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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Apple Cider Cupcakes

This recipe was submitted by Jennifer Buter. The recipe comes from epicurious.com and was printed in the October 1991 issue of Gourmet Magazine. Jennifer has this recipe on her "to-bake" list, but asked that I try it out first. Here is my opinion...

I love it when recipes come with reviews. I trust reviewers more than I would trust some random recipe. So when I read one review that stated, "Overall this is an atrocity of a recipe," I knew there would have to be some tweaking involved. I relied on my instincts mostly. I substituted butter for half of the shortening (This was my first time ever using shortening in a cake; I probably won't do it again, mostly because it has no flavor. But also because shortening for real just wierds me out!). [[EDIT: Umm holy crap, I'm an idiot. I just noticed in the picture I took of the ingredients... I totally used 3/4 cup of shortening AND 3/4 of a stick of butter. Hahaha, okay screw this whole recipe!]] I doubled the amount of baking soda. I also reduced the amount of sugar, as I do with a lot of recipes. Most reviewers said that the apple cider flavor was very minimal, so I boiled the cider down to less that the recipe called for, hoping to end up with a more concentrated flavor. I made up for the extra liquid by adding some whole milk. Also, when I boiled the cider, I added a tablespoon of mulling spices to enhance the flavor. It wasn't noticeable in the cupcake, however. I recommend upping it to 2 or 3 tablespoons of mulling spice.

The resulting cupcake was a dull, wierd flavored, yet moist and tender cupcake. The frosting had a nice twang to it, but it was very soft. The temperature stated in the recipe was too high. I was thinking to myself as I was preheating the oven, "When was the last time I baked cupcakes at 375 degrees??" The cupcakes got very brown and almost tasted like the crust on white bread (freakin ew!). You would have no clue these were made with apple cider unless you were told. In that case, you'd still be lying if you said "Oh yeah, now I can taste it!" In the words of Mythbusters, this recipe is busted!

Ingredients Notice I have 3/4 cup shortening AND 3/4 stick of butter. I'm a retard, thanks.
At least the batter was yummy!
I hate spending extra $$ on cute liners that wrinkle when you put them in the pans!
They even look like bread crust, don't they!
Making the frosting... reduced cider + sugar...
Mixed until it's smooth. (This picture is before the addition of cream cheese. Don't worry, the frosting isn't that runny!!)
The end...
You can get the mulling spices as Williams-Sonoma. They smell so good!

For the cupcakes
3 cups unpasteurized apple cider (I added 1 tablespoon of mulling spice; I recommend 2-3 tablespoons)
3/4 cup vegetable shortening (I effed up the amount of fat in this recipe. I accidentally added 3/4 of a stick of butter instead of substituting it for half of the shortening!)
1 3/4 cups sugar (I reduced this to 1 cup)
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I reduced this to 1/2 teaspoon because I used spices in the cider)
1 teaspoon baking soda (I used 2 teaspoons)
Pinch of salt (I used 1/4 teaspoon)

For the icing
2 cups apple cider
6 ounces cream cheese, cut into bits and softened (I used 8 ounces)
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar (I used 1 cup)

Preparation
Make the cupcakes:
In a large saucepan boil the cider (and mulling spices) until it is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups and let it cool (strain the spices). In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together the shortening and the sugar until the mixture is fluffy and beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Into the bowl sift together the flour, the cloves, the cinnamon, the baking soda, and a pinch of salt, stir in the reduced cider, and combine the mixture well. Divide the batter among 18 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the cupcakes in the middle of a preheated 375°F (I'd reduce the temp to 350°) oven for 25 minutes (check them about 5 minutes early just in case), or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a rack, let them cool in the tins, and remove them from the tins.
Make the icing: In a saucepan boil the cider (and mulling spices) until it is reduced to about 1/4 cup and let it cool (strain the spices). In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together the cream cheese, the confectioners' sugar, the reduced cider, and a pinch of salt until the icing is smooth (I omitted the salt, and mixed the sugar and cider together first before adding the cream cheese).
Spread each cupcake with some of the icing.


Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 4
Flavor: 1
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 3 (too soft and kinda boring)

14 comments:

freakgirl said...

I want to make apple cider cupcakes for Thanksgiving, so if anyone finds a better recipe, post a link, please? I'm hoping to find one that mimics the taste of fresh apple cider donuts.

Here's a tip -- I hate when my cute liners wrinkle in the pan, too. My husband happened upon a solution. You know the little plastic cups that the Reynolds foil cupcake liners come in? Save those. As soon as you buy new liners, take them out of the packaging and put them in the Reynolds ones. It keeps them in the right shape, rather than them stretching out over time (which is why they wrinkle).

And there's your handy tip for the day! :)

Anonymous said...

Aww...that's too bad. I am planning on doing some kind of apple cupcake this weekend when it finally gets nice and cold. I did do a quick google and found another recipe with some happier apple cider flavor reviews. Maybe I'll try it instead (or if you post a better one here you can recommend...I'll be back!):

http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2006/10/apple-cider-cupcakes.html

CB said...

Get out of my head! I have apple cider cupcakes on my future cupcake bake list. Tis the season huh? Bummer this wasn't a winner. Might have to check out Rachel's link and see what she did :)
/Clara

MamaElla said...

Yummy..You are making me hungry..Can I have 1 please...!

susan said...

the flavor got a 1?! at least the tenderness got a 5! and hahahaa, ur butter/ shortening situation made me laugh :) overall, those cupcakes look delicious even if they didnt taste that good. and btw, you've been tagged! come to my blog and check it out.

Mignon said...

This is a major bummer. But I have to tell you. That ever since I stumbled upon your blog my cupcakes status has risen 100%. I also have created a few flavors myself. Like Brown Sugar Rum SMBC so good on a pecan spice cupcake. Or White Orange SMBC. Or even, I made the Nutella SMBC and added cherry to it and now it's Hazelnut Cherry SMBC. It is by far the most dangerous. You ROCK! Thanks and keep those recipies comong. I always check here first.

Danielle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Danielle said...

Sorry your supcakes didnt turn out. at least they looked good!

Arlene Delloro said...

Isn't it funny how you can just tell when reading a recipe that it will be a bummer or a winner. I agree about the yuckiness of shortening, though there are cookies with it that are wonderful.

Finla said...

Lookswise it looks really yummy delicious. But then yo did say it didn't taste special.

Gigi said...

How festive! Thanks for all the tips about the ingredients. I hate when cupcake liners wrinkle. I had that happen over halloween.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

While they may have been a bust that last photo of them is not. Thanks for passing along an honest review!
~ingrid

Anonymous said...

I think you should make the pecan pie cupcakes (or whatever the other choice was) to make up for it. (That's the one *I* voted for.) :) Mmmmm.... pecan pie.

Christine said...

The concept was great. I experienced the same thing when I made chai tea latte cupcakes and I just didn't feel that the spices were pronounced enough. Keep working on it!