Apple pie cupcakes

I needed inspiration for today’s post and my friend Ana Elisa sent me the link for Serious Eats’ “the best cupcakes in New York City” slideshow.
I took a look but did not feel very inspired – so let’s call it for the day and have some apple pie cupcakes.

Apple pie cupcakes
from Donna Hay magazine

Caramelized apples:
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (73g) caster sugar
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced – I used Gala apples

Cupcakes:
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups + 2 tablespoons (275g) caster sugar
4 eggs
2 ¼ cups + 2 tablespoons (335g) all purpose flour
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (240ml) whole milk

Whipped cinnamon icing:
500g unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (280g) icing sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, extra, for dusting

Make the caramelized apples: place the butter and sugar in a large frying pan over low-medium heat and stir until dissolved. Add the apples and cook for 8-10 minutes or until golden and caramelized.
Remove the apples from the pan and allow to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Place the butter and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour and baking powder and beat until combined. Fold through the milk and spoon the mixture into two 12-hole ½ cup capacity muffin pans lined with paper cases. Top with the apples and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on wire racks.
Make the whipped cinnamon icing: place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 5-6 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon and beat for 10 minutes or until light and creamy.
Using a palette knife, ice the cupcakes and dust over the 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

Makes 24 – I halved the recipe above (for the cupcakes and the caramelized apples), used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans and got 10 cupcakes; I made only 2/5 of the icing recipe and it was enough to generously frost all the 10 cupcakes