Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes

5 from 2 votes

Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes

These salted caramel apple cupcakes consist of a brown butter apple cake, a luscious caramel cream cheese frosting, and a generous drizzle of salted brown butter caramel sauce! How could you say no to this combination of brown butter, salted caramel, cream cheese, and juicy apples?!

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1 20

Servings14 cupcakes

Coursecupcakes

CuisineAmerican

AuthorSloane

Equipment

Ingredients

For the salted brown butter caramel sauce:

127 g (½ cup + 1 tbsp) salted butter
113 g (½ cup) heavy cream
200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
30 g (2 tablespoon) water
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
pinch of flaky sea salt

For the apple cupcakes:

180 g (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon ginger
113 g (½ cup) brown butter, start with 155g (11 tbsp) salted butter
142 g (⅔ cup) dark brown sugar
66 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
21 g (1 tablespoon) molasses
170 g (⅔ cup) applesauce
150 g (about 1 ½ medium apples) finely grated apple, peeled

For the salted caramel cream cheese frosting:

6 oz (¾ block) cream cheese, cold
113 g (8 tablespoon) salted butter, room temp
113 g (1 cup) powdered sugar, sifted
100 g (½ cup) salted brown butter caramel sauce

Instructions

For the salted brown butter caramel sauce:

Brown the butter: In a small saucepan, add the butter and place over medium heat. As the butter melts, stir it with a rubber spatula to encourage even cooking. Once the butter has fully melted, it will alternate between rapid large bubbles and gentle small foamy bubbles. The butter will be ready once it turns a dark golden color and the fat solids have darkened and settled at the bottom of the pan.
To the brown butter, slowly pour in the heavy cream and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
In a separate small saucepan, combine the sugar, salt, cream of tartar, and water. Place over medium high heat, stirring often with a rubber spatula to encourage even cooking.
When it comes to a boil reduce the heat to medium and continue stirring often. After about 10 minutes, when the color turns an even medium amber color, slowly stream in the butter heavy cream mixture, quickly mixing until fully combined. Continue cooking and stirring with the rubber spatula for one more minute.
Remove the caramel from heat, mix in the vanilla, then and pour into a glass jar. Stir in a pinch or two of flaky sea salt, then chill in the fridge overnight or until ready to use.

For the apple cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and add parchment cups to a cupcake pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside.
Brown the butter: In a small saucepan, add 155g (11 tbsp) of salted butter and place over medium heat. As the butter melts, stir it with a rubber spatula to encourage even cooking. Once the butter has fully melted, it will alternate between rapid large bubbles and gentle small foamy bubbles. The butter will be ready once it turns a dark golden color and the fat solids have darkened and settled at the bottom of the pan. Immediately pour into a large bowl, scraping out the fat solids at the bottom, and weigh out to 113g (½ cup).
To the brown butter, whisk in the sugars, then the eggs, vanilla, and molasses until fully combined.
Then, mix in half of the dry ingredients until barely combined, followed by the applesauce. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.
Lastly, fold in the grated apples until evenly dispersed.
Transfer the batter to the cupcake pan, filling each cup about ¾ full.
Bake the apple cupcakes for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the salted caramel cream cheese frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed until smooth.
Slowly add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fully combined.
Drizzle in the caramel sauce and continue beating on low speed until no more lumps or pockets of air remain and the frosting is smooth.
Decorate the cupcakes as desired.

Notes

Make the caramel sauce ahead of time: I recommend making the caramel sauce at least an hour (or up to a week) before making the cupcakes to give it time to cool down and thicken up.
A note on browning butter... Start with a few extra tablespoons of salted butter, since water evaporates as it browns. Also, keep in mind that European-style butter has less water content, so if you're using American-style butter you might want to start with even more butter.
Use cold cream cheese & room temperature butter. In order to create a sturdy, pipeable cream cheese frosting, pay close attention to the temperature of the ingredients. Cold cream cheese will ensure it's thick enough, while room temperature butter will ensure all of the ingredients cream together properly.

Nutrition Facts

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