24 Apple Cider Cupcakes

So handbell season has started up again, and the choir needed some cupcakes. I got this new recipe book for Christmas so I flipped through the pages to pick just the right cupcakes to bring to my good little ringers. I narrowed it down to a couple choices but when it came down to it I chose this one. They're easy enough, because they use a box mix and only a few other ingredients. Perfect for something quick to whip up.

The only ingredients I needed for these cupcakes were the spice cake mix and the apple cider. They sell the small jugs (which is what I wanted to get, but the store I went to didn't have any) of apple cider and since you only need about 2 cups of it, this size would be perfect. If you like apple cider, go right ahead and buy a half gallon and enjoy the left overs.

When I mixed the batter it was really easy. Another case of just following simple directions. We had some left over chopped walnuts. Just throw them in the food processor and they're perfect. There wasn't 2 cups of walnuts, but it was close enough. I split all the batter between 24 cupcakes and put them in the oven for 20 minutes and they came out perfectly.

The icing was easy too. I'm not sure if the butter wasn't softened enough or what happened, but the butter never really mixed with the cider to what I would consider to be "blended" like the recipe says. I just mixed it for a while, and then slowly added the powdered sugar. I piped it onto the cupcakes in a zigzag and that was that. All done! Since I ran out of walnuts, I didn't garnish them. Apple chips would make a good garnish too if you make them without the nuts.

Not very blended icing

Everybody loved these cupcakes. I heard there were fights for bites of these cupcakes. People who brought them home from handbell practice missed out on their last bites to a family member or had to wrench them out of the hands of a cupcake hungry spouse. The cake was nice and moist. The finely crushed up walnuts are all throughout the cake. You can taste the nuts in every bite. Finally, the cider in the icing and the cupcakes was emphasized by the spices in the cake mix. All the flavor of a great cupcake and only about a quarter of the work. Some times I hate to do it, but you can occasionally get away with using a boxed cake mix.

Apple Cider Cupcake Ingredients
1 package (about 18 oz) spice cake mix
1 1/4 c apple cider
1/3 c vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 c coarsely chopped walnuts, plus additional for garnish

Cupcake How to
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 standard (2 1/2 in) muffin cups with paper baking cups.
2. Beat cake mix, apple cider, oil and eggs in medium bowl with electric mixer at low speed until blended; beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in 2 cups chopped walnuts. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
4. Prepare Apple Cider Frosting; frost cupcakes. Garnish with additional chopped walnuts.

Apple Cider Frosting Ingredients and How to
Beat 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter and 1/4 cup apple cider in medium bowl with electric mixer at low speed until well blended. Gradually beat in 4 cups powdered sugar until smooth. Makes about 3 cups.


from the Cupcake Bible

39 Egg Nog Cupcakes

My First Encounter With All Things Eggnog
 

 

Another birthday and another round of cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes. I wanted to make these before Christmas, but January 5th is close enough for me for all purposes.
 

 

I went into these cupcakes blind about anything and everything eggnog related. I've never tasted it. I've never smelled it. And in all reality, I was fine if I never did any of that stuff. But for cupcakes' sake and for being willing to try something new, I would give these cupcakes a try. I would, at the very, eat a cupcake.
 

I started mixing these up, sort of on the fence about whether I would make a double batch. The recipe says it will make 18 cupcakes. Since I was making these for a Saturday night, I didn't think that 18 would be enough to bring to work, but I also wasn't sure if I had enough eggnog. I began following the directions. First step: mixing all the dry ingredients. Second step: cream together the butter and sugar. Third step: add the eggs. It took me until this next step to realize I was going to make a double batch of cupcakes. I had enough eggnog! So I threw more dry ingredients in the one bowl. Then, I added more butter, sugar, and eggs all at once to the already started mixture. After this, I accidentally got off the beaten path of the recipe. I got so caught up in the excitement of having enough eggnog. So instead of having the eggnog and the vanilla together, I poured the eggnog and the rum together, and since it was a double batch it was a lot. I continued on to mixing the dry and wet ingredients together. It only took me until I made a huge eggnog-and-rum-splashy mess to realize that somewhere I made a mistake. I just kept mixing everything up the way I started it and threw the vanilla in last. I kept a dish towel over the mixer to prevent an even bigger mess. It worked pretty well. Finally, I just added the cocoa and that was that. The batter was perfect. Not too runny and not too thick. I filled up the cupcake liners just like the recipe instructed and into the oven they went.
 

Eggnog and Rum Mixed Together
Ooops

 

The recipe suggests checking the cupcakes at 15 minutes. Don't worry about it. After I unnecessarily checked them, I set the timer for 4 more minutes. They came out so perfect! I'm always so happy when they come out domed and beautiful. Not a single one baked over. While they cooled, I ran to the store to get some more powdered sugar and dark rum for the icing.
 

So Many Cupcakes

 

Normally, I will have a ton of icing left over no matter what I do. So I decided to just make a single batch of icing and see how far it took me. The recipe calls for 6 ounces of cream cheese, but just to make it easy and so I don't have to throw a way a tiny bit of cream cheese, I just use the 8 ounces that comes in a block. I added a little extra powdered sugar, and I let the mixer rip while I helped my mom take the ornaments off the Christmas tree for 3-5 minutes. I spread the icing on every cupcake. I plopped plenty of it on and I still had some icing left over. It might be some kind of curse that's on me.

 

Then it came time for the taste test. My mom reluctantly was the first taste tester. After she told me that she didn't like eggnog, I still insisted that she tried one. She took a bite, and then another, and handed me the other half of her cupcake. She said it was very strong, which I already expected after tasting the icing. I ate my half of the cupcake. All I tasted was the rum. Then I realized, I didn't even know what eggnog tasted like to even start to look for the flavor. So I had a tiny bit left in the bottom of the bottle. I went into the fridge and grabbed the eggnog. I opened it up and smelled it. It smelled like Christmas, like cinnamon and nutmeg and those appropriate holiday spices. I nervously put the bottle to my lips, and slowly, slowly, slowly tipped the bottle back. And that's when it happened! I actually drank eggnog! I expected to instantly drop dead from it. But! It wasn't so bad. It has the consistency of a good chocolate milk, like the kind you get out of the carton already all mixed up, and it tasted kind of like Christmas, like gingerbread and yummy tastiness. It's not something that I need to buy every year when Christmas comes around, but if I was offered, I wouldn't not drink it. I think it's just the fact that you're drinking eggs that freaks everyone out. Anyway... after I knew what eggnog tasted like, I took another bite, just of the cupcake, and somewhere in there, I could taste the eggnog. The spices came out well in the chocolate, but was still slightly overpowered by the rum.

 

When I got these cupcakes out at work, after all the busy-ness was over, everyone asked my what kind of cupcakes I brought. All I would tell them was "They're rum, it doesn't matter what else is in them, the rum is all you taste."

 

Eggnog Cupcake Ingredients

1 1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

8 Tbsp butter

1 1/4 c sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 tsp vanilla

1 c eggnog

1/2 c dark rum (or rum extract)

1/2 c cocoa

 

Cupcake How to

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line cupcake pans.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.

5. Combine the vanilla and eggnog in a large liquid measure.

6. Add 1/3 flour mixture to the butter, then 1/3 of the eggnog mixture, beating slowly until well incorporated. Add another 1/3 flour mixture, followed my 1/3 of the eggnog. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour  mixture, followed by the remaining eggnog mixture, and beat just until combined.

7. Add the rum and mix.

8. Add the cocoa powder, beating on low.

9. Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes)

 

Rum Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

4 Tbsp butter

4 c powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

6 oz cream cheese

1/4 c dark rum

 

Frosting How to

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix all ingredients for 3-5 minutes, until frosting is light and airy.

 

 

from the cookbook Sweet Celebration