It’s Halloween weekend and unless you somehow plug-in for energy, you’re probably  running off of sugar, festively shaped, colorfully wrapped, sugar….and now your teeth hurt.

We actually haven’t purchased our candy yet. One of us is the child of a former Hershey employee and the other grew up in a house where October meant the two foot tall umbrella basket was converted into a never ending candy pit. Needless to say, our control is lacking…so we wait, but I fear we’ve waited too long.

The only candy left in the store is the kind that guarantees you will be power-washing egg off your house come Monday morning.

So as a back-up plan, I’ve made these apple cupcakes with cinnamon honey buttercream. Obviously, these break all sorts of Halloween candy safety code, but we only average about 10 trick-or-treaters, so that leaves more than enough for parents to pull the “Let me eat that one and make sure it’s ok” trick and get their own grown-up treat.

These cupcakes are moist and creamy. The apple-cinnamon combination is the essence of fall in its own festive colorful wrapper. And don’t worry, if your teeth really are hurting, or, have just completely fallen out, you can still gum your way right through one of these.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away…sure, but what about the dentist?

Cake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living, November 2006

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick softened butter (I used salted)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups peeled, shredded apples (about 5-6 medium apples)
For the buttercream:

1 stick softened butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon, plus some for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour through salt (first 5 ingredients).
2. Cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on med-high until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Add in the apples. Lastly, slowly add in the flour mixture and mix on low to combine.
3. Line two cupcake/muffin tins with cupcake liners and fill each cup about 1/2 way. Bake about 15 minutes, until slightly brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.  Let cool while making the buttercream.

For the buttercream:

1. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, slowly add about 1/2 the confectioners’ sugar, then the milk, then the rest of the sugar. Once all the sugar is mixed in, add the honey and cinnamon. Mix on medium-high for about 3 minutes. It should be light and fluffy.
2. Once the cupcakes are completely cool, frost the tops and sprinkle with a little cinnamon.

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