After months and months of hard work and dedication, and also some solicitation, I thought it necessary to reward my handbell choir with cupcakes. This is always a good opportunity to use a recipe that only makes a few cupcakes instead of the one that make a ton for all the hungry cupcake monsters at work.
I had to pick up 2 things for this recipe. It calls for a 10 ounce jar of tart applesauce. I couldn't find the exact 10 ounce jar so I just got a bigger one. I like applesauce, I'll eat it later. Splurge a little on a brand name of applesauce. It has more flavor. Also, don't get the cinnamon kind, just get regular old applesauce. Then, the recipe calls for raw brown sugar. It's not like brown sugar, like sticky, pack it in the measuring cup, kind of brown sugar. It's like sugar in the raw brown sugar. Any raw unprocessed sugar is good. Lastly, the recipe calls for self-rising flour. This isn't the same as regular flour. If you don't want to buy it, there are substitutes floating around on the Internet you can find.
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| I guess it's kind of brownish |
The first thing you make is the streusel topping. Time to break out some kitchen equipment. I used the food processor. It's like power tools are for dudes, you can't wait to get your hands on something with a small motor that's loud and has the potential to hurt you. If you don't have one, you can just get a little messy and use your hands. I forgot to read ahead in the recipe and see that part that says to cut up the butter into little pieces, but I didn't have a problem since I used the food processor. If you do use your fingers to mix it, make sure you remember that step, it'll be easier on you. The food processor makes the streusel a lot more fine that you'll get with your hands, so depending on what kind of visual appeal you're going for you might want one method over the other.
The next step was my favorite part of making these cupcakes. "Add the baking soda to the jar of applesauce and stir until dissolved." There should be a disclaimer here. If you managed to find a 10 ounce jar of applesauce, pour it into a bigger container. Since I had a larger jar of applesauce, I just look at the ounce measurements on the measuring cup and filled it to 10. I added the baking soda and went to work with the rest of the recipe. I happen to glance over and there was something going on with the applesauce. Upon closer investigation, I realized that science was happening. The inner nerd in me loved this. It's kind of like baking soda and vinegar, just not as science-fair-volcano-y. There is acid in applesauce and that makes the baking soda bubble. The volume of applesauce doubled! How cool is that?!
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| SCIENCE! |
Anyway... back to the cupcakes. You beat the butter and sugar together like any other cupcake recipe. Then beat in the egg. The wording in the recipe lead me to mess up this next part (the fact that I don't sift anything together is probably the real reason though). If you do sift your dry ingredients, you'll be fine. Since, I'm lazy, this step always gets neglected. So, if you're like me, mix together your dry ingredients first, then add them alternating with the applesauce. No alternating happened when I made these cupcakes, but they were just fine.
After that, I used my trusty ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake papers. Before popping them into the oven, sprinkle the streusel on top. Pat it down a little so it sticks to the cupcakes and doesn't roll off when they're done in the oven. They came out perfect after the 20 minutes.
When all was said and done, these cupcakes were beautiful. Like, prettier than the picture in the book. They were tasty too. The applesauce made them moist, but surprisingly they weren't dense (probably from all that science that happened). I felt like they could taste a little more apple-y. I think probably because I bought cheap applesauce, hence the earlier warning. Definitely a good cupcake for the fall. If you feel that it lacks that fancy cupcake look, try adding caramel or even an apple chip on top for something extra.
Cupcake Ingredients
1/2 tsp baking soda
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| Raw Brown Sugar |
4 Tbsp butter, softened
generous 3/8 c raw brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
scant 1 1/4 c self-rising white flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Topping Ingredients
generous 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c raw brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 1/2 Tbsp butter
How to
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Put 14 paper cases in 2 muffin pans or put 14 double-layer paper cases on a baking sheet.
2. First make the topping. Put the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl or in the bowl of a food processor. Cut the butter into small pieces, then either rub it in by hand or blend in the processor until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Set aside while you he the cakes.
3. To make the cupcakes, add the baking soda to the jar of applesauce and stir until dissolved. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg. Sift in the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg and, using a large metal spoon, fold into the mixture, alternating with the applesauce.
4. Spoon the batter into the paper cases. sprinkle the topping over each cupcake to cover the tops and press down gently.
5.Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. Leave the cakes for 2-3 minutes before serving warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
