Winter is Coming: Apple Cider Cupcakes

Apple Cider Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Icing

Feel that chill in the air? Winter is coming. 

But for now, it's time to celebrate Fall. To help your taste buds adjust to the change in the weather, we've whipped up an easy dessert. Apple cider cupcakes, topped with cinnamon buttercream icing, are the perfect treat for autumn. These melt-in-your-mouth cupcakes will leave your house smelling like cinnamon. Not to mention that they match the colors outside.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Bake time: 19-22 minutes

Makes: about 15 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 2/3 c flour

2/3 c sugar

1 c apple cider (I made mine with instant apple cider mix)

1/2 softened butter

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Buttercream Ingredients:

1/2 c butter

1/2 c shortening

2 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp milk

1 bag of powdered sugar

Cupcakes:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep cupcake tins with paper liners.

Step 2: Whisk together cupcake ingredients in a large bowl. Do not add cider while it's hot, or you'll cook the eggs.

Step 3: Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 19-22 minutes, or cooked through. Test with a toothpick.

Icing:

Step 1: Beat together butter, shortening, and vanilla until creamed. Stir in cinnamon.

Step 2: Beat in powdered sugar one cup at a time. When the mixture becomes thick, add 1 tbsp of milk and keep beating. Mix in the entire bag of powdered sugar. You will have extra icing. Either cut the recipe in half before you start, or store icing in the fridge.

To get the two-toned roses that I decorated my cupcakes with, divide your icing in half and color one half red and the other orange. Then follow the instruction here to create two-toned roses.

And that's it! A super easy recipe for fall. These cupcakes will definitely impress at any fall or Halloween party. Enjoy!

Khalee-C-Cupcakes: Heart-Shaped Red Velvet Cake

Caramel Flavored Red Velvet Cupcakes with a Peppermint Garnish

As we watched Daenerys Targaryan muscle her way past the gag reflex and choke down a raw horse heart during the first season of Game of Thrones, we thought to ourselves, "OMG, cupcakes!!" Yes, you read that correctly: cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes, mind you, but red velvet cupcakes with delicious whipped cream frosting and peppermint pieces all in a sweet little heart shape--a nod to Daenerys' suffering. 

Unfortunately, one amongst our number isn't such a fan of red velvet cake and handles eating cupcakes made with it about like Daenarys handled the horse heart...

If you're still with us--which you should be, because these bad boys are tasty--then let's get to baking!

Ingredients:

 Red velvet cupcakes (recipe here) 

 6 ounces of caramel ice cream topping

14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

 1 tsp vanilla extract

 1 tbsp confectioner's sugar

 red food coloring

 peppermint candies

Step 1: Start out by prepping your favorite red velvet cupcake recipe. Here’s a good one from drool factor, but if

you’re more comfortable making it from the box than from scratch, that’s fine too. 

Step 2: I’m using a Wilton heart-shaped cupcake pan. If you don’t have or want to buy a heart-shaped pan, you can either make regular round cupcakes, or there are a couple of simple tricks you can follow to get heart-shaped cupcakes.

•        One is the place a marble between the cupcake filter and the inside of the pan. This created the top of the heart.
•         The second option is to bake your cake batter in a large flat pan and either cut out the heart shapes or use a cookie cutter.

Step 3: Use whichever shaping method you’ve chosen above and bake your cupcakes.

Step 4: While the cupcakes are in the oven, it’s time to prep the caramel and sweetened-condensed milk.  Combine the milk and caramel in a saucepan and stir. The mixture should be warm and easy to pour. Don't let the mixture become too hot and burn the caramel and milk.

Step 5: When the cupcakes are done let them cool for five minutes. Then take a knife and cut slits in the top of the cupcakes. Make sure not to cut to the bottom.

Step 6: Slowly pour the caramel and milk mixture over the slits in the cupcakes. I like to use a big spoon for this, but make sure not to pour too quickly. You want the cake to absorb the mixture.

  

Step 7: Prep the whip topping.

•           Pour 1 cup of heavy whipping cream into a bowl. Mix until soft peaks form.
•           Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 1 tbsp of confectioner’s sugar, and a few drops of red food coloring
•          Beat until soft peaks form

Step 8: Put the whip topping on the cupcakes. To get a great look, put the topping into a piping bag and use a star-tip. I used a 1M star tip (which is quite large) to get a good icing look.

Step 9: Crush peppermints. This is easiest if you put the mints into a Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Once crushed, garnish the top of the cupcakes with the peppermints. Don’t like peppermint? Any chocolate or hard-candy will work and will add a great flavor.

Crushed peppermints sprinkled on the cupcakes

The sweet red velvet cupcakes with sprinkles of peppermint all around 

...take a bite and enjoy!