Apple Pie Cupcakes

Let's be honest here; these cupcakes were born out of the fact that I had to buy a whole bag of green apples from Aldi when I only needed one apple. What to do with extra apples? Cook them up and shove them inside a delicious cupcake, of course! These are pretty hearty cupcakes. They are moist and dense and spicy and the apple goes perfectly with them. I am still working on my non-chocolate batters, so this is similar to my other spice cake, but I have been playing with the ratios, and in this one, adding sour cream. I like the added tang and moisture that the sour cream brings.




For the Cupcakes:
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick, room temp)
2 c granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp apple pie spice (I didn't actually have any this go around, so I just used cinnamon, clove, ginger, and cardamom)
1 1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 24 cupcake tins with liners (and an extra little cake pan for the extra batter. No batter left behind!)
2. Combine vegetable oil and butter in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
3. Gradually add in the granulated sugar and whip until light and fluffy.
4. Add in eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture.
5. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.
6. Pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix to combine.
7. Pour 1/2 of the buttermilk into sugar mixture and combine.
8. Pour another 1/3 of dry.
9. Pour second 1/2 of buttermilk.
10. Pour in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
11. Put in the sour cream and whip to incorporate.
12. Divide the batter between cupcakes liners. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the Apple Pie Filling:
4 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped (rather small since it needs to fit into a cupcake)
1/2 c granulated sugar
Juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
A pinch of the following: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, (and I put cardamom as well). I didn't measure these. I added a larger pinch of cinnamon than the others. I'm sorry. I'm the worst. I'll work on it.

 

1. Combine all ingredients into a pan on medium-low heat. Bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, it will start to thicken. At this point, taste it and see what you think about the flavors. I added a little extra lemon juice. Keep boiling until it gets to a fairly sticky filling- mine took about 7 minutes. This way it won't just soak into the cake. Allow to cool before putting inside the cupcakes.

For the Buttercream:
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
5 1/2 c (ish) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon *I am gonna be honest here- I didn't measure. I rarely do with cinnamon. This is my best estimate. Put some in and taste it and add more if you need to. That's all I got. 
**You could also add a splash of heavy cream to loosen it up if you like. I did not.*

1. Put butter into stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and start to mix.
2. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar and cinnamon. *I actually sifted these two together. 
3. Add vanilla and salt.
4. Whip until light and fluffy. If you feel like it's too loose, add more sugar. If it feels too tight, add a splash of cream or milk.

Assembly:
1. Take a cooled cupcake and hollow out a hole in the center, just make sure to not go all the way to the bottom. I also pull off the innards and keep the little top hat to put back on once I fill the cupcakes (see below).
2. With a spoon, put some of the apple pie filling into the cupcake and top with your "cake topper".

3. Pipe cinnamon buttercream all over.