CARAMEL APPLE CIDER CUPCAKES

for an upcoming halloween/housewarming party, i wanted to be imaginative and festive and thought how fun it'd be turn a fall classic into a cupcake. i've done pumpkin cupcakes in the past, so i had to be more creative...so, the idea of the caramel apple cupcake was born. i did some searching around on tastespotting and foodgawker, but was not finding what i was looking for in one recipe. so, i wanted to look for each component separately, starting with the apple cupcake, then a caramel filling, and, finally, a cream cheese frosting.

for the apple cupcake, i wanted something with a good apple flavor, but not too warm apple pie like. so, i came across a recipe that didn't use apples at all, rather apple cider, and had very few ingredients, which is always nice.

i actually have two variations of the frosting i was able to use: the caramel cream cheese (used at the party) and my go-to cinnamon cream cheese from the pumpkin cupcake recipe i love (which i ended up using for the san francisco giants world series office celebration).

APPLE CIDER CUPCAKES
posted on ward street bistro by heidi on october 25, 2008

• 1 2/3 c all-purpose flour
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 c apple cider
• 1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened
• 2/3 c sugar
• 2 eggs

preheat oven to 350°F. grease cupcake tins or line with cupcake liners.

combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt with a whisk.

beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, on low, until fluffy. while the mixer is running, add the eggs, one by one.

with the mixer still running, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half the apple cider. repeat these two steps, mixing in the remaining flour mixture and cider, ending with the flour.

fill the cupcake tins with the batter. bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

once cool, use the cone method of to add the caramel filled center, using the caramel sauce from the cream cheese frosting recipe below. top each cupcake with either of the frosting recipes.

CARAMEL CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
posted on a good appetite by kat on september 12, 2008

• 3 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 3 T caramel sauce
• 6 T powdered sugar

with an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. add the caramel sauce and beat until incorporated. sift the sugar into the bowl and beat until blended.

CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
posted on allrecipes.com by javaru

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/8 c butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon

with an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. beat in the sugar a little at a time until incorporated. add the vanilla and cinnamon. beat until fluffy.