Apple Pie Cupcakes



I've been wanting to make these cupcakes forever. I saw them on Annie's Eats a year ago, and I was infatuated with them. They look so darn cute and the flavor of apple pie in a cupcake sounded like it would be amazing. I've baked a lot of desserts since then, and I decided that I love the concept, but (and I'm sure the original was absolutely delicious) I wanted to make it even more like a real apple pie. I used the same vanilla cake base, except I used browned butter in place of regular butter, replaced some of the sugar with brown sugar, and added a hint of cinnamon. I also used a tweaked version of pie crumb frosting from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook in place of a vanilla buttercream. Altogether this is one of the best cupcakes I've ever had! There's no explaining how delicious the pie crumb frosting is with the apple pie filling and browned butter cupcake base. I really hope you try out this cupcake, you're not going to be disappointed!!




This cupcake recipe requires that you brown butter. I learned from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook that you can actually brown butter in the microwave. The first time I tried it out I ended up with melted butter all over the microwave. I was determined to make it work so I found a tighter fitting plate to put on top, and my butter not only stayed in the cup but came out perfectly browned.




To brown butter in the microwave: put your butter into a large pyrex bowl or measuring cup covered tightly with a plate, and microwave it for 3-5 minutes or until the butter turns a deep brown color. If the butter foams up too much you can stop the microwave, stir, and put it back in. Be careful as the plate and bowl/measuring cup get extremely hot! Cool it to a solid room temp state for this recipe.

Apple Pie Cupcakes
Yield: 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
For the browned butter cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tbsp browned butter
3 tbsp salted butter, at room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

For the apple pie filling:
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 granny smith apples, peeled and diced
2-4 tbsp apple juice or cider

For the pie crumb frosting:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup (8 tbsp) salted butter, melted
1 1/2 tbsp water
6 tbsp salted butter, at room temp
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
To make the cupcakes: preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a large bowl sift together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the brown butter, butter, sugar, and brown sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until completely incorporated. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Turn the mixer to low and beat in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, in three separate additions, starting and finishing with the flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated.

Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the apple pie filling: combine the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and diced apples in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until the butter and sugar are melted. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are softened slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the apple juice or cider if the mixture looks too dry.

To make the pie crumb frosting: preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the flour and sugar. Beat to combine. With the mixer on low slowly stream in the melted butter and water. Stop the mixer when the mixture begins to form small clumps of dough, it should be slightly sandy. Dump the mixture out onto the baking sheet and spread the clumps in an even layer. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring the mixture to break up any clumps occasionally. Cool completely before proceeding.

In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the room temperature butter and powdered sugar until pale and fluffy.

In a blender combine the cooled pie crumbs and milk. Blend to a paste. Add this to the stand mixer and beat to combine, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.

To assemble: use a knife to cut a cone shaped piece out of the top of each cupcake. Fill the holes with the apple pie filling. Make sure the filling is cool so it won't melt the frosting. Top with pie crumb frosting.

SOURCE
Cupcake recipe heavily adapted from Annie's Eats who got it from Fatty Fat Fats. Pie crumb frosting recipe adapted from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook.



19 Response to Apple Pie Cupcakes

March 26, 2012 at 9:22 AM

Seriously, how creative are these cupcakes. They look so pretty. Nice work. Love your blog.

March 26, 2012 at 2:25 PM

Cupcakes? Awesome. Apple pie? Delicious. The two combined? Amazing!

March 26, 2012 at 4:55 PM

Ooh, looks yummy! And so fluffy and light despite the apple filling!

March 26, 2012 at 7:31 PM

Oh my word, these look amazing!! Guess we're on the same wave length today. :) They look incredibly moist and I love that pretty frosting piled high!!

March 27, 2012 at 3:48 AM

Wow! These look AMAZING. I can only imagine how fantastic the house smells when you bake them, too.

March 27, 2012 at 4:30 AM

Sarah these are amazing!! I can just imagine the surprise of the apple pie filling when you bite into them. Mmmmm! Thanks for the info on the mortar and pestle.. now if I can only convince my husband I need another one... I have like 12! Yes.. I am crazy. :)

CCU
March 27, 2012 at 11:59 AM

These are seriously so cute :D
A surprise perfect apple filling with a soft muffin with frosting? Yes please!

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

March 28, 2012 at 1:02 AM

I made these for a party this weekend and they turned out great! Thanks so much!

March 28, 2012 at 1:02 AM

Oh! I have to make this soon. Sounds just heavenly.

March 28, 2012 at 3:10 AM

I love the surprise in the center of these cupcakes...Can hardly wait to try.

March 28, 2012 at 8:10 AM

Wow, these are gorgeous! And I bet they taste even better than they look :)

Absolutely love you rblog, glad to be your newest follower!

March 28, 2012 at 9:19 PM

Those look amazing...and like the perfect fall cupcake! I can't wait to try them then.

March 31, 2012 at 6:45 AM

These look absolutely delicious! How do you make the frosting look so amazing? Every time I try to frost anything it always comes out runny and sticky!

April 1, 2012 at 10:20 AM

Katie, I've made a lot of frosting and I think the trick is to just whip it, whip it good...the more you beat it with the mixer the fluffier and stiffer it gets!! Beating it for 7 or 8 minutes isn't unheard of. I'm going to put a frosting tip tutorial on here in the next couple of months. ~Sarah :)

Anonymous
September 22, 2012 at 6:36 AM

Does this really only make 12 cupcakes? I was going to double it for 24 but it sounds like a lot of ingredients!

September 22, 2012 at 9:03 AM

Yes, the recipe is correct. It makes 12 cupcakes and enough filling/frosing for 12 cupcakes. =D

September 23, 2012 at 9:29 PM

Can I double this recipe with no problems?

September 24, 2012 at 9:47 AM

Yup! I've doubled it before with no problems. The frosting recipe makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes. You might be able to get away with making one batch of it if you don't want a huge mound of frosting (like in the pictures) on each cupcake. Hope that helps =D

JF
January 29, 2013 at 2:11 PM

Holy! You had me at pie crumb frosting. This cupcake looks seriously sweet. You should share it in the cupcake crown contest: http://www.celebrations.com/cupcakecrown/

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