Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Day 12. Hallefreakin'lujeah!

Honestly I haven't eaten these tonight but the early reviews from Randy and Bri are positive. Moist cake made with pie filling. Sort of like the muffins that you mix a cake mix and a can of pumpkin. Sort of the same idea only with eggs and apple chunks. And caramel apple pie filling is probably not NEARLY as "healthy" as pumpkin would be. Ok, it's not really the same at all but I tried. The frosting is my caramel cream cheese and that is always a winner. I'm always looking for things I can slather it on.


Caramel Apple Cupcakes
2 1/2 doz cupcakes

1 yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 can caramel apple pie filling
1 1/2 tsp apple pie spice
1 stick butter
1 8oz brick cream cheese
1/4 c. (ish, I honestly just squirt) caramel ice cream topping
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3-4 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line your pan with liners.
2. Open pie filling and run a knife through the apples several times to cut them into chunks instead of the slices.
3. Mix cake mix, eggs and pie filling until well blended.
4. Fill cupcake liners with 1/4 c batter and bake for 17 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let cool completely.
6. Cream butter and cream cheese.
7. Add caramel and vanilla and mix well.
8. Gradually add powdered sugar mixing well until frosting is the right consistency.
9. Frost cupcakes and drizzle more caramel over the top.

Blueberry Pancake with Maple Cream Cheese

My mom made breakfast every single morning that I can remember growing up. This wasn't a granola bar or dry cereal kind of breakfast, it was eggs and bacon and pancakes. Now, I always preferred waffles to pancakes but if there was any kind of berry involved I was all for pancakes. As a kid we had mostly huckleberries but one of my favorite books when I was little was "Blueberries for Sal" so I could pretend those huckleberries were blueberries. And in my imagination I could hear those berries hitting the bottom of the bucket of the person that picked them. "Kaplink, kaplank, kaplunk". Anyway these definitely brought those memories back as I was taste testing the batter and frosting.

These cupcakes are really rich, like it's a good thing that they aren't oversized rich. The maple cream cheese frosting is delicious and the bacon is the perfect garnish. The saltiness helps cut the sweetness of the frosting and really ties the cupcake together with that breakfast for dessert taste.

Blueberry Pancake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
2 1/2 doz cupcakes

Cake:
1 box white cake mix
1/2 c. oil
1 c. buttermilk
3 eggs
1 T. vanilla
1 T. apple pie spice
3/4 c. sour cream
1 12 oz bag frozen blueberries

Frosting:
1 stick butter
1 8 oz cube cream cheese
1 T. maple flavoring
3-4 c. powdered sugar

Bacon for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.

2. Sift cake mix and apple pie spice  into a bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine  eggs, oil, sour cream, buttermilk and vanilla extract.

4. Stir in cake mix and spices.

5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 17-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

6. Frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese. Add maple flavoring and slowly add in powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Add 1 Tbsp. milk if it becomes too thick.

7. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes

8. Garnish with a piece of bacon.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Day 8. These have been on my list of treats to make for a while. I love anything pumpkin and the minute it starts to get cooler I'm thinking about pumpkin cake, cookies and bread. These were made from the recipe at yourcupofcake.com. I made no changes and mine aren't as pretty as hers but they still taste pretty darned good. I'll definitely do them again.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Cake:

1 box yellow or white cake mix (you can use Spice mix and omit spices)

1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. cinnamon

15 oz. pumpkin puree

3 eggs

1/2 C. applesauce or oil

1/3 C. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/4 C. sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Cinnamon Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 C. butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 1/2 - 4 1/2 C. powdered sugar

Extra cinnamon and sugar for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.

2. Sift cake mix, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon into a bowl an set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, applesauce, milk and vanilla extract.

4. Stir in cake mix and spices.

5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 17-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

6. Place your melted butter in a small bowl.

7. Combine sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl.

8. Use a pastry brush to brush melted butter on the tops of your cupcakes (they can be cooled or nearly cooled), then roll the tops of the cupcakes into your cinnamon-sugar to get that "snickerdoodle" look.

9. Frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese. Add cinnamon and vanilla extract and slowly add in powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Add 1 Tbsp. milk if it becomes too thick.

10. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and sprinkles extra cinnamon-sugar on top

Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes

Day 7 and I'm too tired to expound on this one except to say the banana cream is fab.u.lous and I may have just squirted it into my mouth straight from the piping bag when I was done doing the cupcakes...Maybe. Possibly. Probably.

Chocolate Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes
Your Cup of Cake

Chocolate Banana Cake:

1 box Devil's Food cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 C. oil

3 bananas, mashed

1/2 C. milk or buttermilk

1/4 C. sour cream or plain yogurt (optional)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Chocolate Buttercream:

1 C. butter, softened

1/2 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 Tbsp. milk

3-4 C. powdered sugar

Banana Cream Filling:

1 small pkg. banana cream instant pudding mix (jello mix)

2 C. heavy whipping cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, bananas, milk, sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth.
3. Stir in cake mix until smooth.
4. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 16-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
5. Chocolate Buttercream: Beat butter until smooth. Add cocoa, vanilla and milk and beat again. Slowly add in powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
6. Filling: Using a whisk attachment on your Kitchen Aid or hand mixer, whip cream and pudding mix until stiff peaks form.
7.  To Assemble: Pipe a ring of chocolate buttercream around the edge of the cooled cupcakes. Then use a food scoop or a spoon to place the filling in the middle.