{DrUnKeN} Caramel Apple and Broken Glass Cupcakes

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

CUPCAKES

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2 1/2 C. applesauce

1/2 C. sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 C. oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 C. Apple Crown (sub apple juice)

(this is a fairly new addition to the Crown family, best of luck finding it)

Mix all wet ingredients and set aside.

Mix together:

2 C. flour

1 tsp ginger

2 tsp apple pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

  

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together until smooth.

Pour into cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes at 350°

FROSTING

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2 sticks of salted butter (softened)

2 8oz packs of cream cheese (softened)

2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp caramel vodka (sub caramel flavoring)

green food color

caramel syrup

With a mixer blend butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until it is all blended. Add the vodka and mix again. Lastly add a few drops of food coloring (I prefer the Wilton gel food colors) until it reaches your desired shade.

Pipe onto cupcakes and drizzle with caramel syrup. You can leave them plain or add decorative accents as a personal preference. 

Broken Glass Cupcakes

"GLASS" CANDY

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(do this first)

Medium saucepan

Candy thermometer

3 1/2 C. sugar

2 C. water

1 C. corn syrup

1/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

Large baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients in saucepan, cook over medium heat stirring often until temperature reaches 290° or "soft crack". This will take some time. 

Once it reaches temperature, slowly pour out onto greased baking sheet, spread with spatula and set aside to let it cool.

CUPCAKES

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For this recipe I used a boxed Red Velvet cake mix. 

You will also need:

1 tsp Cake Vodka for each cupcake.

Follow directions on cake mix for making cupcakes. Once you remove them from the oven pour 1 tsp of Cake Vodka over each cupcake.

(skip the vodka if you want non-alcoholic)

ICING

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1/4 C. Bailey's 

1/4 C. Rum Chata

Powdered Sugar

In a bowl mix both liquors together and add small amounts of powdered sugar until it reaches a consistency that you can drizzle. 

 (If you want non-alcoholic, substitute 1/2 C. milk and 2 tsp vanilla)

Drizzle over cupcakes. 

Break your "glass"

Cover your candy with plastic wrap, hit with a hammer in various places until it is cracked into pieces that will fit your cupcakes well. 

Lift with a knife and stab into the cupcakes.

"BLOOD" DRIZZLE

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1/2 C. corn syrup 

red food coloring

In a bowl mix together corn syrup and red food coloring. Add enough food coloring until it looks like blood and then drizzle over your glass and cupcakes. 

Enjoy!

10 more days.

Today is October 8th. Last year on this date, ten more days to me felt like a lifetime. Ten more days from this date last year was when we met our little girl. All, 6 lbs 3 oz and 18 1/4 inches of her. At 11:30 that morning I will never forget the tears in my husband's eyes. I will never forget the little hand that wrapped around my finger when really she was wrapping me around hers. It all feels like yesterday.

Today, ten more days could be 365 days away and part of me still wouldn't want them to pass. As with most parents, a first birthday is a bittersweet moment. I feel like I am taking it rather hard compared to most. 

I've been running around like a mad woman, putting in overtime on pinterest, and planning every last detail of her 1st birthday so it will be memorable....for me. Not for her, she won't remember it. It may not seem like I am reluctant to celebrate the big #1, but I am. 

It seems like with every passing day she learns something new, says something new or does something she didn't do the day before. I love it and I am so proud of her. She's smart and has one hell of a personality. However, I wish I could freeze those moments in time. I'm not ready for the cold, hard truth that no matter what I do, day by day this precious little life is growing up.

After she was born my husband and I decided she would be our last. For good reason. We have 5 all together and that is more than enough. I have my boy, 3 wonderful step kids and now I have my own little girl and that completes us. Knowing that she is the last makes this so much harder. Parents do it everyday but I find myself thinking "this is the last time I will ever experience this moment as a Mother". It may not seem like a big deal, but when my daughter is graduating HS, those little moments leading up to that day will mean the world to me. They always will.

Having my daughter has taught me the importance of never taking the small day to day things in life for granted because a cute little smile or gesture may not seem like much but I know that as she gets older those moments will become far and few between. As she gets older and more independent, she will need me less. She will choose time with friends over time with me. She will want me to go away instead of reaching for me to pick her up... and it all starts with turning one. That moment that hits you like a rock that time doesn't stop just because you want to live in the moment.

It will come and pass just like every day does. I will get through it and realize that for another year there is so much more to learn and experience.

On October 8th, 2015 this will probably be a little easier. I won't dread counting down ten more days. I won't feel like the ticking of the clock is slowly taking away my baby.

So for the next ten days I will put on my big girl panties and face the inevitable. This is the last 1st birthday I will celebrate as a Mother.

Caramel Apple Pecan Cups

This is what Fall is all about. 

The rich aroma of crisp apples and cinnamon combined with the welcomed warmth of the oven that magically transforms simple ingredients into a delicious treat.

I love fall. The sights, scents, the cool breeze and of course the endless list of things you can do with pumpkins and apples.

Here is a treat that I came up with today that is sure to hit the spot if you're looking for a sweet treat on a cool fall evening.

*Sweet Dough*

1 stick unsalted butter at room temp

1 cup sugar

1/2 Tsp baking powder

1/4 Tsp salt

2 cups flour

3/4 cup milk

In your stand mixer beat together butter and sugar until it's smooth. Mix in salt, baking powder and flour. Mix in milk on medium speed until the dough is smooth. Set aside.

*side note- the sweet dough recipe above is the Kuga dough recipe, if you are making Kuga with it, set aside about 1/3 cup of the dry dough mixture before you add the milk to serve as the crumble topping on the traditional Kuga.

*Apple Filling*

5 medium size Granny Smith apples

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans (optional)

1/2 Tsp apple pie spice or cinnamon

2 Tsp flour

Peel and dice apples.

Toss with a small amount of lemon juice to prevent browning.

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it's melted add brown sugar. Stir constantly until bubbling. Remove from heat and add pecans, apples, apple pie spice and the flour to thicken. Stir together until completely mixed.

You can either spread your dough out on to a shallow baking sheet or use a muffin pan like I did. 

Either line the muffin pan with cupcake liners or generously spray with cooking spray. (Cupcake liners are easier.)

Spoon in dough and press it into a cup with your fingers. (You may need to grease your fingers because the dough tends to be sticky.)

It should look like this: 

Fill your dough cups with the apple mixture, be careful not to over fill because the dough will puff up when it's baked. 

You may have leftover dough and filling. The recipe makes a bit more than what is needed to make a muffin pan full.

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes until slightly golden around the edges.

Enjoy!