Martha Monday - Apple Spice Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Icing

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks. I hope that all my readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are now full-throttle into the holiday season. Next Martha Monday, I am planning to start up my December holiday cupcakes.

Today is a throwback episode - we're staying on Thanksgiving cupcakes for one more week. I'm the traditional dessert maker in my family for holidays, and it's a job I take very seriously. I try to do something new and different every year to challenge myself. This year I made matching pies and cupcakes. We had pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumpkin cupcakes and apple spice cupcakes.

These cupcakes were only OK. They were heavy on the spice flavor and light on the apple flavor. They were tasty, but I was expecting more of an apple flavor. I did like the brown sugar icing though. That was a nice combination of sweet and tangy.

I apologize again for the lack of pictures - I baked and frosted these at my family's house and it was pretty hectic, instead of my usual leisurely baking in my own kitchen, which usually turns out to be as much photo shoot as baking.

To frost the cupcakes, you could use either an offset spatula or a decorating bag fitted with a tip. I frosted with a bag and tip. I used a Wilton 1M tip and got the big puffy swirls of frosting that everyone always seems to love.

Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
4. Reduce speed to low. Add applesauce and then flour mixture, beating until just combined after each.
5. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full.
6. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar

1. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth. Use immediately, or refrigerate up to three days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth.