Vegan Caramel Apple Cupcakes recipe

Vegan.

Caramel apple cupcakes with a lightly spiced cupcake, homemade spiced apple filling, topped with vanilla buttercream, caramel sauce, and an apple slice.

They’re the perfect way to say ‘Goodbye summer, Hello Autumn (or Fall as my American readers call it).

These cupcakes are:

Cram packed with spice.
Have a light and creamy buttercream which compliments the spices.
Topped with homemade 3 ingredient caramel sauce, which is extremely tasty, you’ll want to eat it from the jar.
Have an easy and gently spiced apple pie filling, which makes your whole house smell delicious.
They’re extremely moorish, you’ll want a second serving for sure!

I’ve been loving all of the Autumnal spices including ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg etc.. and I was really excited to some cosy and warming spices in a tasty apple pie filling.

For added sweetness, I drizzled over caramel sauce which compliments the spicy apples- YUM!

Preparation: 20 minutes (or overnight if you’re making the caramel sauce)

Baking time: 18-20 minutes

Makes: Around 8-10

Level: Easy

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Ingredients for the caramel sauce

-180g of caster sugar

-65g of coconut milk (cream only)

-60ml of dairy-free milk

Ingredients for the cupcakes

-240ml of dairy-free milk

-1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

-210g of self-raising flour

-100g of caster sugar

-1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

-1/2 teaspoon of allspice

-1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

-60g of vegetable oil / coconut oil (melted)

Ingredients for the apple filling

-1 tablespoon of dairy-free butter

-1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

-200g of apples (cubed)

-60g of caster sugar

-2 teaspoon of cornstarch

Ingredients for the buttercream

-100g of dairy-free butter

-300g of icing sugar

-1 teaspoon of all spice

-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

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Method (caramel sauce)

1. Place the sugar into a large pan over low/medium heat, stirring continuously until it begins to dissolve then turn off the heat.

This will take around 10-15 minutes.

2. When it’s golden and liquid, add in the coconut cream and stir vigorously.

It will steam and bubble but keep stirring.

3. Once the caramel cools down, pour in the dairy-free milk, stir until everything is dissolved.

4. Place the pan back onto a low/medium heat bring it back to the boil.

It will begin to bubble, just keep stirring.

Stir for around 1-2 minutes.

5. Turn the heat off and pour into a heatproof bowl and pop into the fridge.

I like to allow my caramel to set overnight.

It turns into a thick and glossy, sweet toffee sauce.

Method (cakes)

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c and line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

2. In a small bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined.

3. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, ground cinnamon, allspice, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

Mix well to combine.

4. Add the oil to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.

5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a smooth batter.

6. Fill the cases 3/4 full with the batter.

Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.

7. Pop the cakes into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.

You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.

8. Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before frosting.

Method (apple filling)

1. Core and chop the apples into squares, set aside.

2. In a large saucepan, add in the ground cinnamon and dairy-free butter. Heat on low until melted.

3. Add in the chopped apples, sugar and cook until the apples soften.

This will take around 8-10 minutes.

4. Add in the cornstarch.

Allow the apples to cook for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened and the apples have softened, but not mushy.

TIP- If there is too much liquid, pour it out as this can make the cupcake soggy.You want the apples to be quite sticky.

Set the filling aside to cool. It will thicken as it cools.

Method (buttercream)

1. Cream the butter in a bowl, on high speed until creamy. I use my stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment. You can use a hand whisk or electric whisk.

2. When your butter/margarine is creamy & light in colour, add in the icing sugar, allspice and vanilla extract.

Whizz together until fluffy & fully combined.

Add a splash of dairy-free milk if too thick.

Using an apple corer, core the middle of each cupcake and add in some of the apple filling.

3. Transfer the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with an open star tip nozzle.

4. Pipe a swirl of buttercream on top of each cupcake.

5. To decorate, add a drizzle of caramel sauce on top of the buttercream, add on an apple slice and a cinnamon stick or star anise (optional).

Repeat for all of the cupcakes.

Serve these cupcakes fresh or store in a sealed container in or out of the fridge, the buttercream will firm up at room temperature.

Best eaten within a few days.

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