Apples are the quintessential autumn treat - and they make darn good cupcakes too.
CakeWalk is a weekly column by Mary Ann Porch dedicated to every baker who has ever struggled to achieve the right consistency with their icing, unsuccessfully searched for the perfect cupcake topper or just wants to learn something new. Because with a few helpful tips, cupcakes are a cakewalk.
First off…
This whole week, I feel as if I’ve been mourning the death of a dear friend. With the news that Conde Nast would be ending the publication of Gourmet Magazine, we all witnessed the death of a legend. My constant admiration of Editor in Chief Ruth Reichl, the sheer excitement I felt the day Gourmet arrived in my mailbox and overall feeling of being connected to the foodie community through a genius magazine came to an end.
But for every death, there is a rebirth, and now begins the post-Gourmet Magazine life. My admiration for Ms. Reichl is even greater than before, and instead of looking forward to the day my issue shows up in the mail, I can fondly look over all my past issues and try the recipes I never got around to or have made a million times already. The closing of this magazine also demonstrated how passionate the food community is about the subject of gastronomy. We are all hurting, and there is something kind of beautiful in that.
So, enough tears. I want to dedicate this column to the decades of culinary greatness bestowed on us from Gourmet Magazine. To the staff at Gourmet, we all look forward to your next move and will be here with open arms to help you. That’s just what us foodies do.
Alegend says goodbye: Gourmet Magazine is folding after the November issue
Now, let’s get down to some cupcakin’…
There are a number of perks that come to living in New York (as well as some pretty lousy downsides), but the one benefit that this state has, along with the rest of New England, is autumn. This part of the United States is at its best once the leaves start to change and you find the need to throw a scarf around your neck when you head out to get the paper and cup of coffee. The farmer’s markets are ripe with the bounties of the season, with one such item being the apple. Can a day get much better when it’s filled with homemade cinnamon apple doughnuts and cider? Yes it can. You just have to add apple cupcakes.
My favorite apple cupcake recipe comes from the Queen of Autumn, Ms. Martha Stewart. I don’t find the addition of a fondant leaf making any difference, and personally, I enjoy a plain and simple cupcake – frosting and cake is all this girl needs to be happy while sitting out in Union Square enjoying the park. Martha’s recipe calls for brown sugar buttercream, but feel free to substitute a delicious cream cheese frosting – it tastes just as good.
Another twist on a traditional apple cupcake is the addition of caramel. Since first discovering caramel apples while on a family vacation in Aspen when I was four years old, I’ve been a sucker for the treat. I remember the summer I had braces and was unable to eat the sticky caramel during our annual Aspen trip – I was devastated, if not better off. A Good Appetite, a fantastic blog written by a couple in Minneapolis, featured a caramel apple recipe that is based off a recipe from Chockylit. These deliciously mountainous cupcakes are topped with icing and a drizzle of butterscotch caramel.
Caramel apple cupcakes are a different take on the traditionally plain apple cupcake (photo featured on A Good Appetite)
What kind of cupcakes do YOU think symbolize autumn best? I can already hear a few pumpkin fans diligently typing a response…
Mary Ann is the founder of the New York City chapter of CupcakeCamp NYC, an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment. She is also the founder of Puff and Choux, a blog dedicated to the pastry and dessert arts. You can contact her at mary_ann_porch@hotmail.com with any questions, ideas or just to chit chat. You can also follow her on Twitter at @MaryAPorch.
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