These Caramel Apple Cupcakes are the perfect fall dessert. Bite into one and you’ll be rewarded with a rich caramel apple filling.
These cupcakes have a spice cake base with caramel apple filling and caramel frosting. I’ve crowd tested these cupcakes and they’re a huge hit!
Caramel apples have always been a favorite of mine, but they were put on the no fly list when I got braces, years ago. If I wanted to taste my favorite fall combination again, I’d have to adapt.
These cupcakes are so much easier on the teeth than a caramel apple, and they’re just as fun to eat. We also love this salted caramel apple crisp and caramel apple cream cheese dip.
My first round of taste testers, Melissa and Brendan, who sampled the first version of these, offered feedback that helped me improve upon them. It was Melissa’s idea to use a pound cake batter instead of a regular cupcake batter, so we have her to thank for this delicious outcome.
» You might also like these Pink Champagne Cupcakes.
Ingredients You’ll Need
I know what you are thinking. It is a bunch of ingredients, but most of them are pantry items that you probably already have. These cupcakes turn out amazing with a fun surprise filling!
For the cake
- Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature before starting the batter.
- Cream cheese – The cream cheese also needs to be at room temperature. Always use full-fat cream cheese for this recipe. It adds the wonderful rich creaminess that you won’t get with low-fat versions.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar or you can substitute with Erythritol or Allulose for a sugar-free version.
- Eggs – Large eggs.
- Vanilla extract – Use a high-quality extract with a nice vanilla flavor.
- Flour – All-purpose flour or cake flour can be used.
- Baking soda and baking powder – These are your leavening agents. Make sure they are fresh!
- Salt – A pinch of salt.
- Sour cream – Use full fat sour cream.
- Spices: ground cinnamon and all spice
For the caramel sauce
- Brown sugar – I always use light brown sugar, though you could use dark brown sugar if that is all you have. It will have a deeper flavor.
- Butter
- Salt
- Heavy cream
- Rum extract – This is optional. You could substitute vanilla extract.
- Apples – Granny smith apples, peeled, cored and finely diced.
For the buttercream
- Butter – Room temperature.
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
Tips and Notes
- Make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you start mixing them all together. It will ensure that they mix together evenly and not clump.
- Don’t over-mix the cupcake batter. You will mix all of the air out of the batter making them stodgy and hard.
- Don’t leave the cupcakes in the pan to cool. They will continue to cook which could lead to overbaked and dried out cupcakes. Remove them to a cooling rack.
- You can make the cupcakes the day before and then just assemble them the day you need them to save time.
Caramel Apple Cupcakes
Ingredients
For Pound Cake
- 1/2 cup (114 g) softened butter
- 4 ounces (113 g) softened cream cheese
- 2 cups (400 g) sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.5 g) all spice
- 3 cups (375 g) flour
- 1/2 cup (115 g) sour cream
For Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons (59 ml) water
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) butter
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 1/4 cup (59 ml) heavy cream
- 1/3 teaspoon (2 ml) rum extract
- 2 apples peeled and finely diced
- caramel for drizzling
For Buttercream
- 1 cup (227 g) softened butter
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (7 ml) vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Fill a cupcake tin with wrappers.
For the cake:
- Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla and combine.
- In a separate bowl mix together the all dry ingredients, except for the flour. Alternately add flour and sour cream to the mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Fill each cupcake wrapper 2/3 full and bake for 18-23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.
For the caramel sauce:
- Add the brown sugar and water into a small pot, stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 240° F, remove from heat.
- Add the butter, salt, and heavy cream and stir together. Let cool to room temperature. Add the rum extract. Pour half the caramel sauce into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and leave half in the pot.
- Peel and dice the apples and add to the pot. Cook until the apples are tender.
For the buttercream frosting:
- Add the butter into the bowl with the remaining caramel sauce. Beat until smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments, beating until combined between each addition. Then turn the speed on the beater up to high and whip for five minutes or until fluffy.
- Core the cupcake and fill with apple mixture. Frost with the buttercream and drizzle with caramel.
Notes
- Make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you start mixing them all together. It will ensure that they mix together evenly and not clump.
- Don’t over-mix the cupcake batter. You will mix all of the air out of the batter making them stodgy and hard.
- Don’t leave the cupcakes in the pan to cool. They will continue to cook which could lead to overbaked and dried out cupcakes. Remove them to a cooling rack.
- You can make the cupcakes the day before and then just assemble them the day you need them to save time.
Nutrition
What Apples to Use?
Since there is a lot of sugar in this dessert, you don’t need to add sweet apples to the mix. In fact, the more tart the apple, the better. It adds a much needed acid that helps cut through the decadent caramel sauce.
Granny Smith apples are my favorite to use in this recipe. They offer the perfect balance or tartness and firmness. They won’t break down under the heat, so they have enough bite.
Red delicious and gala apples, which are two of the easiest to find, don’t do particularly well in this recipe. They tend to disintegrate under the heat and become too mushy. Honeycrisp apples are too sweet and the crunch doesn’t stick around after baked.
Other apples you can use in this recipe are Golden Delicious and Pink Lady. If you want to get creative, use a combination of apples for a variety of flavors and textures.
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Jillian Morris is the resident baker for A Food Lover’s Kitchen. She started baking when she was very little and found she had a great passion for it. She is a high-schooler in a small town in Oregon, where she enjoys music, writing, and baking in her spare time.
These totally get me into the Fall food mood! Can’t wait to give them a try!
One bite into this beauties and I am in heaven. It’s so so good, and thank goodness for the individual cupcake portion. If this were in a cake form, I would have totally over indulged! 🙂
Oh, this was so good! I haven’t had a cupcake like this before. The apples and the caramel together were amazing.
Yum! What a perfect fall treat, great recipe!
is there a trick to getting the carmel to thicken up again after cooking with the apples? it became liquidly!
Hi Jen, it sounds like juice came out of your apples to make your sauce liquidy. You could try boiling it down just a bit more.