Postmortem: Caramel apple cupcakes

Caramel apples. You see them at Fall Fairs and candy shops, but they’re not always for everyone (super sticky caramel … harder than a rock apples). But I wanted something to embody early fall and those flavors, so I worked on a recipe for caramel apple cupcakes.

I’m already happy with the caramel cupcakes I’ve made, so I looked around online at how other people did caramel apple cupcakes. Some put caramel in the center. Some used diced apples. But I came across one recipe that called for baked apple mush, and I knew I wanted to go in that direction.

I tweaked my original caramel recipe, added some spices, the apple mush and cut the buttermilk in half so I could include apple cider. And I was blown away by how apple-packed these cupcakes are, flavor-wise. I would have never expected it, but they are!

The texture is good, and the cake pairs beautifully with my tried and tested salted caramel buttercream. Add a caramel drizzle on top, and voila! A cupcake worthy of calling itself a caramel apple without the sticky mess and potential for dental disaster (yikes!).