Familiar fall flavors

Caramel Apple Cupcakes take you back to your childhood with the flavors of a fall festival treat.

The cupcakes are a snap to prepare with the help of packaged cake mix, canned apple pie filling and dulce de leche sauce. They're a great ending to a casual autumn gathering or a school's fall bake sale.

Look for dulce de leche sauce (sweetened milk cooked down to a thick caramel) with the ice cream sauces in the supermarket. If you can't find it, substitute a jar of thick caramel sauce. The best choices are usually labeled "hot" caramel sauce.

I developed these cupcakes as a variation of a cake recipe I ran in this column in 2004. My neighbor Joyce VanElls is known for her moist chocolate cake that includes a can of cherry pie filling. I'm sharing that recipe, too.

Both recipes can be baked into cupcakes, or you can bake them in a sheet cake or Bundt pan and drizzle the sauce or icing over the top. If you're making Ms. VanElls' version in a Bundt pan, heat the icing briefly in the microwave so it will be easy to drizzle over the top.

Reach Karin Calloway at karin.calloway@comcast.net. See her prepare the recipe at noon Tuesday on television station WJBF (Channel 6). Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/karincalloway.

CARAMEL APPLE CUPCAKES

1 18.5-ounce white cake mix

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie or apple pie spice

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 20-ounce can apple pie filling

1 jar high-quality dolce de leche sauce or caramel topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Set oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins (approximately 18 standard size cupcakes, or about 40 mini cupcakes) with foil or paper liners and set aside.

Combine cake mix, eggs, oil and apple pie filling in the bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer fitted with a beater blade or in a large bowl with an electric mixer.

Beat until mixture is smooth and apples are very broken up, about 3 minutes.

Divide batter among the muffin liners.

Bake for 25-30 minutes for standard cupcakes, or 15-20 minutes for mini cupcakes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool them on a wire rack.

When the cupcakes are cool, spread the tops of each with caramel sauce.

Sprinkle with toasted pecans.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 18 cupcakes or 40 miniature cupcakes.

GROCERIES

1 18.5-ounce white cake mix

1 20-ounce can apple pie filling

1 jar dulce de leche sauce or thick caramel ice cream topping

Chopped pecans (1/2 cup)

Eggs (3)

PANTRY: Vegetable oil (1/2 cup), pumpkin pie or apple pie spice

JOYCE'S MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 18.5-ounce butter recipe chocolate fudge cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 20-ounce can cherry pie filling

1 12-ounce tub prepared chocolate frosting

Set oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients in bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer with beater blade or in large bowl with electric mixer and beat until smooth and cherries are broken up, about 3 minutes. Coat 9-by-13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and pour in cake batter.

Bake 40-45 minutes, until center bounces back when touched.

Cool, then spread with frosting.

Makes 15 3-inch squares.