Apple Cider Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Oh my goodness! These are A-MAAAAZE-ing! A friend of mine made these and brought them over to me and the kids and I had to fight over the extra cupcake. The flavor of the apple cider cupcake was fantastic. The caramel buttercream on top was a nice sweet that didn't over power and then the extra caramel drizzled on top, just added some chewy-ness that I loved. Sometimes my cakes stick with vanilla or chocolate... sometimes it's nice to "spice" things up a bit!

I immediately asked her for the recipe. She emailed it to me and said she got it from Pinterest. Yay! Well I went on to find out where it came from and there are about a bazillion different recipes out there for this cupcake. I'm not sure who made this specific one, but it is a success!

I made the cupcakes and had to share them with my neighbors.

They are so yummy! A great fall flavored cupcake. It is a nice spice cake that isn't too strong. Perfect for these cool fall days.

Here's the recipe:

{{Apple Cider Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream}}

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2 eggs, room temperature

1 2/3 cup flour

1 cup apple cider

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Beat the eggs and then whisk together all ingredients. Doesn’t even require a mixer. Can be made in one bowl. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350º for 19 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

5-6 tbsp melted caramel -1/2 bag of Kraft caramels*

1 tsp sea salt

4 cups powdered sugar

In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and shortening. Add the powdered sugar and the caramel alternately (add the salt in with the caramel), mixing after each addition. Place the frosting into a pastry bag with a large circle tip (like 2A) and put the frosting on in a Round Swirl Pattern.

*The caramel is a little tricky just in that it needs to be the right temperature-- warm enough that it's still liquid and can blend into the buttercream, but not so hot that it melts the butter making everything too thin. Evaluate the buttercream at about 4 tbsp of caramel-- if it's getting way too thin, stop adding caramel or add more powdered sugar. I found that 6 Tbsp. was perfect for my batch.

Drizzle Topping

With the remaining caramels, unwrap the caramels and place into a bowl. Add about a tablespoon of heavy cream (or milk). Microwave on high for a minute and stir. Microwave at 30 second intervals and stir in between until caramel is melted and has an even consistency. Allow the caramel to cool slightly (so it doesn’t melt the frosting), and then drizzle it over the frosted cupcakes. 

And then if you still have some melted caramel left over... you can cut up some apples and dip them in there... while you eat this Awesome Autumn Cupcake!