MangiaMore: WORMHOLE cupcakes

RER 11.1.13

First up, contender numeroooo unoooo in the 2013 Annual Halloween Cupcake Wars, the WORMHOOOOLLLEEEE (wormhole, for short) cupcake featuring a deliciously moist apple cinnamon cake and a mature* maple syrup buttercream frosting, topped with mildly creepy gummy worms.

RER 10.30.13

RER 11.1.13

*note: I used “mature” as the qualifier because I used the real stuff, not Mrs. Butterworths or Aunt Jemima, the syrups of my youth. The grown up stuff. I also used “mature” because I am not entirely fond of the flavor of legit maple syrup, however, the buttercream was the bomb.com.

RER 10.30.13

RER 10.30.13

RER 10.30.13

This spiced apple cupcakes recipe from chow.com was easy and scrumptious (shredding the apples was probably the most labor intensive part, and waiting for them to be cooked was the most challenging). The maple buttercream frosting, however, was more of the issue. It just would not stop separating, so refrigeration was the solution, even though there are other options out there (i.e. melting a little bit of the frosting in the microwave and then pouring it back into the bowl, or scrapping it and starting over).

RER 11.1.13

RER 10.30.13

In the end, these are (Believe it or not there are some left, warranting the present tense, but in the freezer to prevent that nasty thing called instant gratification. Patience is a virtue and waiting deserves a reward, a cupcake, obviously.) some mighty tasty cupcakes, verging toward the moist muffin territory. The apple, cinnamon, and maple flavors scream fall, and feel like being wrapped in a furry blanket on a damp cold day. I opted out of the ginger, and went light on the cinnamon, because I really wanted the pretty red gala apples to be the stars of these autumnal cupcakes. Shredded apples made for a fun play of texture, creating a barely there confetti of fruit floating through the dense warm batter. Despite the maple frosting being not so visually pleasing, the taste of the syrup was initially quite strong for the cupcake, but subsided with each bite (all three of them), blending with the cool weather favorite flavors.

RER 10.30.13

RER 10.30.13

The gummy worm, however, was superfluous (but important in my naming them… wormhole, get it?). Stay tuned for more Cupcake War adventures (in the mean time check out goodies on instagram, facebook and twitter)! 

PS. I would like to shout out my superstar sister, who helped with the cupcake battle, by helping me come up with ideas, cheering me on, shouting out baking directions, and messing with messy maple frosting! Thanks sis!

RER

10.31.13

RER 11.1.13