I♥cuppycakes!

Caramel Apple PI Cupcakes

Happy PI Day fellow cupcake-ers!

March 14th. As in 3.14! How cool is that?

You know what’s even cooler?

I know PI to the 12th decimal. By heart. 3.141592653589…

(My calculus teacher, Mr. K would be so proud!)

Ok you’d probably have to be a math nerd to fully appreciate the decimal thing. But just take my word for it. It’s pretty darn cool. Actually you wish you were that cool.

I think you have to be a little bit of a nerd to enjoy baking. Baking is such a precise craft that requires measuring and combining a perfect ratio of ingredients to create something delicious. Don’t get me wrong though. I like cooking but I LOVE baking!

Ironically I am not a big pie person.

I wouldn’t say I hate pie. Hate is such an extreme word. I only reserve that for my dentist. (Sorry Dr. C! It’s not you, it’s the drills, cottonmouth and saliva sucker thingamajigger!) I am just not fond of pie. I’d rather have cake than pie. If you ask me why, I really couldn’t tell you. Pie crust good. Fruit filling (depending on the fruit) good. Whipped cream and/or ice cream good. But I don’t crave pie. I do crave cake. Like a fat kid.

What can I say? I am a PI loving nerd that doesn’t like pie. Go figure!

Recipe adapted from Food Network & Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski

Print this recipe

Makes about 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For cupcakes
1-1/4 cups AP flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 large egg + 1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used Lorann butter-vanilla emulsion instead)
1/2 cup milk (I used half-and-half instead)

For caramel apple filling
4 apples (I used Granny Smith)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I used Lorann butter-vanilla emulsion instead)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter

For whipped cream
1-1/2 cups whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp granulated sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350F.

Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, beat the sugar and butter until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating on low.

Then add vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, ending with the flour mixture.

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

To make filling—
Peel and slice apples into small bite size chunks. Pour lemon juice over apples so they don’t brown. Combine dry ingredients with apples. Toss to coat. Add vanilla and cream. Melt butter in heavy skillet on medium-low heat. Add apple mixture and cook about 7-8 minutes, to soften apples.

To make whipped cream—
Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick.

To assemble cupcakes—
Remove the center of each cupcake using the cone method. Fill the cupcake with about 1 tbsp+ caramel apple filling. Top with whipped cream.

[NOTES: My revised cone method is to use a cookie cutter to push halfway down into the cupcake as a template and then use a knife/spoon to "dig" the cone out.]

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He loves pie. His favorite pie is a tie between apple or blueberry pie. But he is more of a filling fan than the pie crust so he totally loved this cupcake. I think this is probably his favorite cupcake besides red velvet. Nothing is better than red velvet, he says…

Wifey rating: A/A+
I love the caramel apple filling with a simple vanilla cupcake. Now this is my kind of pie! The whipped cream was yummy and I also ate my cupcake with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. HEAVENLY!