Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes with Rum buttercream
Why I Love This Recipe
This is an adaptation of a recipe I found on cooks.com and was originally a cake instead of cupcakes. The recipe originally called for a full cup of sugar. However, I made my own applesauce and added a 1/4 Cup of dark brown sugar to it so I reduced the sugar in the main recipe. This is a really gooey cupcake because of the applesauce. You will need to allow this to cool overnight if possible before eating and frosting.
Ingredients You'll Need
For the cupcake batter
1/2 C. Butter (softened and room temp)
1/2 C. Sugar
1 Egg (Med. and room temp)
2 C. All-purpose flour, sifted
1. 5 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice powder
1 C. Applesauce (see note)
1 C. nuts (I like hazelnuts in these)
For the icing:
1 stick butter, melted (or around 118ml)
1 8oz pckg Cream Cheese
1-1.5 cups Powdered sugar
2 Tblsp real Rum OR a couple of drops of rum flavouring
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C
Cream butter and sugar together
Add the egg and beat till combined and slightly frothy
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices together
Add the flour mixture and applesauce to the creamed mixture alternately.
Stir in raisins and nuts (if used)
Carefully spoon mixture into a prepared cupcake tray. I would use sturdy paper cups instead of baking in a bare, greased tray. ETA: Fill the cups only HALFWAY. This is really important because otherwise these will overflow and you’ll have Spiced Applesauce OVEN =(
Makes around 20-ish medium sized cupcakes. Allow to cool for a couple of hours and I would recommend putting these in the fridge overnight, then about 10 mins before frosting - take them out of the fridge.
Directions for Icing
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and allow to cool slightly. Add the Rum/flavouring then stir in the cream cheese. Gradually sift in the powdered sugar and stop when you have reached a frosting consistency that appeals to you.
I coloured my frosting red and with green decorating sugar, drew leaves on the top of the cupcakes. =) Enjoy!
