftover crisp in your freezer to use later)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Prepare your mini pies.  Roll out your pie crust, and use your mini pie tins as "cutters" to cut out the pie crust that will fit nicely into your mini pie tin!

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and the 2 Tablespoons of Granulated Sugar.

3.  Cut up the butter and use a pastry blender (or you can use other things if you don't have a pastry blender-like your clean hands, or two knives). Just make sure you mix all together until the mixture is clumpy and coarse. You can freeze this while you move on to your next step.

4.  In another bowl, toss your mini apple slices with the fall flavors of cinnamon, remaining sugar, a tiny bit of flour, and lemon juice.

5. Line your cookie sheet with mini pie tins.  Fill each prepared pie crust with your seasoned apples.

6.  Top your seasoned apples with apple crisp mixture.

7.  Bake in oven at 375 for about 20-25 minutes (ovens vary).

8. The crusts should look light brown when finished, and people should nearby should be exclaiming while drooling, "It smells like fall in here!

To continue the sparkle trail of dreams..

Sprinkle some sparkles on the top of your mini pie!

Follow my blog instructions here on how to bake a mini pie inside of a cupcake!



A Fall Romance

The truth is out.
I am in love......

                                                    With Fall.


Trips to the apple orchard.
Cuddling by a fire.
Little Twinkly Orange Lights.
Crispy Air.
Jumping in the leaves.
Little bags of candy pumpkins
That tingly feeling in the air that is cold..and warm at the same time.
The excuse to wear a costume and be your own superhero.

The treasured beauty that will soon be covered by a blanket of snow and ice.

Because I am in love.. I would like  to re-invent the "feel of fall" in every delicious delight I bake.

Like my chocolate cherry red velvet leaf cupcakes ♥

Last Saturday, fall romance was definitely in the air. My Orange Dreamsicle Cake Pops Sparkled at Mollie & Sean's Wedding. ♥

Don't they remind you of orange twinkly lights on the porch on an October evening?

                                                         ♥

Last Thursday it was Donna and Bill's Fall Anniversary.
So I invited them to join me at an apple orchard party .. complete with handmade banners on top of a cake.

See the original blog about it here.
The inside of the cake looked like this!

Cake & Apple Pie. Spice Cake. Repeat. Cake & Apple Pie!

And after popular demand..I decided to turn this wonderful blog into a tutorial about how I made such an edible delight.

First of all..

I tend to make a mess when I bake.

Look at how much frosting (or is it cake batter?) I got in my hair.

This happens every time.
But in my kitchen, when the frosting or batter goes flying, it just means I am completely inspired and having a great time!

This photo was the perfect inspiration for the flavor of the cake.

Caramel, Apples.

                
The cake itself was vanilla, spice, and apple pie.
With a salted caramel frosting.
There's a recipe for quick & easy salted caramel frosting that you can make at home below. ♥

I needed about 6 cups of apples per pie.

So the first thing I did..was peel a lot of apples.

12 cups of apples to be exact.

I had to make two pies for this special cake.

Here are the famous apple pies I baked.

They didn't have to be beautiful on the outside.

Just YUMMY on the inside.

After all, they are supposed to hide inside of the cake!

I used two of these deep 10" pans to combine my cake & pie.

It is a beautiful pie & cake disaster if you don't remember to flour & butter them before pouring in the batter.

First I coated the bottom of the pan with white cake batter.

(You can add vanilla bean to your favorite white cake recipe-or even a white cake mix to give it an organic rustic apple orchard feel)!

Next I carefully placed my 9" pie on top of the batter.

Started to pour the batter over the top of the pie..

I completely covered the pie with batter!

It seems like magic, doesn't it?

A pie hiding inside of a cake.

Oh my.

I baked both cakes at 350 for about 40 minutes each.

I even baked a third spice cake and sandwiched it in between the layers.

The people at the party were so happy with the cake that they asked me to sit down and eat it with them. This was my piece.

Stacking The Cakes:

1. Freeze your cakes for a few hours before even trying to stack them.
2. Once frozen, I "leveled" the top of my cakes using a cake leveler.
3. I frosted the top of each cake with my salted caramel buttercream.
4. The stickiness of the frosting in between each layer is ideal for stacking.
5. I used a giant cake spatula to frost the top & the outside of the cake.

I sprinkled cinnamon and gold glitter on the top!

I used pretzel sticks instead of lollypop sticks for a personalized cake topper. They look sort of "rustic" like sticks!

Salted Caramel Frosting:
There are many ways to make caramel. And frosting.
But this recipe is the quickest and easiest way to make salted caramel buttercream frosting at home.

Ingredients Needed:
♥1 Pound of Butter (cut up into squares)
♥4 Cups of Powdered Sugar
♥3/4 Cup of Ready Made Caramel (You can find it in the ice cream section at the grocery store).
♥1 Tablespoon of Sea Salt
♥1 Tablespoon of Vanilla

 Instructions:
1. Blend Butter Squares in your mixer until creamy and light like butter should be.
2. Pour the caramel into the butter, and enjoy this moment. (It looks really pretty when you do, swirls of light caramel in the butter! Yum!)
3. Blend your Butter & Caramel together until the mixture is a very light brown. Sadly, the swirls will disappear. But they have gone to a wonderful place.
4. Mix in Sea Salt.
5. Add The Vanilla Extract
6. Make sure your mixer is turned down low. (Unless you want snow showers of powdered sugar which could be fun in some kitchens..)
7. Gradually add the powdered sugar until the frosting looks light, airy, and dreamy.
8. Optional: You can add 1 Tablespoon of Milk or Heavy Whipping Cream if you want a more "spreadable" frosting. (I add milk all the time to the frostings I use to spread on cakes).

This is the texture that makes you want a spoon. ♥