Apple Spice Cupcakes

I have a good friend named Kristen, who is a gorgeous and impressive mother of six children, ages seven and under: including a set of twins and a set of triplets. She's simply amazing.

It was her birthday this week, and I wanted to make her something special. She works around the clock to keep her teething triplets and older children happy, and I think that makes her worthy of special treatment every day, but especially on her birthday. I also wanted to try something new, and I thought I might be gambling with this one, but it turn out surprisingly well! 

I recently spotted a recipe for stuffed black forest cupcakes... however, I'm not a fan of non-fresh cherries (it's one of the few foods I refuse to eat) and decided to make the recipe with a twist. A box of spice cake. A can of apple pie filling. Stuffed with cream cheese. Apple butter frosting. Drizzled with caramel. YUM!

Ingredients:

1 box of spice cake 
1 can of apple pie filling (diced)
2 (8 oz each) packages of cream cheese (softened)
1 egg
2 tbs sugar
4 tbs apple butter (start with this amount and add more if you like a more bold flavor - I personally double it)
1 stick butter or margarine (softened)
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 lb caramels, melted in some milk and confectioners sugar



Frosting: Make the frosting first! This will give it a chance to set up and make it easier to work with. Blend 1 package of cream cheese, confectioners sugar, butter/margarine, and the apple butter. Let set up in the fridge.

Directions: Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box, and line two muffin tins with cupcake liners (should make at least 24). Blend the remaining package of cream cheese, egg, and sugar. Spoon 1.5 tablespoons of batter into each liner, topped with 2 tsps of the cream cheese spread and a small spoonful of the pie filling. Fill the remainder (almost to the top of the liner) with more cake batter. Repeat for all remaining cupcakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

 (before the top layer was put on)

Let the cupcakes cool before frosting them. If you have any left over pie filling, you can pipe the frosting in a circle and garnish with the pie filling, or simply frost them how you please. Melt the caramels with a little bit of milk and some confectioners sugar and drizzle over the top of the cupcakes. The more milk you add, the runnier it will be, so start off small and work your way up.


Let sit in the fridge overnight (though, you should wait to drizzle with caramel until you're ready to eat them)- this will allow the cupcakes to set completely, and will make them very moist!