I've been food blogging since March of this year and it's been an absolute blast. One aspect I've especially enjoyed is getting acquainted with other food bloggers. There is some serious talent on the Internets when it comes to food blogging!
For this post I'm pleased to feature a recipe from Rachel Rappaport of Coconut & Lime. She graciously agreed to "adopt" me as part of Dine & Dish's Adopt-a-Blogger event. There are so many great recipes on Coconut & Lime, but given that Fall is upon us, I decided to feature Rachel's Apple Cider Cupcakes. I took these to a pumpkin-carving party last weekend and boy, were they tasty!
I'll show you how to make these wonderful Fall cupcakes step-by-step...
The key ingredient for these cupcakes is apple cider. It's important here to use real apple cider, which is seasonally available (in the Fall) and contains pulp and sediment that apple juice lacks.
~Before you begin, leave 1/2 cup unsalted butter out to soften until it is at cool room temperature (this takes about an hour).~
Start by either greasing a 12-cup muffin tin or use muffin-cup liners.
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Measure 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour in a medium bowl.
Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder...
...1 teaspoon of cinnamon...
...and 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.
Whisk to combine the dry ingredients and set aside.
Measure out 1 cup of apple cider and set aside.
Place the 1/2 cup of softened butter into the bowl of an electric mixer.
Add 2/3 cup sugar.
Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
With the mixer running, add 2 eggs (one at a time).
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in about 1/3 of the reserved flour mixture...
...and then add 1/2 of the apple cider. Repeat these two steps, mixing in the remaining flour mixture and cider, ending with the flour.
Fill the prepared cupcake tin with the batter.
Bake the cupcakes at 350° F for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Use a paring knife or skewer to remove the warm cupcakes from the tin and cool completely on a rack.
~ The above recipe is available on Coconut & Lime. ~
Frosting Options
Rachel's original recipe uses a caramel frosting, which sounds fantastic (I mean, apples, caramel - is there a better flavor combination?). I was curious, however, to try an apple cider frosting recipe I found on Epicurious, which uses cream cheese, powdered sugar, and apple cider that's been reduced from 2 cups to 1/4 cup. The frosting recipe as written on Epicurious turned out very thin - more of a glaze for drizzling than a frosting. I wanted something more spreadable. Following the advice of a commenter, I increased the amount of powdered sugar for a stiffer texture. I was very pleased with the result - the frosting still retained a wonderful tang and apple flavor from the reduced cider. But the additional powdered sugar also made a huge amount of frosting, so I've adjusted the amounts below.
Cider Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Epicurious
1 cup apple cider
4 oz. cream cheese, softened but still cool
1 - 2 cups powdered sugar
a pinch of salt
Put the apple cider in a small pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to boil until the cider is reduced to about 2 tablespoons (it will be slightly syrupy). Set aside to cool completely.
With an electric mixer, beat together cooled reduced cider, cream cheese, pinch of salt, and 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Add enough additional powdered sugar for desired frosting texture.
My final touch was garnishing the frosted cupcakes with some chopped toasted walnuts. Optional of course, but they added a nice bit of crunch.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe! To view more step-by-step recipes, see the complete recipe index.
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