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Today’s recipe for Apple Chai Cupcakes was inspired by a very, very special event in our life – our oldest daughter Courtney just got married this past weekend!
We adore our new son-in-law, and it was a beautiful ceremony and reception with an elegant and rustic theme. And the bride and groom chose an apple chai wedding cake that was very delicious!
So we decided to try our hand at making some apple chai cupcakes at home – and our youngest daughter Emma was my helper for the day! In fact, baking these cupcakes with Emma was the perfect opportunity to try out Curious Chef‘s cooking tools which they were nice enough to send to us to test and review.
Curious Chef’s mission is to inspire the love of cooking in kids by providing fun, safe, easy-to-use and appropriately sized kitchen tools for children ages five and older. They believe that teaching children to cook helps build a foundation for many essential life skills, helps kids build self-esteem, develops healthy eating habits, teaches basic math skills and helps kids develop a growing vocabulary. The folks at Curious Chef also believe – like we do – that cooking together fosters stronger relationships with family and friends, and it helps cultivate the all-important skills of listening to, and following, directions.
Curious Chef sent us their 30-piece Caddy Collection (see above) – a complete set of cooking tools in a convenient carrying caddy. (I have to say that Emma was super excited to see this set arrive in the mail – especially since she knew the kitchen tools were sized just for her!) It comes with everything a budding chef would need including kid-safe knifes, measuring cups and spoons, spatulas, a rolling pin – and so much more!
We started our cooking project by making a simple chai spice cupcake batter – and Emma was able to easily measure out all of the correct portions of flour, spices and other ingredients using the Curious Chef measuring cups and spoons.
We also tested out the mixing spatulas – the firm rubber and the kid-sized handle was the perfect length.
And when it came time to making the apple filling for the cupcakes – Emma easily handled the peeler….
….and was able to cut the apples into chunks using the knives that came with the set. The knives are plastic so they don’t have a sharp metal blade, but it was still sharp enough that Emma could chop the apples for this recipe.
Emma loved cooking with the Curious Chef tools!
And – that cute pink apron you see Emma wearing in the photos up above? That came in the 11-Piece Girl’s Chef Kit that the folks at Curious Chef were also nice enough to send us. (It comes in a boy’s version too!)
So if you have a budding chef at home like we do – Curious Chef offers a wide variety of cooking tools that are great purchases for your own kids or to give as gifts!
And here’s that Apple Chai Cupcake recipe which we adapted from a recipe originally published on Cupcake Friday Project. It’s a delicious chai spiced cupcake filled with tender spiced apple chunks and topped with an amazing chai buttercream frosting. (YUM!)
Disclaimer: Curious Chef provided us with complimentary products for review purposes only. No other compensation was provided and all opinions are 100% mine (and Emma’s).
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Apple Chai Cupcakes
Adapted from Cupcake Friday Project
Ingredients
For the Spice Cupcakes
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 cup chai concentrate (we used Tazo)
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Apple Filling
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped medium-fine
- 1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored and chopped medium-fine
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
For the Chai Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup chai concentrate
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups confectioners sugar
Instructions
To make the cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cardamom. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup, combine the chai concentrate and milk. Stir to combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of a standmixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the eggs on high for approximately 20 seconds. Add the sugar and whisk again until frothy (about 30 seconds).
- Add the oil and vanilla to the mixing bowl and blend until combined. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk-chai mixture to the mixing bowl, blending after each addition. (Don’t worry – the batter will be a fairly liquidy batter and this is OK!)
- Divide the batter equally into the 12 cupcake liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
- Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
To make the Apple Filling
- While the cupcakes are baking, in a medium bowl, combine the chopped apples, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter until bubbly. Add the apple mixture and cook with the lid on the pan for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the lid and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the apples are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
To make the frosting
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce the chai concentrate until have have 3-4 tablespoons remaining in the pan. Set aside in the refrigerator to chill.
- In the bowl of a standmixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the softened butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of confectioners sugar and beat until combined.
- Alternate adding the reduced chai and the remaining 1½ to 2 cups of confectioners (add all of the reduced chai but only as much sugar as needed to get the right frosting consistency) – whisking well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Whip on high for 2-3 minutes to get the frosting a light and fluffy consistency.
To assemble the cupcakes
- Using an apple corer, remove a small section of the center of each cupcake. Then fill the cupcake with some of the apple filling, pressing down to pack the filling into the cupcake.
- Place the frosting into a pastry back fitted with a star tip (like this one) and pipe onto the top of each cupcake.
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So glad you liked my cupcake recipe. I’m curious…what adaptations did you make?
Hi Mel – We reduced the amount of apple filling (since we felt it made far too much for the number of cupcakes) and adjusted how the frosting was flavored using the concentrate. We also rewrote the instructions which (as you know) I found to be a little confusing – but maybe that was just me! 🙂 Also, there was a step missing – but I can’t remember exactly where in your recipe that was… Overall it was a great recipe!
Congratulations on your new family member!!! What a FAB cake to choose. I love the kid friendly products. This is a wonderful recipe! I love cakes with fruit in them. I have a transparent apple tree ripening right now. So apple recipes are high on my list.
Thanks Carol!