frankie fodder: caramelised apple cupcakes

Here’s a delicious tip: apples simmered in buttery caramel become almost spreadable in texture. For extra noshability (it’s a word, because we say so) we’ve whipped up a recipe to bring the fruity goodness to your kitchen in cupcake form.



INGREDIENTS:

Caramelised apples
4 apples
40g sugar
20g butter

Cake
120g flour
120g sugar
2 tsp baking powder
40g butter
120ml milk
1 egg

Old-fashioned butter cream
200g butter
2 heaped tablespoons of flour
100ml hot milk
vanilla paste
70g sugar

Apple crisps
apple slices
cream of tartar
sugar
water



INSTRUCTIONS:

1. First, prepare the apples by peeling them and cutting in half. Now you can shave a slice off each half for the apple crisps, but if you've got more apples than just four it’s okay to waity until later. Carve out the cores, then put about 40 grams of sugar and 20 grams of butter into a saucepan and let it melt.



2. Turn the heat up a notch and place the apple halves into the butter caramel, letting it bubble for about five minutes. Flip the apples over and let the other side caramelise as well. Set aside.



3. For the cakes, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and butter until it resembles wet sand. Then add the milk and combine gently.



4. Whisk the egg lightly in a separate bowl before adding it to the batter.

5. Divide the batter between eight regular-size (5cm bottom diameter) muffin cases. Slide the apple pieces into the batter and bake at 180C for 20 to 25 minutes.



6. For the apple crisps, shave extremely thin apple slices from the centre of a firm peeled apple. It is best to use a mandolin slicer or some other slicing machine to get this accurate. In a small saucepan combine two parts water to one part sugar with a pinch of cream of tartar. Let the mixture come to a simmer and cook the apple slices in this simple syrup for a good five minutes, before laying them on a sheet of baking paper and drying in the oven at 110C for two hours.



7. For the buttercream, melt 100g butter in a saucepan, add two heaped tablespoons of flour and mix until combined. Heat 100ml milk in the microwave and then gradually pour onto the roux, whisking to prevent any lumps. Now add a teaspoon of vanilla paste and two-thirds of the sugar.

8. Let it cook for about five minutes, until it thickens. Set aside and cover. It has to cool down properly before you add the rest of the butter. Cream the other 100g of butter with the remaining one-third of sugar and mix into the cooled down cream.

9. Fill a pastry bag with the cream and place it in the fridge to make it harden. Buttercream needs to chill after a day at work. Pile a good amount of cream on top of every little cake and garnish with an apple crisp. If you have any caramel sauce left over, then drizzle it on top.



See more of Elisa's scrummy cooking over on her blog.