Welcome to volume three of my Boozy Bakes series: Caramel Appletini Cupcakes! Now, I’m not going to lie to you, I had my doubts about this one, guys. Green apple? In a cupcake? How does one even do that? Won’t it taste funky and fake? But I really enjoy a nice appletini, and I had my heart set on giving caramel appletini cupcakes a shot, so I just had to try. So, I paid a little visit to the super-shady liquor store in Clermont, did some cruising in the candy-making section of amazon, and decided to just go for it. And let me tell you, I’m definitely glad I did.
This cupcake tastes just like a caramel apple. It shouldn’t. It should taste artificial and weird, but I swear it has that intangible flavor that floods your palate when you first bite into a caramel apple. Its sort of crisp, has a lot of sweet/sour contrast, and hits just right on these first few days of spring.
Fellow teachers, students, and parents out there: we’re almost there guys. I personally find the time between Christmas and spring break to be BY FAR the hardest part of the year, and we’re almost through it. I’m trying to bring the energy for the last few weeks, because my students sure need it. We are returning to five days a week instruction in about a week and a half, and my kids are just… all over the place about it. Some are thrilled, some are angry, some are meh. I wish I knew the right thing to say to all of them, but I feel like all I can do is show that I’m excited to try to get back to normal…. hopefully spring break will help them get used to the idea as well.
It’s ok to cheat with the filling. I promise.
I have a love/hate relationship with caramel. My various failures and successes with caramel and other baked goods are documented here on this blog, and I encourage you to check those out. It’s ok to fail at baking. It helps you learn. And in my case, it gives my mother an excuse to mock me, something that brings her great joy. (Love you mom.)
I started out this recipe with the idea in my head that I was going to make homemade caramel filling for these cupcakes.
Hah.
No.
After creating an alarming smoking black mass in one sauce pan, and one mass of crystallized sugar that looked similar to something found in Yellowstone National Park in another, I gave up on that pipe dream and turned to an ingredient that never fails me: canned dulce de leche.
Realistically, who really wants to make their own caramel sauce anyway? That canned stuff tastes amazing and is 100 percent guaranteed NOT to ruin your pots and pans or make your sink permanently sticky.
Hopefully those soaking pans will have magically cleaned themselves by the time I get home?
That sour apple flavor…
Whenever I watch cooking shows, the judges always turn their noses up when a contestant uses an artificial flavoring. Paul Hollywood always smiles smugly and says something along the lines of “Oh dear, orange extract? Zest is the way to go, mate.” I’m sure he’s right, but I think in this case using an artificial flavor is the only way forward if you truly want that characteristic pucker flavor of green apple. I used an extract I found on Amazon, and I recommend it. They aren’t paying me or anything, it was just good. Although, as usual, if you are the owner of that extract, you know. Send me some money. Or some butter. Whatever works.
I also used quite a bit of apple pucker liqueur, and acquiring that was a bit of an adventure. I was pretty sure there was such a thing as green apple liqueur, but the bougie Meijer in Avon totally let me down when I looked for it. So, I decided to visit the tiny (very shady) liquor store in Clermont to see if they had any. Based on his stony stare, the heavily bearded and tattooed gentleman behind the counter clearly had no idea what to make of me when I asked if I could bake this stuff straight into a cupcake. Turns out you can, it it tastes delish.
Try out this recipe, and let me know what you think!
Interested in these cupcakes or something else from Kelly Likes to Bake? Place orders by contacting me at kellylikestobake@gmail.com !
Interested in more Boozy Bakes? Here are my previous Boozy Bakes projects:
Blueberry Limoncello Layer Cake!
Yeah, the mudslide ones were the best. Just saying.
Caramel Appletini Cupcakes!
Course: dessertCuisine: American Baking12
cupcakes20
minutes15
minutesGreen Apple Cupcakes, smooth caramel filling, tangy sour apple buttercream! An appletini in a cupcake!
Ingredients
- Cupcakes
1 green apple, grated
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup apple schnapps
250 g AP flour
125 g sugar
50 g brown sugar
1 t ginger
¼ t nutmeg
½ t salt
1 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
Sour apple extract to taste (be cautious, it is strong!)
Can of dulce de leche (or any other caramel)
- Green Apple Frosting
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened.
4 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup apple schnapps
green food coloring
sour apple extract to taste (Be cautious, it’s strong!)
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and cooking spray.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in large bowl with hand mixer) cream your butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the sour cream, apple liqueur, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and half of the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Add the rest of the flour and the grated apple. Add the green apple flavoring, a few drops at a time. Mix. Taste. Add more apple extract if you would like, being careful not to go overboard.
- Fill your cupcake tin, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. When they are done, remove from the tin and cool completely.
- While it bakes, make your buttercream. In the bowl of your stand mixer, paddle your butter until it is soft and fluffy. Add half the powdered sugar, mix until combined. Add the rest of the ingredients, beat until light and fluffy. Be cautious with the extract. Adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar or more schnapps as needed.
- Assemble your cupcakes. Cut out the center of each cupcake using a sharp knife or a small circle cutter, as I did in the video. Put your dulce de leche into a piping bag or small ziplock bag and pipe it generously into the center of your cupcakes. Put your frosting into a piping bag and pipe it on, or just shmear it on with a knife!
- Enjoy!
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