As any baker knows, we’re often left with leftover buttermilk. This just happened to me this week; I made a chocolate cake with salted caramel filling and chocolate sour cream frosting for my father’s birthday dinner (sadly, no photos of this heavenly cake, as we were at a restaurant and I have no photos…) that called for buttermilk. I also made too much frosting, so I decided to spend the next evening whipping up a one-bowl recipe for vanilla cupcakes that uses buttermilk. And nothing better to use up chocolate frosting than a vanilla cupcake, so what an added bonus!

These are pretty much the perfect cupcake. Lightly vanilla-flavoured, they’re versatile enough to go with pretty much any frosting, or filling, or flavouring. Their texture is the cupcake-ideal: a little bit dense, a little bit airy, nicely moist. They’re really easy to make too; I didn’t even pull out the stand mixer, but just mixed it all together in one bowl with a spoon. For a straightforward, easy cupcake, these are the ones! I wouldn’t change a thing.

The chocolate frosting is a great choice for these cupcake and for any cake or sweet that demands a seriously chocolately and tangy frosting. I mixed together the sour cream and melted chocolate, and then just added icing sugar by the 1/2 cup, until I got to the flavour and consistency I wanted. I would guess I used 2 cups total, but it could’ve been more, could’ve been less. This is one seriously chocolate frosting!

Buttermilk-Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
adapted from Martha Stewart

CUPCAKES
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a mixer bowl. Transfer bowl to mixer, and add egg, yolk, water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until mixture is well combined and smooth, about 3 minutes.

3. Divide batter among liners. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool in tins. Invert cupcakes onto racks, and let cool completely. (Cupcakes can be stored for up to 3 days.)

CHOCOLATE SOUR CREAM FROSTING

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon hot water
1 1/4 cup sour cream
icing sugar (about 2 cups)

1. Melt chocolate in a double-boiler.

2. Dissolve instant coffee in hot water. Stir coffee into the sour cream.

3. With a mixer, beat chocolate with sour cream. Add icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, to the chocolate mixture, until you reach the desired consistency and flavour.

Today is my birthday (I am now in my last year of my twenties, oh no!), so in “celebration” of today, a somewhat birthday-ey treat – Caramel Apple Cupcakes. I made these a few weeks ago for the Friday snack session at work, as they sounded like the perfect fall treat. And the combination of apples and caramel is one that I love…so when I read about this recipe on The Cupcake Blog, I was pretty excited.

These really are decadent treats, but not without a few flaws (though I think I have to blame myself and lack of candy-making skills).

The apple cupcake is a bit more like a muffin, but that’s not a bad thing at all, especially given the calories and fat content that is added to this dessert. I really like baking my apples and using that, rather than a chunky applesauce; it added a much more definite apple flavour to the cupcake. The recipe claims that it makes 9 cupcakes, but I needed more than that, so I made 1 1/2 the recipe, giving me 14 cupcakes to work with. The cupcakes rose up beautifully and smelled fantastic while baking.

The filling was a breeze to make, with an ideal creamy texture and sweetness. I used a plastic baggie with the corner cut off to pipe the filling into the cupcake. I didn’t increase the quantity of filling, and I had enough to put into all the cupcakes I had made.

Finally, the caramel topping. Now, this is where I met with a few problems. I prepared it as instructed, using my candy thermometer. Indeed, I did have to work fast to get the topping on the cupcakes, as it was hardening fast! And then it hardened a bit more, then, a bit more. I was very nervous that it would be a tooth-breaking substance…it was not creamy in the least.

However, the end result did not mean a trip to the dentist. The caramel topping turned into something like a Skor bar – crunchy, but an easy crunch that just exploded in your mouth with a sweet and slightly salty taste. It melded perfectly with the creamy sweet cream cheese filling, though the apple flavour didn’t really stand out. They were a rich, messy and sticky treat….much like a caramel apple, I suppose!

I loved the method of stuffing the cupcakes with cream cheese (read the recipe to see what I mean) and even if I don’t make this particular cupcake again, I will use the filling recipe and method to fill some of the other muffins I make in the future.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes
adapted from Cupcake Bake Shop

CUPCAKES
2-3 apples, granny smith
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Rinse and core the apples. Place them on an ovenproof pan or baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes until soft.

2. Remove the apples from the oven, let cool slightly, then remove peel and mush the apple with the back of a fork. Measure out 1 cup of apple mush and set aside to cool.

3. Combine flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.

4. Crack the eggs into a separate, medium sized bowl and beat with a form to break up. Add the oil, apple juice, vanilla, and cooled apple mush and mix to combine.

5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until all ingredients come together.

6. Scoop into cupcake papers about 3/4 full so cupcakes will have a significant dome. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes, rotating the pan after 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING
4 ounces Philly cream cheese
1/4 stick butter
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Be sure to bring the butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours. Then beat the butter vigorously with an electric mixer.

2. Scrape the bowl and add the cream cheese and beat until combine.

3. Add the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.

FILLING THE CUPCAKES
1. Cut out a cone from each cupcake. Flip the cone and cut off the excess. Set the top aside.

2. Fill each cavity with the cream cheese filling.

3. Replace each top.

THICK CARAMEL
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
6 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Bring the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk to a boil over medium-high heat stirring to combine.

2. With a wooden spoon, stir all ingredients together and then slowly add the heavy cream.

3. Continue to stir for about 20 minutes until the caramel reached 248 degrees. It is important to continuously stir the mixture and to allow it to reach temperature.

4. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Transfer to a bowl and continue to stir for 2-3 minutes allowing the caramel to cool slightly.

FINAL ASSEMBLY OF CUPCAKES
1. Using a small offset spatula, frost each cupcake with the caramel.

2. If desired sprinkle warm caramel with any number of toppings, like coconut or crushed nuts.

3. Transfer the cupcake into the freezer to allow the caramel to set without dripping over the edge of the cupcake paper.

4. Continue frosting and topping the cupcakes and try to work fast. As the caramel cools, it becomes less spreadable. If possible work in pairs and let your helper top the cupcakes and transfer them to the freezer. By the time you reach the last few cupcakes, you will not longer need to freeze them and you can take all the cupcakes out and transfer them to the counter.

5. Top off each cupcake with a popsicle or craft stick to finish off the look.