Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream and Apple Butter Filling

Hey guys! I thought I'd start this little blog to share my cupcake-y adventures. If you know me, you know I'm always making some kind of crazy cupcake, or occasionally a boring non-cupcake dessert. Like most people I do get a lot of inspiration from pinterest but I never follow the exact directions. That poses a problem when people ask for the recipe....because I don't know what I did! So I'm hoping this blog will keep me on top of my recipes and give me some incentive to keep my kitchen clean :)

So a little about me. I'm a pharmacy student at UAMS and I work as an intern at Wal-Mart pharmacy. I obviously love baking, but believe it or not, I can't really cook "real" food. I also do some crafty things from time to time. I've been dating my wonderful boyfriend, K.C., for 6 years (next month). I have a dog and a cat, and Halloween is my favorite holiday.

Let me know what kind of things you want to see posted!

Today, I've got some yummy apple cupcakes with caramel buttercream and apple butter filling to share. I actually found a recipe for apple cider cupcakes, but I can never find apple cider when I need it so I improvised with apple juice.

This is so easy to do! Mix up the cake mix and pour into your cupcake liners. I only got 23 cupcakes. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. I lost track of time (like always). They will be very springy to the touch when they are baked. After they cooled I filled each cupcake with a little bit of apple butter. You can put as much as you want, I didn't want to overdo it though.

Then the fun part. Frosting them. I mixed my shortening and butter with the caramel topping to start. Then I added the vanilla and heavy cream, and started adding powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Once you reach the right consistency, taste it. You may need more caramel or sugar. Mine isn't very caramel-y but very tasty!

Let me know what you think! I've already got another project planned....

For the cupcakes:
1 box butter yellow cake mix
1 cup apple juice
3 large eggs
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:
Plain old apple butter

For the frosting:
1 cup butter flavored shortening
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar, give or take
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 tsp caramel ice cream topping
2 tbsp heavy cream