Cupcake Camp

Today I finished the cupcakes we're going to be bringing to cupcake camp. I don't have any pictures of these yet, but here is one from a prior batch.

I think I'm finally satisfied with the flavorings for these. I roast apples with 5 spice powder and add them to a cupcake made with 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat flour. These aren't further flavored, other than vanilla. For the topping, I make a caramel Italian Meringue Buttercream, but rather than add the caramel to the sweetened buttercream, I caramelize the syrup, then add some water to get it pourable enough to add to the egg whites. At that point it's closer to marshmallow fluff. Then I add the butter. I was hoping I wouldn't need hardly any butter, but I ended up putting in 2 sticks to get it thick enough. The flavorings of the frosting are ginger and cinnamon. Strangely it ends up having a bit of a coconut flavor.