Joe's Last Meal... aka Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Joe's having his surgery tomorrow and can't eat after midnight, so I made a nice meal (lemon chicken with rice) and on a whim tonight decided to make a recipe I've been eyeing since October... Caramel Apple Cupcakes... man oh man are they tasty!

[iPhone photo]

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Ingredients:
(frosting to follow)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup applesauce
1 cup shredded or finely chopped, Granny Smith apples

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. With a mixer, stir the eggs, butter, and applesauce. Mix until combined. Carefully add the dry ingredients.

4. Now chop the apples. Peel and slice the apple. Then using a grater, grate the apple into fine shreds, like cheese. You can also chop it finely which works just as well. Now stir the shredded apples into the batter mixture.

5. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full to almost full, so that they have a nice rounded top like an apple. This batter will make 12 cupcakes.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Test with a toothpick for done-ness. Cool on a wire rack. While they are cooling, make the frosting.

Caramel Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1tsp cinnamon
1 TB maple syrup

1. In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar. When they are melted and bubbly, add the milk. Carefully raise the heat and bring the mixture to a quick boil. Careful - you don’t want to burn it. Once it foams up and turns that lovely caramel color, take it off the heat immediately.

2. Remove pan from heat and stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla, cinnamon and syrup, mixing until frosting is smooth. Then, I simply frost the cupcakes by dipping them into the frosting. It’s more of a glaze - in the sense that it will firm up.