apple & salted caramel cupcakes

here's the cupcake dose for the week! 

when i saw this recipe & ridiculously gorgeous photos for a salted date caramel recently, i knew that i wanted to try it out and work it into a cupcake.  and raw date caramel is way more approachable than the traditional caramel that requires boiling sugar. { i scare easily when it comes to making candy.}  since i still had a few organic macoun apples that a friend had given me last week, i decided apple & salted caramel cupcakes were the way to go. 

{apple inspiration}

these cupcakes have more components than i usually bother with, but they were pretty tasty so i'd say they're worth it.  both the apple filling & the caramel can be made in advance too.

i made these yesterday to take to a dinner meeting and wanted to make them gluten free so that everyone could enjoy them.  this is only my 3rd time giving gf cupcakes a go and i'm really happy with how they've turned out.  i'm still not ready to venture into mixing & matching flour blends myself, so i'm sticking with pre-fab gluten free flour mixes for now.

{gluten free caramel apple cupcakes}

apple & salted caramel cupcakes
pt 1 {gluten free cinnamon cupcakes}
makes one dozen
1 cup non-dairy milk {i used unsweetened soy}
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sunflower oil
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup gluten free flour blend {i used bob's red mill}
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp cinnamon

preheat your oven to 350f.  mix together the milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside to curdle a few minutes.  add in the oil, sugar and vanilla and mix until well combined.  into a separate bowl sift and combine the dry ingredients.  add the dry to the wet and mix until just smooth. {i noticed that the consistency of the wet batter was different than the batter i'm used to and i'm guessing this can be attributed to the gluten free flour... it was thick and 'gummy'.}

i resisted the urge to add more liquid {because of the gumminess of the batter} and instead i scooped the batter into a muffin tin filled with liners.  tap the muffin tin a few times on the counter top to level out the batter in each liner and bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  allow the cupcakes to cool completely before adding filling & icing.  {this is longer than my cupcakes usually take - again because of the gf flour maybe?  mine took almost 24 minutes to bake.}

pt 2 {apple filling}
this was really just a thickened apple sauce and i didn't measure {oops!}... but here is what i used:
2 small apples, about 1 cup total
a couple splashes of apple cider
a big pinch of cinnamon
a few spoonfuls of brown sugar
a sprinkle of organic cornstarch

peel and chop up the apples and cook them down in a small sauce pan with some cinnamon, brown sugar, and apple cider.  add a bit of organic corn starch to thicken the mixture.  this is going inside the cupcakes so you don't want it to be too runny and lead to soggy cupcakes.  {that would just be too sad.}

pt 3 {salty medjool caramel} i used vanessa's amazing recipe found here
blend the following:
8 medjool dates, rinsed, soaked & pitted
6 tbsp water
6 tbsp soymilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla 
1/2 tsp salt

pt 4 {caramel vanilla buttercream}
1/4 cup earth balance vegan butter
1/4 cup earth balance shortening
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp salty medjool caramel
1 1/2 tbsp soy milk

whip the earth balance butter & shortening and incorporate the caramel.  add in the sugar and soy milk a bit at a time, mixing as you go along until you reach a consistency and flavour you're happy with.  {lucky you, that means tasting as you go!}  you can use electric beaters or a stand mixer here, but you can also do it by hand - i always make my buttercreams with a fork!

{cupcakes, cooling}

{cupcake, coned}

{cupcake, filled}

{cupcake, iced}

{finished with caramel}

{macoun & medjool}

to assemble the cupcakes, cut a cone out of the centre of each cupcake with a small pairing knife and discard.  and by discard i mean eat.  fill the hole with a teaspoon of apple filling, and ice the top to cover.  drizzle with date caramel.  nosh away.  they're very "fall" & would be great with a cup of warm mulled cider.  although last night they were just perfect with some apple cider shandies.  {thanks p & l!}

my favourite part of this whole process might just be the leftover date caramel.  it's so good.  i think i'm going to need some more apples to eat the rest up.  although a spoon would probably cut it.