Salted Caramel Apple {Cupcakes}

Good morning, friends! A couple weeks ago I was a guest over at Wait Til Your Father Gets Home for Meredith's Back to School series. When she asked me to be a guest I immediately started researching a fun, delicious back to school treat and I think you're gonna love what I came up with!

You know the whole thing about apples and teachers? Well, today I'm sharing with you a treat that is sure to give your kids "teacher's pet" status! Here it is...

Salted Caramel Apple {Cupcakes} for Teacher

I know, I know...does it get any better than this?

These are so fun and delicious. You don't even have to be a teacher to enjoy them! Moist, apple spice cupcakes, topped with salted caramel buttercream, dipped in royal icing with a pretzel and green candy for the finishing touch. What teacher wouldn't be delighted to have one of these beauties sitting on her desk?

Spiced Apple Cupcakes (This is a Martha Stewart recipe that I made no changes to because, well, it's practically perfect just as it is)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups coarsely shredded apples (I used 3 granny smith and 3 red delicious)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Whisk together flour, 
• baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
•  
• Cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle until pale and 
• fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
• 
  
• Reduce speed to low; mix in apples. Add flour mixture; mix, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until
•  just combined.
• 
  
• Fill lined cups halfway with batter; bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes.

Salted Caramel Buttercream 

2 sticks salted butter

2 cups dark brown sugar

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter in med saucepan. Add brown sugar and heavy cream and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add salt. Continue stirring and let bubble for one minute. 

Remove from heat and let cool while stirring. 

Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Cover with plastic wrap, touching icing, until ready to use. 

To make each "apple", pipe buttercream onto cupcake with a round tip, starting on the outside, moving inward in a circular motion. Don't over-frost. The icing is very rich so a little goes a long way. Plus, you don't want it to be too heavy when it comes time to dip into royal icing. 

Let iced cupcakes rest a little while, allowing the buttercream to form a crust. Then, carefully dip into thinned out, red royal icing, gently shaking off any excess before turning over. For the "stem", break a pretzel stick in half and insert into top of cupcake before icing sets. 

For the "leaves" I used spearmint leaf candies and cut them into smaller leaf shapes. You can free hand this. It shouldn't be stressful or hard...just make a basic, triangular leaf shape and don't worry about them matching perfectly. Attach leaf next to the "stem" and refrigerate cupcakes to allow royal icing to set.

Voila! The perfect bushel of beautiful red apples! I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did. The look on your kids and their teacher's faces will be well worth the work...I promise!

Until next time, happy reading and more importantly, happy cupcake-ing!