The inauguration today will definitely be one for the history books. However, there is one minor detail that I think can be left out…dessert. Have you seen the menu for the celebratory luncheon? The menu has a Lincoln theme - seafood stew (supposedly a favorite of Lincoln’s), pheasant and duck served with sour cherry chutney and molasses sweet potatoes (inspired by Lincoln’s childhood on the Kentucky- Indiana frontier). The dessert will be apple-cinnamon sponge cake and sweet cream glacé. Maybe the food will be fabulous, but it just wouldn’t have been my choice. And dessert would have been much more extragavant if I had any say in the menu. I scoured the Internet for apple-cinnamon sponge cake recipes and just couldn’t get excited about any of them.
In the process, I stumbled upon something better – Apple Struesel Cinnamon Swirl Cupcakes. The recipe comes from Cupcakes by Elinor Klivans. Coincidently, she also wrote one of my new favorite cookbooks The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook. I shared the cookie dough cheesecake bar recipe a few weeks back from her book and have a great cookie recipe to post later in the week.
These cupcakes did not disappoint! The crunchy streusel on top and the cinnamon sugar middle is awesome. I would definitely make these for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. The icing is optional and tastes great both ways. You can never go wrong with cream cheese frosting. The end result is more like coffee cake than cupcakes, but regardless of what you choose to call it, it’s delicious.
Apple Streusel Cinnamon Swirl Cupcakes
Swirl and Topping
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
Cupcakes
- 1 cup grated peeled apple (1 large apple)
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (from above)
- 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup canola or corn oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.
Make the swirl and topping: In a small bowl, stir the sugar and cinnamon together.
Make the cupcakes: In a small bowl, mix together the grated apple and the 2 table spoons cinnamon sugar; set aside. In a large bowl, stir the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the eggs, oil, and vanilla, stirring until blended. Stir the reserved apple mixture, with any juice that bas been released. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the batter into each paper liner. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon cinnamon sugar over the batter in each liner. Spoon the remaining batter over the cinnamon sugar, using a scant 2 tablespoons of batter for each cupcake.
Use a pastry brush to dab the top of the batter with the melted butter. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the top of the cupcakes. Bake just until the top feels firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the cupcakes from the pan onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
