"It's a good thing."

 I'm done my first year. I am so tired. Slightly dead.

To celebrate, we had a pot luck party on Friday to pre-celebrate the end of the year. Most people were planning on bringing beer and chips, but since I had the day off ahead of the party, I made apple cupcakes! This recipe is from Martha Stewart's website, the buttercream I used is a homegrown recipe of butter, vanilla and icing sugar.

Apple cupcakes topped with a generous amount of brown-sugar buttercream make an appealing finale. If desired, top with tinted fondant leaves.

• Yield Makes 2 Dozen

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups coarsely shredded apples such as Macintosh (about 1 3/4 pounds)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; mix in apples. Add flour mixture; mix, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until just combined.
3. Divide batter among lined cups, filling halfway; bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tins; transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
4. For fondant leaves: To tint the fondant the desired color, use a toothpick to dab on food coloring, and then knead it in with your hands. Roll out the fondant to 1/4 inch thick, and dust with confectioners' sugar to prevent sticking. Cut out shapes with a 2-inch leaf-shaped cutter. Gently press the backside of a knife down the center of each leaf to create a vein. Bend leaves slightly and place in an empty egg carton to shape. Let the leaves dry overnight. For 24 cupcakes, you will need 1 pound of fondant. If you're like me, you'll ignore this step and just top the cupcakes with buttercream.