Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

It's finally fall which means it's time to put pumpkin in everything anything you bake!  I have always loved pumpkin bread, pumpkin bars and of course pumpkin pie, so I thought why not make pumpkin cupcakes?!  I first made and ate most of these cupcakes (not all by myself, but almost) without any form of frosting... I ate a lot of naked pumpkin cupcakes.  I did this mostly because I couldn't figure out what kind of frosting I wanted to put on them, but also because these cupcakes are so moist and full of flavor on their own that they really didn't need a topping.  However I decided, when I have the opportunity to make buttercream, I just can't pass that up!  

Note: I have wanted to try these cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, I think that would go really well with their sweet, pumpkin base.  Otherwise just a dollop of whipped cream would go well with these just like whipped cream is good on top of an actual pumpkin pie.  If anyone tries something other than buttercream, please let me know how you like it!

The first time I made these cupcakes, I used canned pumpkin, which by the way is so easy!  To be honest, I've never used canned pumpkin before these cupcakes!  I've always used either a fresh pumpkin or pumpkin that I had frozen myself.  But canned pumpkin was certainly a nice break from my normal pumpkin baking experiences - not that I'm saying we should all starting using canned pumpkin for the rest of forever. A freshly prepared pumpkin is still the best in terms of flavor and making your house smell good (something that's very important to me).  Plus, why not buy a local pumpkin now that they're popping out of every farmer's ears?

The most recent time I made these, I used fresh pumpkin.  I wanted to try something new though, so steamed the pumpkin on the stove top as opposed to baking it in the oven.  Steaming was a much faster process, I recommend it (if you want to give this a go, my directions for steaming a pumpkin are at the bottom of this post).  Keep in mind however, you're probably losing more of the pumpkin's nutritional value with steaming than you would with baking.  

OH and by they way... I finally have a new mixer!  It's so pretty.  I touch it every time I walk through the kitchen just to make sure it's actually there.  Thank you to my parents for the wonderful birthday gift!

And this was my birthday gift to myself... yay!

These were my thank-you gifts to my new co-workers...

And these, were for anyone who came to visit me while they were in my kitchen.  Since the recipe has both crystallized and ground ginger in it, I thought it would be fitting to sprinkle some crystallized ginger on top of the buttercream.  This was good and looks really nice, but only if you really like ginger.  

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes 

Ingredients: 

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 (3.4 oz.) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground ginger
• 1/2 t. ground allspice
• 1/4 t. ground cloves
• 1/3 c. finely chopped crystallized ginger
•  
• 1 c. butter at room temperature
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 2 c. pumpkin puree
• 
  

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 24 paper cupcake liners. Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger in a bowl; set aside.
2. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Steamed Pumpkin

What you'll need: 

Large pot with 1-2 inches of water in the bottom

Metal Steaming collander

1 small pie pumpkin

1. Carefully cut one pumpkin in half next to stem.  If the stem is going to make the pumpkin too large to fit in the covered pot, cut off the stem.  
2. Place steaming colander in the bottom of a large pot filled with 1-2 inches of water.  
3. Place both halves, cut side up, in pot with 1-2 inches of water in the bottom. 
4. Steam for 15-20 minutes or until fork will easily insert through the pumpkin's meat to the shell.  .  
5. Remove pumpkin from steam bath and set aside for 10 minutes to cool.  Then scrape pumpkin from shell into a medium-sized bowl.  
6. Beat on high until pumpkin is smooth and even in consistency.  
7. Add to any recipe and enjoy!  

Note: Do not add hot pumpkin to any recipe!  Place pumpkin in fridge (or freezer for a short period of time) until cool.  

Happy Baking!

Red White and Blue Cake

It's almost the 4th of July and what better way to kick off the holiday than with a patriotic cake?

This recipe starts off with a white cake batter which is split in two and each half is dyed its own color - one red, one blue. The frosting is a homemade buttercream and to stay with the summertime/ patriotic theme, I added a handful of blueberries and strawberries.

I am providing the recipes for both the buttercream and the white cake at the end of this post. The cake recipe will fill two 9x3-inch round pans (or three 9x2 inch pans). To make the bright colors of the cake more dramatic, I cut each 9-inch cake in half horizontally so that I ultimately had four layers. Because the edges of the cake bake faster than the center (and therefore cakes always have a dome on top), each layer was not perfectly flat... you can still have a beautiful cylinder-shaped cake though! -simply add more buttercream around the outside of the cake as you are piecing the cake layers on... so the layers should fit together kind of like Legos and still be parallel to your counter top. Just remember... you can never have too much buttercream! Yum.

Use a piping bag to fill in any holes along the side of the cake and then take an extra large spatula or bowl scraper and slowly wrap the scraper around the cake to even all the buttercream out so you have a relatively smooth side to work with. This works well if you have a cake turntable as it will allow you to circle all the way around the cake without stopping. It does not matter if cake is still showing through the buttercream because you can always cover this up with more buttercream later if you chose to do a basket weave pattern. If you are in search for a turntable, I highly recommend this one as it is non-slip and has a handy-to-reach stopper for those cake decorating moves that you do not want your cake spinning in circles for! (see above image)

Next I added a basket weave pattern to the outside of the cake. I am in the process of creating a basket weaving tutorial but until I am finished with my tutorial, you can find a relatively easy one here. Just keep in mind when doing a basket weave, that you can use any piping bag tip that you want. I used number 21 for this cake. A lot of the tutorials you will find online tell you to use a flat tip but I prefer using a star tip because it gives the basket weave a little more dimension. (see below image)

After completing the basket weave, I covered the top of the cake in buttercream and again flattened it using an extra large spatula. This also works best when using a turntable. Keep in mind with this cake however, that the top does not need to be impeccably flat as it will be covered in strawberries and blueberries! Oh the joys of adding things to a cake which not only make it yummier... but also easier for you to decorate!

The border around this cake is called a shell border. This is honestly a very easy border to make and once I release my tutorial, I hope you will all try this on your next cake! (until then, try this tutorial). It can be very rewarding to find that something so elegant is actually very easy to do! I kept the size 21 tip on for these shells, however there are several different tips you can use for these in order to get different textures.

Lastly, once the basket weave was complete, the top frosted, and the border was, well, surrounding the border of the cake... it was time to make this cake fruity and festive!

Oh and you know how I'm all about local food? Well, these strawberries are from the backyard of my boyfriend's mothers house right here in Minnesota, picked only two days ago... and boy can you taste the difference! You can't get fresher strawberries than that. Thank you Nancy!

White Cake Recipe

10 Tablespoons butter (1 stick plus 2 Tablespoons) - softened

1/4 cup oil

1-1/2 cups milk (I used skim)

6 egg whites

1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons clear vanilla (if you don't have clear vanilla on hand, it's not a big deal, especially if your're dying the batter a bright color as I have done)

2 Tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2-1/4 cups granulated sugar

1.) Prepare two 9x3 inch pans (or three 9x2 inch pans). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.) In medium bowl, lightly beat milk and egg whites together. Add vanilla. In a second bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

3.) In a third bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds. Add sugar, beat for about 1 minute. Gradually add oil, beat on high for 2 minutes.

4.) Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three phases, alternating with milk mixture - you should start and end with the flour mixture (So, add 1/3 of flour mixture followed by 1/2 of milk mixture, then next 1/3 flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture and lastly remaining flour mixture).

5.) Optional: If you wish to color the batter something other than white: Separate the batter into however many bowls/colors you wish. Using any basic food dye, create the colors you want.

6.) Pour cake batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. (keep in mind that adding liquid food dye to the batter may make this baking time longer as it may have made the batter slightly more runny).

7.) Let cake cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing to let cool on cooling rack.

Buttercream Recipe

22 Tablespoons butter (if unsalted, add a pinch of salt to the bowl)

2/3 cup crisco

2 teaspoons clear vanilla

5 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

2 lbs confectioners sugar (this is typically exactly one bag)

1.) Beat butter and crisco (really blend these two together - I usually blend on high for about 4 minutes).

2.) With mixer on low, add vanilla.

3.) Stream in cream while mixer is still on low.

4.) Blend on high, 3 minutes (should become thick and creamy now).

5.) On low, gradually add confectioners sugar (this step is usually a bit messy... the slower you go here, the less messy the sugar will be for you).

*Tip: if you are using this recipe to frost a cake, you do not want the buttercream to form stiff peaks as this will cause the cake crumbs to come off the cake and into your buttercream as you're spreading it on the cake. If your buttercream is able to hold a stiff peak in the bowl, add 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream and 1 Tablespoon corn syrup and blend. Continue adding these ingredients in a 2-1 ratio until you have the consistency you desire (and don't worry if it gets too runny - just add small amounts of confectioners sugar into the frosting until you get it right!)

Lemon Love Notes

Happy Memorial Day!

It is HOT out today, which is partly why I abandoned my plans of making a red, white and blue dessert (I will make this for the Fourth of July holiday instead) and opted for something a little more refreshing - Lemon Love Notes!

Although this dessert does not represent the colors of our flag, it is yellow; and yellow is the color of the yellow awareness ribbon meaning "Armed forces return". Since Memorial Day exists as a day to honor those who have died while serving this country, I feel it is fitting that while we are honoring those lost, it is also fitting to honor those currently serving and to hope that they return safely.

If you love lemon, you will love these. If you love coconut you will love these. Aaand, since I know there are soo many of you who do not like coconut... I have a version of these summer delights that even you will love!! Everyone happy now?

Lemon Love Notes

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

3 cup confectioners sugar

1 egg

1-1/3 cup coconut*

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel ...or... 2-1/2 teaspoons lemon concentrate

1/4 cup lemon concentrate

3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

*This recipe is very tasty without coconut too, so feel free to leave this ingredient out - no substitutions or modifications need to be made if you omit the coconut.

How-To:

(Base)

1. Grease one 8x10 inch pan and preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Beat in a bowl: salt, butter, and 1 cup sugar.

3. Add egg to butter mixture, then add flour.

4. Stir in 1 cup coconut and 1 tablespoon lemon peel (or 2-1/2 teaspoons concentrate).

5. Spread on pan, bake 30-35 minutes (until golden brown).

(Glaze)

1. Beat together: 2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup lemon concentrate, and food dye (optional).

2. Spread sugar and lemon mixture on top, then sprinkle 1/3 cup coconut on top of glaze.

3. Cool completely. Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day, It's Cake Bite Time!

This weekend I made a lot of food: my grandma's butter rolls, a summery fruit salad (mmm kiwi and mango!), locally grown steak marinated with teriyaki and ginger, and homemade ice cream! I made cake bites as the kick-off to this whole food festival. A cake bite is similar to a cake pop but isn't on a stick. It's like a truffle but is made of cake and covered in a candy coating. Like cake pops, a cake bite can be shaped into anything from a simple ball to looking like an apple, flower, duck, you name it!

For these bites, the balls were again made of crumbled cake and frosting. To make the ridges around the bottom half like a real cupcake, I poured melted cocoa candy coating into a mold that looks like a mini peanut butter cup. After pouring the candy coating into the molds, I placed the previously formed and cooled cake balls on top of the wet candy melt...

After placing the tray into the freezer for a couple minutes to let the candy melts harden, voila!

After forming the mini cupcake bottom for these cake bites, it was time to add some color! Remember the orchid purple from my basic cake pops? Well... deja vu!

This part was a bit tricky, you have to hold onto the chocolate bottom and dunk the top half of the cake bite into the melted purple candy melts. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that the cocoa candy melt will start melting under your fingers... which means no more cocoa candy ridges for you! Instead, as suggested in Cake Pops (where you can get the full details of this recipe), if you wear cloth candy gloves the ridges will be A-Ok. Unfortunately, these gloves are on my wishlist and therefore... I became a wickedly fast cake bite dipper!

My transition from the purple to the cocoa candy melts wasn't the smoothest but...

The cake bites were still irresistible!

Now I realize I promised that I would make fondant this weekend, but one thing led to another and... well, you will hear about my fondant expedition by the end of this coming week! (ohh the suspense!)

Happy Mother's Day!!