J and J cook. bake. eat.

Whether you devour your favorite cupcake in the morning with a cup of coffee, for a snack at 3 pm while sitting at your cubicle or to end off the night enjoying it with a glass of ice cold milk, Wednesday’s Cupcake is about getting through the middle of the week and assuring yourself that there’s only two days left until the weekend. And in our world, there’s nothing better than a cupcake on Wednesday.

This week we’re offering an Apple Cupcake with a Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting.

It’s a butter cake with an apple filling, topped off with a mild spiced cream cheese frosting.

~ Enjoy! ~



J and J

~Apple Cupcake~

~ Apple Cupcakes ~
 For the batter:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sour cream
For the filling:
1 1/2 cup diced Gala apples (about 2 large apples)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon, ground
1 tsp. lemon juice

For the Icing:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar.
3/4 tsp. cinnamon, ground
1/4 tsp. ginger, ground
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg, ground
????? cloves, ground

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners.

- For the filling
Melt the butter in a saute pan, until light golden brown or until you smell a nutty scent.  Add the diced apples and saute until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool.

- For the batter
Combine together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a stand-up mixer or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time (making sure to scrape down the sides after each addition) and vanilla extract, beat until smooth. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and then add the sour cream and then the rest of the dry ingredients, making sure to scrape down the sides after each addition. Beat until smooth but do not over mix.

Divide 2 tablespoons of batter among the prepared muffin tins. With the back of a teaspoon, dipping it in some water, make a “well” in the center of the batter. Add 1 heaping teaspoon of the apple filling in the center. Top off with remaining 1 tablespoon of batter, spreading evenly to cover the filling.

Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the tin for 10 minutes and then remove and place the cupcakes on a rack to cool completely; frost with icing.

 
-To make the frosting
Mix together the spices. Set aside. Cream together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract. On low speed add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until well combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add in the spice mixture. Mix well. Frost each cupcake as you desire.


~ Enjoy! ~