Hellooooooo, fall! I hate being cold, I hate wearing socks, but I love fall foods and baking all the time. We had a surplus of green apples around these parts so I thought I’d try out this recipe from Julie Hasson’s 125 Best Cupcake Recipes.  I don’t have great luck with streusels, I will say, and this was no exception. Rather than the little clumps I was supposed to get I got sort of a mush. I don’t understand it, streusel just hates me. Home made caramel was more agreeable this time, although very messy when you’re too impatient to actually wait for it to set up to eat it. I would almost call these muffins, but they’re covered in candy so let’s call them breakfast cupcakes. I left half of them unfrosted to eat in the morning. Then, of course, I will eat the frosting with a spoon for lunch.

For the cupcakes you will need:

Batter-

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

Streusel-

• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbs unsalted butter, room temp.
• pinch salt

Then you:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a pan with paper liners.

Batter-Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Alternate whisking in flour and milk, making three additions of flour and two of milk, whisking until smooth. Stir in apple.

Streusel-In a bowl, whisk together brown sugar and cinnamon. Add butter and rub in with fingers until mixture forms small, moist clumps. Scoop about half the batter into the pans. Sprinkle streusel over batter and top with remaining batter. Bake 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then cool completely on wire rack.

For the frosting you will need:

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp salt

Then you:

Combine cream, sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat for about two minutes or until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Decrease heat to medium and cook, stirring often, for 10-15 minutes, until caramel is thickened. Remove from heat and stir until smooth, then pour into a bowl. Let cool in bowl, stirring occasionally. Caramel with thicken further upon standing. Stir cooled caramel well and spread on cooled cupcakes.

And then you know, there’s Etsy.