Iron Cupcake: Earth - Winter Warm Up

I am back with another Iron Cupcake: Earth entry! This month's challenge is Winter Warm Up, meaning anything that warms you up during a cold winter. For me, that would be an oven baking something nostalgic like cupcakes and apple pies...

Hold on, what about apple cupcakes? I remembered seeing an apple cake on smitten kitchen that looked very "give-me-a-slice-right-now!"

This was a daring experiment for me, since Deb baked hers in a tube pan, so I learned that some things don't translate well in other formats... One more thing, I'm sorry for the poor photo quality! It was a gloomy winter day and without sunlight, my photos simply... well you can see for yourself:

Apple chunks and cinnamon!

Mmm, don't you love smooth batter?

I tried two different apple placements:
Left: Apple chunks on the bottom
Right: Apple chunks on the top

Top-half and bottom-half!

The winner! Apple chunks on the bottom make for a much neater cupcake. Plus, after cooling, the cupcakes with the apple chunks on top began to sank. But, if you like how the apple chunks look on top, I would try and put less batter in your cupcake liner?

Apple Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from smitten kitchen
(Makes about 28 regular cupcakes)

3 apples
1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
---
2 3/4 cups of sifted flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of vegetable oil
2 cups of brown sugar
1/4 cup of orange/passion fruit/peach juice (I didn't have plain orange juice)
2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
4 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and have all ingredients at room temperature. Also have your cupcake liners ready.
   
2. Core and chop the apples into chunks. I kept the skin on the apple, but you can peel yours if you prefer to. Add in the cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir to evenly distribute the cinnamon and sugar on the apple chunks.
   
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.
   
4. Using an electric mixer, whisk the oil, juice, sugar, and vanilla extract together.
   
5. Add the dry ingredients in two parts.
6. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix until the batter is combined.
7. Evenly distribute the apple chunks, place them in the bottom of your cupcake liners.
8. Pour the batter over the apple chunks, filling the liners about 3/4 full.
9. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

I attempted a casual nutmeg buttercream. It did not turn out very well, therefore I won't be posting that bad recipe!

Iron Cupcake: Earth voting takes place HERE between January 28th to February 3rd. The winner will receive the awesome Prize-Pack:

• The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
• Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
• Bella Cupcake Couture
• Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrn
• Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
• Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply

You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.

Verdict? Sweet and delicious!