Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes, oh how I adore thee. You are small, portable, and come in as many flavors as the creative mind can come up with. Chocolate with its many variations, coconut, red velvet all have a place in my heart of hearts. Make just a couple of different flavors and take them to a party and you will be surrounded by new best friends.

Can you tell that I love cupcakes? They have been my newest passion this last year. With all of the different kinds you can make the possibilities are really endless.

You see, I love coming up with business ideas. For as long as I can remember entrepreneurial ideas have hit me over the head and taken me on crazy rides. 2008 was the year of homemade marshmallows. I loved learning how to make marshmallows and the fact that the sad versions in a bag that they sell in stores do not come close to the real thing caught my imagination. I came up with new flavors and brought them to work for coworkers to try and evaluate. The fact that most people didn't even know you could make them was all the more fun. Unfortunately they don't have the longest shelf life and summer in Georgia makes it even worse.

2009 brought a new idea...cupcakes. A friend of mine already baked as a side business and she is always trying new things. With inspiration from her as well as looking at various websites and businesses online my brain started going in overdrive again. Of course this meant that any type of celebration I was invited to I would bring cupcakes. This past weekend was a joint birthday party for both my husband and my sister-in-law and she requested cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes though. She wanted these:

Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

They may look a little plain but I promise they are divine. They are also great for those poor people who don't like chocolate. I don't personally understand those people since I am a chocoholic, but since one of my closest friends does not like chocolate I try my best to always have an alternative.

Now to start off please don't hate me, but I am going to use a box mix. I would love to come up with the perfect spice cake recipe but since I haven't found it yet so this is what I use.

Just follow the directions on the box for 24 cupcakes and this is what you will get.

I actually put a little more in the left pan on purpose. It helped me to tell the cupcakes apart later on.

Then I took a can of apple pie filling.

Again, please don't hate me. I know I could have cut up apples and made a filling but I just didn't have the time.

It only takes a half a can for this recipe but the rest stores in the refrigerator nicely.

Now here is the messy part. Take your filling and cut the apples in to smaller pieces. It makes it much easier to put inside the cupcakes and it is worth it, I promise.

Now unfortunately I don't have my own picture of the next step but I promise it's not hard.

Take a cupcake in one hand and a small paring knife in the other. Cut a cone shape into the cupcake and pull out the inside. Cut off the inside part of your cone leaving only the top left. For picture instructions check out Baking Bites. This is where I learned to do this.

Take a small spoonful of your apple filling and put it in the inside of your cupcake. Usually about 3-4 of the small apple pieces. Then place the top back on your cupcake. Finish this up for all of your cupcakes or if you are like me, fill only half of the cupcakes and leave the other half alone.

Next it is time to make the frosting. This frosting I found on slashfood's website.

Beat 8oz cold cream cheese, 5 Tbsp softened butter, and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Then take 2 cups of powdered sugar and sift it. Slowly combine it with the cream cheese mixture until you get the consistency and sweetness that you want. Now I am not the kind of person that likes an incredibly sweet frosting but I ended up using almost the whole box of powdered sugar for this. Once it is the consistency that you want I add my cinnamon. Now this is personal preference. Unfortunately I didn't measure how much I used but I would start with a teaspoon and go from there.

Now take your frosting and decorate as you like. Personally I like piping it on but you can use whatever suits your fancy. Just make sure that you cover up the cut area.

Remember when I said that I filled up one pan with more batter than the other. This was my way of being able to tell which ones had apple in it and which did not. You see, my husband didn't want apples but my sister in law does so this was the perfect solution. I personally like it much better with the apples but it tastes just fine without.

Have fun with this recipe, and any other cupcakes you come across. The possibilities are endless.

Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 Spice Cake box mix (I used Duncan Hines)

   for the mix

   1 1/3 cup water

   1/3 cup vegetable oil

   3 large eggs

1/2 Can of Apple Pie Filling

8 oz Cream Cheese

5 Tbsp. butter, softened

2 Tsp. Vanilla

2-4 Cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

Bake 24 cupcakes according to box mix directions.

Take 1/2 a can of apple pie filling and cut pieces into 1/3 to 1/2 inch pieces. Using completely cooled cupcakes cut cone out of the top of each cupcake discarding the inside of the cone. Place 3-4 apple pieces into the cupcake and cover with the top of the cone.

Make frosting by beating cream cheese, butter and vanilla until combined. Gradually add powdered sugar while mixing until preferred sweetness and consistency. Then add cinnamon starting with 1 teaspoon and adding until desired flavor.

Pipe or decorate top of cupcakes making sure to cover the cut cone area.

Enjoy!

~Michelle