Fall Leaves Cupcakes

We started with mix-easy cupcakes, then added apples and pumpkin pie spice for a perfect-for-fall treat.

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 (15.25 oz.) pkg. French vanilla cake mix
• 3 eggs
• ⅓ cup oil
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1½ cups grated, peeled apples

Decorations:

• 1 cup dark cocoa candy melts, melted
• 4 cups white candy melts
• Green, orange, red and yellow oil-base candy colorings
• 24 caramel candies, unwrapped
• 24 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Frosting:

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• Orange edible glitter

Instructions

Make cupcakes:

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Line 24 muffin cups with liners. On low speed, beat first 4 ingredients and ½ cup water 30 sec.; on medium speed, beat 2 min. Stir in apples. Divide among liners.
2. Bake until pick inserted comes out clean, 20 min. Cool.

Make leaves:

1. Transfer cocoa candy melts to disposable pastry bag; snip tip. On piece of parchment or wax paper, use melted cocoa candy to create outline of a leaf; repeat to make 24 outlines of each leaf. Let dry, about 10 minutes.
2. Divide melted white candy melts among 4 bowls; tint one bowl green, one orange, one red and remaining bowl yellow with candy coloring. Transfer each color to separate disposable pastry bag; snip tips.
3. Working with one leaf at a time, fill in outline with different colors of candy melts. Using toothpick, immediately swirl. Let dry, about 10 minutes. If necessary, microwave bags of candy in 10-second intervals to re-melt.
4. Peel leaves from paper, turn over and pipe on veins; let dry.

Make acorns:

1. One at a time, soften caramels between fingers and shape into caps; press onto flat sides of Kisses. With knife, score crosshatch pattern onto caps. Reserve.

Make frosting:

1. On medium speed, beat butter until creamy. Add cream cheese and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy. On low, gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until blended; on high, beat until fluffy. In batches, transfer frosting to pastry bag fitted with round tip (such as Wilton #2A). Pipe over cupcakes; sprinkle with edible glitter. Garnish cupcakes with leaves and acorns.