Toffee Apple Cupcakes

These toffee apple cupcakes are the perfect taste of Autumn. A spiced apple cupcake, filled with a caramel sauce and topped with creamy caramel buttercream. The perfect treat after a chilly Autumn walk.

It’s officially autumn in our household… I’ve baked with apples!

Oh and I’ve got my winter PJs on, and the winter duvet is about to come out of storage.

The last week has been ‘hit and miss’ with the weather, yet it’s been my busiest wedding week of the year. My Brides have had a mixture of everything except for snow! Now I’ve said that it’s bound to happen, isn’t it?

Anyway, as I said autumn is officially here for us.

The apple tree in the garden is dropping what fruit is left after the wasps have been at it, although I did manage to salvage some; just enough to make some seriously autumnal cupcakes.

I’d love to be able to name the variety of apple that we have in the garden, but we inherited a  scraggly tree and all we know is its an apple tree.  We were surprised that it gave us any fruit, and very nice fruit at that; it really wasn’t healthy looking.

Three years on, it’s had a good prune, some love and care, and is now a little less scraggly, although quite short. But it still produces apples and we get a reasonably good crop.

Last year we were away on honeymoon when the apples were ready, and Ian’s parents ‘looked after’ them for us so we didn’t get to taste any; this year we’ve been attacked by wasps. We “think” the neighbours have a nest in their eaves, and the little blighters took a shine to our fruit trees, in particular, the plum has been wasp party central.

They were an absolute nuisance but the recent rain has sorted that one out for us. However, needless to say, the plums haven’t made it into the kitchen this year.

Anyway, since leaving the shop, I’ve not had much chance to experiment with cupcake concoctions; so during my mammoth bakeathon last weekend, I decided to transform some of the apples into one of my favourite cupcakes.

When it comes to an autumn cake, in my world, there’s nothing more comforting than a spiced apple. Add a little caramel into the mix and you’ve got toffee apple cupcakes, autumn in a cake case!

These are a little step up from the toffee apple cupcakes I used to make for the shop which were made with grated apple. This time, I made them with a homemade apple sauce, a pinch of cinnamon and a splash of brandy; perfect! Because of the apple sauce, they are a very moist cupcake.

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Toffee Apple Cupcakes

5 from 10 votes

Serves : 16 cupcakes

Spiced toffee apple cupcakes, with a homemade apple sauce, filled with a caramel sauce, and topped with creamy caramel buttercream.

Author: Lou Carruthers

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Prep Time 40 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 1 hr 20 mins

Ingredients

 

For the apple sauce:

• 6 Apples – Braeburn and Granny Smith roughly chopped into 1 inch chunks.
• 2 Tbsp Soft Dark Brown Sugar
• 45 g Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 tbsp Brandy
• 3 tbsp Cold Water

For the cupcakes:

• 150 g Self Raising Flour
• 125 g Caster Sugar
• 85 g Unsalted Butter
• 1 Eggs
• 100 g Apple Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Mixed Spice
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 150 g Dulce de Leche/ Carnation Caramel

For the buttercream:

• 250 g Unsalted Butter
• 500 g Icing Sugar
• 50 g Soft Toffees eg. Werthers Chewy Caramels
• 2 tbsp Double Cream

Instructions

 

For the Apple Sauce:

• In a heavy bottomed saucepan, add the apples, sugar, butter, cinnamon, vanilla, brandy and water.
• Gently heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples have formed a chunky puree. Do not boil the mixture.
• Remove the mixture from the heat, and allow to cool.

For the Cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 180C or 160C (fan).
• In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the egg, and beat until well combined.
• Add the apple sauce, gently mix until well combined.
• Sieve the flour, cinnamon, mixed space and baking powder and gently fold in the mixture.
• Line a deep muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases.
• Use an ice cream scoop to divide the mixture the cupcake cases, approximately 1 scoop per case.
• Bake for 18 minutes, until golden brown or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Leave to cool on a wire rack.
• When cooled, using an apple corer, core each cupcake and fill with the Dulce de Leche.

For the Buttercream:

• To make the caramel sauce, in a small saucepan gently heat the toffees and the double cream, stirring continuously until the toffee have melted.
• Remove the mixture from the heat, and allow to cool.
• To a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add half of the icing sugar, and beat until smooth.
• Add the remaining icing sugar and 2 tbsp of the cool caramel sauce. Beat until smooth.
• If the buttercream is too stiff, add a tbsp of whole milk and beat until smooth.

To Decorate:

• Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain/smooth nozzle with the caramel buttercream.
• Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes in a swirl shape and drizzle with the remaining caramel sauce.
• To finish the cupcakes, top with an apple crisp. To make the apple crisps, core an apple and thinly slice. Lay the apple slices on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Dust the apple slices with cinnamon and bake at 180C for 40 minutes, flipping the slices half way through. These could be baked at the same time as the cupcakes.

Notes

It is possible to make your own dulce de leche if you prefer.

Any leftover apple sauce or caramel sauce, can be kept in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to 1 week.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcakeCalories: 476kcalCarbohydrates: 68gProtein: 3gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 157mgFiber: 2gSugar: 57g

DISCLAIMER

The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

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