Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cider Icing

By Alison Needham

 

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Subtly spiced, these tiny cakes fill your home with a comforting aroma as they bake. They would make a perfect dessert at an autumn picnic, but the kids probably wouldn't complain if you packed one in their lunch box. Topped with a cider-laced drizzle, these are the kind of cupcakes your grandma would bake.

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Ready In: 45 minutes
Yield: 24 cupcakes or 9 mini-bundt cakes

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
Zest from one lemon
1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped Granny Smith apple (about 2 small)

Glaze:
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider (preferably unfiltered)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Butter and flour (or use paper cups) for 2 12-cup muffin tins or one mini-bundt pan (mine only has 6 molds, so I needed to bake 2 batches) and set aside.
3. Into a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and set aside. In a larger bowl, whisk eggs with sugar, until light yellow and glossy. Add vanilla extract, apple sauce, melted butter, sour cream and lemon zest and mix well. Add dry ingredients, and whisk only until just combined. Gently fold in chopped apple.
4. Divide the batter among the prepared molds (filling about 2/3 full), and bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes for a muffin tin, 22 minutes for the larger mini-bundt pan. Cool the cakes for 5 minutes in the pan, then unmold them and cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the glaze ingredients together. It should be a thick drizzle. If it is too thin, add more confectioner's sugar, if it is too thick, add more cider, a teaspoon at a time. When cakes are cool, drizzle the icing over the tops, letting it drip down the sides. Let the icing set before serving.