I like to make a new recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas every year. It gives me the chance to experiment and get feedback on if others like it too. I found the recipe for these here and I knew I just had to try them. Since you are using a boxed cupcake mix it is not too labor intensive, though there are a few steps.
Ingredients: One box of Duncan Hines Caramel cake mix (plus ingredients to make according to box) ~ One bag (14 oz) Kraft Caramels or bits ~ ½ cup sweetened condensed milk ~ 1/4c. butter or margarine ~ 1 stick (4 oz) salted butter ~ 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter ~ 2 cups powdered sugar ~ 2 teaspoons clear vanilla flavoring ~ 1 packet of Crystal Light – Appletini
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Make cake mix according to box and divide into 24 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin. Bake according to box. Remove from oven and cool completely.
In a small saucepan, combine caramels, sweetened condensed milk and butter (The bits is only 11 ounces so I added a few cubes of leftover caramels I had in my house). Melt (stirring constantly) until creamy and smooth.
Pour warm caramel into a small bowl. Dip tops of cooled cupcakes into caramel to coat the top. If it cools too much and hardens you can microwave for 15 seconds, then stir to smooth.
Allow caramel to cool completely. Make frosting by adding butters, powdered sugar, vanilla and Crystal Light drink mix together in a mixing bowl. Beat together on low until combined and then beat on high until light and fluffy. **note: the apple flavor in the drink mix is strong and tart– I only added a third of the packet and it was really sour/tart, you might want to add it a little at a time and taste as you go to decide how strong a flavor you want.**
Frost each cupcake with the apple frosting, then try not to devour them all in one sitting!
Linking up with Jessica and Ashley.
LOVE these! I was hoping you would post the recipe! These are perfect for the holidays!
Thanks! They were a big hit with my cousin! They are a good sweet treat!
They look delicious!
Thanks! They were hard to resist so I didn’t! Haha!
Yep. I’ll definitely be making these! I like that they’re based off of a boxed mix, even if there are extra steps… much less intimidating!
Yes, I like making things from scratch in case things get discontinued but the ease of a box is nice too! The caramel dip totally makes these over the top good!
Definitely gonna have to try these!!
Let me know how you like them. They were a crowd favorite at Thanksgiving.
The caramel topping sounds so good! I like the way you decorated with the icing so that you could still see the caramel – your cake decorating class is definitely showing through!
The caramel was the best part! Thanks, I need to practice more but I can totally see a difference since taking the class. 🙂