September Cupcakes

The first new toy I bought myself with my cupcake earnings was a kitchen torch. So obviously I had to use it on two of this month's cupcakes. 

Salted Caramel Apple Cider 

Apple Cider Cupcake
I used this recipe from B. Sugar Mama for the cupcakes, but I used a local hard cider from Lockhorn Cider instead of the Angry Orchard. These cupcakes had an awesome texture and were very moist! 

Cream cheese frosting
Some recipes use more cream cheese than butter or vice versa. I like to use equal amounts (2 sticks of butter to 1 8 oz box of cream cheese) for a nicely balanced flavor and a slightly lighter texture. I add about 4 cups of powdered sugar, 2 tsp of vanilla, and a few tablespoons of cream. Make sure you beat it for a few more minutes after you think you should stop. I piped the frosting with a petal tip to try and make a rose. They turned out a little ugly, but salted caramel covers a lot of sins.

Salted caramel drizzle 
This salted caramel recipe from The Kitchn is easy and turns out great every time. 

Lemon Meringue

Lemon Cupcake
I don't remember which lemon cupcake recipe I used for these! I still haven't found "the one," though, so you're not missing much. These had a better texture, but were not lemony enough.

Lemon Curd Filling
The Barefoot Contessa's recipe for lemon curd is hard to beat. Blitzing the lemon zest with the sugar extracts the flavor out of it very well, and it's much easier to make than other recipes I've tried. It also freezes nicely, in case you're like me and make a double batch...

Meringue frosting
I used this meringue recipe from King Arthur Flour for the frosting. It toasted nicely with the kitchen torch but it did shrink a little overnight in the fridge.



S'more

I used the S'more cupcake recipe from Life Love and Sugar for these. 

Graham Cracker Crust

Chocolate Cupcake
These cupcakes are very chocolatey, but a little too gooey for eating while standing around in an office setting.

Marshmallow Frosting
This frosting was a relatively convincing marshmallow substitute. I think it needed a little vanilla to be more accurate. It was good, though, and it held better than the very similar meringue frosting for some reason. 

Chocolate/Graham Bark
Once I finished the cupcakes, I thought they looked a little too similar to the Lemon Meringues, so I melted some chocolate, spread it on a silicone baking mat, and sprinkled the leftover graham cracker crumbs on top.