Carmel Apple Cupcakes

Ok- to start out with I am gonna be honest. Not a big fan of these cupcakes. I initially started you thinking that they would be awesome, but they did not work out so great. Oh well, it was a learning experience.

So hear is the recipe that I use for the cupcakes.
1 Box of Cake Mix -I like Betty Crocker. For this recipe I used yellow cake, but I think I would use white cake or a spice mix next time.
1 large box of Pudding
Vegetable Oil (amount according to Box)
Eggs - amount on box plus 1
Water (amount according to box)

This is the standard cake mixture that I use- for cupcakes and cakes. Adding the pudding and the extra egg is really helpful in keeping the cake moist, but also making it denser then just the plain cake mix. This is helpful is you are decorating a cake, and especially if you do any sort of three dimensional cake. Light and fluffy cake does not work so well with the cake decorating world.

So for the Carmel Apple Cupcakes, I did a little bit of substitution.
Instead of oil, I did applesauce- which you can do that at any time in order to make it healthier, but I am not a fan so much (that is just me)
I also added some dried apples that were chopped up in small pieces.
For the water I did half water half apple juice. All of this was to make tue cupcakes more apple tasting. So here of a some pictures of the cupcakes

The chopped up apples

Finished cupcakes-minus the frosting.
For the frosting I used this recipe from TLC I was not so much a fan of it. The consistence of it was off, and it just did not work to well for me. I think that next time I do these cupcakes, I will just melt actual carmels and not do a frosting.
Here are the finished pictures of the cupcakes.


I started with trying to make the frosting all pretty, but it was really thick and sticky and would not really work. So I thinned it down a little, and made it more like a glaze instead.
So overall, I was not the biggest fan, but was really matters in the end is the taste. I shared it with my family and my friends. They all said that they loved them. So you can try it and see if you like them.
Aren't we all our own hardest critics? I know I am. Hope you enjoy