High Altitude Spiced Maple Cupcakes
A high altitude recipe for spiced maple cupcakes, frosted with maple cream cheese buttercream, and topped with a maple leaf sugar cookie.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Standard-Sized Muffin Pan
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp maple extract
- 1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
Buttercream
- 4 oz (1/2 brick) full fat cream cheese, softened for 1 hour
- 4 oz (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp maple extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon/sugar, for decorating
- mini maple leaf sugar cookies, for decorating
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line your muffin pan/s with 14 paper liners.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter until nutty, golden brown solids form at the bottom of the pan, which should take about 5 minutes. You'll know the butter is just about ready when a layer of foam forms on top of the butter and it stops hissing and splattering.Remove the pan from the heat, use a spatula to scrape the butter and all the browned bits into a bowl, and let cool for 10 minutes.
- To the browned butter, add the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla extract and maple extract, and whisk until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, granulated sugar, salt, baking powder and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and whisk until smooth.
- Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling them no more than 2/3 - 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes on the center oven rack for about 18 minutes, until the centers of the cupcakes spring back when gently touched, or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pans for several minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt. With the mixer running on low, add the powdered sugar mixture by spoonfuls to the butter, mixing just until combined.
- Add the vanilla and maple extracts, and increase the speed to medium. Whip the buttercream for about 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until fluffy.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with the buttercream, and pipe onto the cupcakes. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar, and top with a maple leaf sugar cookie.
Notes
These can be baked and frosted one day in advance, stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature before serving.
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