Applesauce Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these little gems in mini muffin tins and they were just darling, does that sound gushy? My daughter and I baked all the desserts for the cast and crew premier of the new full length feature film "The Free Ride", produced by Mike and Rachael Dornbirer. Definitely one of the best movies in a long time. You can find it at 

www.sanctumentertainment.com

Great family movie, you can order a copy today!

You'll find a pretty picture of the table at the end of this post.

Cupcakes:

2 cups white spelt or all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 cup oil, vegetable, canola or melted butter

1 16 oz. jar unsweetened applesauce

4 eggs

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Line muffin pan with paper liners or grease a 15x10x1 inch sheet pan.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the oil, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Add the applesauce.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring just to combine.

Fill the muffin papers 2/3 full (or 1/3 empty ;). If using the sheet pan, spread evenly.

Bake mini cupcakes for 15-20 minutes, sheet pan or regular size cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Frosting:

Beat the butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add the vanilla, milk and sugar and beat wildly, or until fluffy.

Now you can just spread this creamy frosting on the tops or you can get out the piping bags and tips you bought once upon a time promising yourself you would learn to use them and do a pretty swirl on top.

Put the rosette tip (#32) on the coupler.

Holding the bag like this, with the sleeve cuffed,

glob a good amount of frosting into the bag, don't fill it more than 3/4 full or it will ooze out of the top as you squeeze it.
 Hold it like this then,

give it a twist.

Now, unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of the swirl but you just squeeze gently in a spiral and you will get a cute little mound on top.

You can find decorating supplies individually or in sets at JoAnn's or some super stores, start small, just some disposable bags, a set of couplers and a couple tips is all you need to begin.

This is a photo of the dessert table, before the crowd and refills. The applesauce cupcakes are near the end.

 Get a copy of "The Free Ride" dvd, bake some cupcakes and have your own premier!

And I would love to hear how you enjoyed the movie as well as the cupcakes.