These are the best Granny Smith Apple Cupcakes! Enjoy!

Granny Smith Apple Cupcakes:

Servings: 24

 Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt 9 ounces unsalted butter, softened at room temp 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 4 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, finely grated 1 cup whole milk

Apple Topping: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/3 cup granulated sugar 3 granny smith apples, peeled and cored and thinly sliced

Cinnamon Frosting 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened at room temp 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions: 1. To cook the apples: Place butter and sugar in a large fry pan over low-medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add apple slices and cook for 8-10 minutes or until apples are lightly caramelized. Remove apples from pan and let cool completely.

2. To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 325°F Line 24 4-fl-oz-capacity muffin wells with paper liners.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides if the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla and grated zest.

5. On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until flour is barely incorporated. Add the milk and mix until just smooth.

6. Divide the batter among lined muffin wells, filling each well about 2/3 full. Top with the apples.

7. Bake at 325F until a cake tested comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan and cool cupcakes on cooling racks. Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.

8. To frost the cupcakes: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the confectioner's sugar and cinnamon and beat for another 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Frost the cupcakes.

Erin K - The Sexy Cupcake Ditty


Thanks, Erin K, for turning me on to your "Sexy Cupcake Ditty" a while ago.

If you love cupcakes, you'll love her song!

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT...GENIUS!

Seen on grubstreet.com: Manhattan Finally Getting the Cupcake ATM It’s Been Missing All These Years

The cupcake craze may be trending downward, which is perhaps why it's a good thing Sprinkles is going to start selling ice cream in a newly leased, 1,000 square-feet spot adjacent to its enormous store on the Upper East Side. The new space, at 782 Lexington Avenue, will also have a cupcake ATM built into its façade, which allows convenient access to sweets, 24-7. The machine's L.A. counterpart has been known to attract sugar-craving child TV stars.

According to U.S. News & World Report Travel...These Are....

America's Best Cupcakes


Crumbs Bake Shop [more photos]
At a time of the year when we make daily diet affirmations, cupcakes—those sinister calorie-carriers—slip past our defenses. They're just so small and cute! Whether they are homemade or from the gourmet shop around the corner, cupcakes prove irresistible to coworkers, kids, men, and women. Their delicate appearance, infinite variability, and colorful frosting have enabled cupcakes to conquer the nation (and topple our New Year's resolutions).
In the delicious reign of cupcakes, there have been some standout distributors—shops that not only showcased the delicacies but also aided our addictions. Thanks to a loyal band of cupcake fanatics, these pint-size stores have become institutions, monuments even, to this hand-held treat. For die-hards, stepping up to the altar—oops, we mean counter—of these shops is the delectable conclusion to an oh-so-sweet pilgrimage. And for those in the Midwest, it's a fairly long trek to get to one of the shops listed below. The cupcake trend began on the coasts, but it is slowly (but surely) moving inland. However, the landmarks remain in coastal cities like New YorkLos AngelesSan Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Although Red Velvet seems to be the go-to flavor for customers throughout the country, we encourage you to the try the more creative inventions at these eminent cupcakeries.

[In Pictures: America's Best Cupcakes]

Crumbs Bake Shop

New York City, New York

Most Creative Cupcake: White Hot Chocolate ($4.50)
Run by Mia and Jason Bauer, Crumbs Bake Shop began serving gourmet cupcakes on Manhattan's Upper West Side in 2003. Since then, the bakery has taken its staggering popularity in stride, opening new locations along the East Coast and in California. Crumbs whips up more than 50 varieties daily; with so many to choose from, expect to find flavors ranging from the tried-and-true vanilla with sprinkles to quirkier concoctions like apple cobbler. If you aren't overwhelmed by the delicious array of goodies, check out the "Colossal Crumb." This cupcake stands more than six inches tall, so you should gather your friends to tackle this treat.

SusieCakes

Brentwood, California

Most Creative Cupcake: Morning-After Mimosa Cupcake ($3)

SusieCakes [more photos]
With her grandmothers' recipes in hand, Susan Sarich found a way to pass on her family treats to a new generation. In Brentwood, Calif., (a suburb of L.A.), SusieCakes opened its doors to sweet-toothed Californians in 2006. The shop's myriad desserts—there are more than just cupcakes here—look simple and tasty, lacking the excessive ornamentation often found at other bakeries. Here, you'll find lemon squares, snickerdoodles, and butterscotch toffee pudding that will bring you back to your childhood. But Susan's inventive twist on the cupcake is what has most people talking. Susie's Signature "Frosting Filled" Cupcakes come in nine regular flavors, including Luscious Lemon, Fluffy Coconut, and Vanilla with Pastel Vanilla Frosting. Meanwhile, seasonal favorites like Salted Caramel Apple and Morning-After Mimosa keep patrons asking, "What's next?"

Baked

Brooklyn, New York

Most Creative Cupcake: Green Tea ($2)
This suggestively named shop in Brooklyn is so good that it lures Manhattanites away from their sacred island and their own cupcake dealers. Owners Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito have transformed a potentially ordinary neighborhood bakery and coffee shop into a nationally recognized confectionary. Baked has been featured on NBC's Today Show, the Martha Stewart Show, and the Food Network. And in a survey of 47 New York cupcake purveyors, SeriousEats.com crowned Baked the top shop in the city, citing the Lemon Drop and Sweet and Salty cupcakes in its testimony. One of the nice things about Baked is its willingness to share its recipes with others. You can purchase the shop's recipe book or its easy-to-use mix kit, which contains all the ingredients you need to make your favorite desserts. Despite all the praise and subsequent products, the Baked shop remains a small and friendly operation.

Sprinkles

Beverly Hills, California

Most Creative Cupcake: Chai Latte ($3.50)
Sprinkles [more photos]
Sprinkles founder Candace Nelson claims that her cupcakes are a natural extension her great-grandmother's legacy. But customers who enter one of Sprinkles' 10 locations will see that Nelson has brought her family's desserts into the 21st century with style. Dominated by warm beige and chocolate brown tones, the sleek design of the shops' interiors puts the cupcakes center stage. Despite Nelson's recurring role on the Food Network's Cupcake Wars, the true stars of the show rest on tiered shelves. Perfectly poised in rows, these cupcakes may be the most recognizable ones in America. Although the treats exhibit militant uniformity, signature colorful dots label each creation, so there's no mistaking what delectable flavor you've selected. With bakeries on both coasts and in the Midwest, Nelson is sharing her cupcakes with more dessert lovers than ever.

Magnolia Bakery

New York City, New York

Most Creative Cupcake: Hummingbird Cupcake ($3.50)
A landmark bakery if there ever was one, Magnolia Bakery is the oldest shop on our list. The shop, which doled out its first sweets in the summer of 1996, was once a local secret in New York City's Greenwich Village. That is, until Carrie Bradshaw took her Sex and the City gal-pal Miranda (and boy troubles) to the benches outside this quaint bakery in 2000. Since Carrie took a bite of a pink-frosted Magnolia cupcake, fans of the HBO show and cupcake aficionados alike have lined the block for a sweet sample. We recommend one of the more creative flavors like the Hummingbird cupcake, a banana-pineapple-pecan cake topped with icing and toasted pecans. While we encourage you to visit the original store (even with the queue), you can now taste Magnolia's scrumptious desserts at shops in Los AngelesChicago, and even Dubai.

Georgetown Cupcake

Washington DC

Most Creative Cupcake: Bananas Foster Cupcake ($2.75 - September only)
Georgetown Cupcake [more photos]
In a highly competitive cupcake market (Sprinkles and local favorite Baked & Wired are just down the road), Georgetown Cupcakeremains king—or more accurately, queen—ofWashington D.C.'s M Street cupcake scene. The petite sweets served here have been drawing crowds since the shop opened in February 2008. But after the premiere of TLC's popular reality TV show DC Cupcakes, founding sisters Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne had a blockbuster hit on their hands. In rain, shine, snow, and sleet, cupcake connoisseurs line up around the block (sometimes for more than an hour) to sample the shop's scrumptious creations. Occasionally, local students will post signs in nearby townhouse windows that taunt customers with statements like: "You know you're in line for a cupcake when the Lincoln Memorial is RIGHT THERE!" And that's when we concede: Some people just don't understand the instantaneous pleasure of tasting the perfect cupcake.

Kara's Cupcakes

San Francisco, California

Most Creative Cupcake: Fleur de Sel ($3.25)
If you want a frosted sample of San Francisco, you should ditch the fare at Fisherman's Wharf and opt for Kara's Cupcakes. These dainty snacks and their purveyor adopt the Bay Area's environmental awareness with green vehicles and compostable utensils and packaging. Using local ingredients such as flour and sea salt, the cupcakes quite literally take on the region's flavor. We urge you to try Kara's sweetest creation, the Fleur de Sel cupcake, a luscious indulgence of chocolate cake, caramel filling, and chocolate ganache frosting dusted with sea salt. As her business has expanded to include seven vehicles and six stores in Northern California, founder Kara Haspel Lind continues to attentively care for each detail of the process—from baking to selling—to ensure a delectable experience for her customers. And at the "Tiffany's of Cupcakes," patrons appreciate Kara's mission "to make the world a sweeter place."

[Photos of America's Best Cupcakes]

Cupcake Apps?? Yes!!

 Ohh La La! Be sure to check out these cupcake apps for iPhone, iPod, and iPad bakers! They are fun and useful for both the savvy and the novice cupcake baker!



#1: Food Network Cupcakes for iPad...Become a better baker with Food Network’s Cupcake app, a whirl of 100+ winning recipes (including 30+ all-new, kitchen-tested recipes), decorating how-tos and you-can-do-it tips for the best sweet treats of the season. Cost: $2.99. Search iTunes iPad apps for Food Network Cupcakes.



#2: Hello Cupcake...★★★ Chosen by Apple as App of the Week! ★★★ Cupcake Lovers: Prepare to be amazed. Elegant butterflies, darling ducks, and playful penguins are just a few of the cupcake projects contained in the Hello Cupcake! app. Once you start exploring you won’t be able to stop — or stop smiling. Cost: $2.99. Search iTunes apps for Hello Cupcake.




3. Sprinkles Cupcakes...Introduces a freshly baked app sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. This free app dishes out free cupcakes, one-click menu access, virtual cupcakes gifting, a memory game, bakery locator, and more! Cost: free. Search on iTunes for Sprinkles Cupcakes.




4. Messy Cake Cupcakes...The Messy Cake Company are proud to announce the launch of our Cupcake Recipes app. The app contains six exclusive recipes that you are sure to adore! Also includes a tips section, sharing trade secrets n how to make the perfect cupcake! Cost $0.99. Search on iTunes for Messy Cake Cupcakes.



5. Vegan Cupcakes Pre...Vegan Cupcakes will change your world! In this sweet and sassy guide, you'll discover 75 recipes for cupcakes and frosting--some innovative, some classic--all certain to make your most carnivorous friends wish they were vegan! Cost $4.99. Search iTunes apps for Vegan Cupcakes.






Let me know what you think of these apps and have a great week! CQ

Food fight: Miss Mamie’s wins $10,000 on Food Network’s ‘Cupcake Wars’


THIS IS SUCH A GREAT STORY—

On Monday, Mamie Doyle sold 600 cupcakes, about triple what she usually sells on that day at Miss Mamie’s Cupcakes, Cakes and Such, located just off the Marietta Square.


But the sales boost didn’t come out of nowhere. The night before, Doyle and her assistant, Erin Chupp-Sintos, beat out three other bakers from around the country and won a $10,000 prize on the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars.”

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Food fight Miss Mamie’s wins 10 000 on Food Network’s ‘Cupcake Wars’ 


Bobby Flay's Peanut Butter Buttercream Devil's Food Cupcakes


These cupcakes were incredibly easy to make...really! It's just that there are three main things you have to do: 

1. Make the cupcakes.

2. Make the Peanut Butter Butter Cream filling.

3. Make the Granche Frosting.

opps...and 

4. Chop the peanuts!

Here is the link to the recipe: http://goo.gl/IJgC3


I took all of mine to work and made sure that no one who might be allergic to nuts had any! Luckily, no one there was allergic to peanuts!

Hope you get as good a reception as I did!

CQ

A Taxing Day: Martha Stewart's Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes!

These cupcakes are so yummy, you might want to eat them all yourself! The recipe is below.....


Enjoy! CQ

Martha Stewart's Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

The Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup warm water

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line mini muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add eggs, buttermilk, oil, extract, and the water; beat until smooth and combined.

Spoon the batter into liners about two-thirds full. Bake approximately 15 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Transfer tins to wire racks and allow to cool for 10 minutes; turn cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 1 month in air tight containers.

To finish, use a paring knife to cut a cone-shaped piece (about 1/2 inch deep) from the center of each cupcake and throw away the pieces. Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons warm Salted Caramel Filling into each hollowed-out cupcake. You will notice the caramel will sink into the cupcake a little, just fill it up a bit more. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over filling.

Use a pastry bag with a medium open-star tip (I used Wilton #1M) and pipe Dark Chocolate Frosting onto each cupcake, swirling tip and releasing as you pull up to form a peak. Garnish each cupcake with a pinch of sea salt. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are filled and frosted. Store at room temperature in airtight containers - do NOT refrigerate. Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Filling
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, preferably fleur de sel

Directions
Heat sugar with the water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan over high, stirring occasionally, until syrup is clear; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan and stop stirring.

Cook until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush as needed. Boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is caramelized and just reaches 360°F. Remove rom heat and slowly pour in cream; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in sea salt.

Use immediately; if caramel begins to harden reheat gently until pourable.

Dark Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
2 1/4 cups (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions:
Combine cocoa and boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved.

With electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture.

Frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 1 month in an air tight container. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again.