Fancy Pumpkin Cupcakes

I want to preface this post with the disclaimer that these are EASY!!!! The following pics are my first attempt at making these. My daughter Hailey actually mixed all the dry ingredients, cracked the eggs, and ran the mixer (with my help) to blend the eggs and pumpkin. The only thing I did for the cupcake part was to mix the wet and dry ingredients together. I don't usually make cupcakes from scratch, but I really wanted to try this and see if it was as easy as the author claimed. It was!
I want to be sure and give credit to the author of this recipe. She did an amazing job and I am indebted to her for this wonderful creation. http://kitschygirlsguide.blogspot.com
These were a breeze to make and looked like a gourmet cupcakes. Several people commented that there was NO WAY I had made these at home, and if I did I must be 'Martha Stewart'. Well...I am not Martha and I did make them at home. I have Kitschy Girl and Demarle to thank for my 'gourmet' looking/tasting cupcakes. So, without further delay, here they are!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice

 1 cup brown sugar packed

1 cup granulated sugar

In a bowl whisk together spices, flour baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add both sugars slowly ad whisk so there are no lumps.

NEXT:

4 eggs

2 sticks melted butter unsalted

1 15oz can pumpkin puree

In a large, separate bowl beat eggs with an electric mixer until yokes and whites are combined. Add pumpkin puree and mix. Add melted butter and mix again. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

 Fill cupcake wells 3/4 full and bake for 25 minutes. I was able to get 30 each of the Demarle Mini Muffin Tray and 12 each of the Demarle Regular Muffin tray. I baked the mini muffin and the regular muffin at the same time and then refilled the mini muffin (remember to fill the empty wells half full with water).

While you are waiting for the cupcakes to bake you can make the Cream Cheese Frosting and put it in the Demarle At Home Pastry Bag fitted with the large round tip:

8oz softened cream cheese

6 tablespoons butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients. I used a hand mixer to blend them together and get it really smooth.

This is not a super stiff or sweet frosting so I wouldn't recommend a fancy piping job. I used the large round tip on my pastry bag and I frosted them slightly in from the edge, so you would see the chocolate.

 Ganache

1 4 oz Ghiradelli Semi Sweet bar

1 4oz Ghiradeli 60% bar

or

8oz of dark sweet chocolate, shaved

6 tablespoons of butter (room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Using a double boiler (or a pot of boiling water with a metal bowl on top). Melt chocolate with half the butter. Remove from heat, add remaining butter and add vanilla.

While ganache is hot dip each cupcake into it and set aside to cool.

The ganache will get firm and glossy as it cools and makes a beautiful presentation. Don't be afraid of ganache if you haven't worked with it before, it's unbelievably easy. Really!!

Fall is upon us!!

These are new things that I came to me one morning at 3am. I couldn’t sleep and I was thinking about food. Go figure! If you know me, you know that food is never far from my mind! I love talking about it, thinking about it, making it, and of course, my favorite part, eating it!

So here are a couple of recipes and some pictures of how I utilized the recipes in my kitchen. I used the mini tartlet tray and the pastry bag to put the filling in the tarts. It work good for the apple, but the pumpkin was a little runny. I think something that had a lip or maybe a liquid measuring cup would have worked better. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Apple Pie Filling for…later

6 lbs apples (tart work best)

4 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

8 cups water

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 drops yellow food coloring

I used about 20 medium size apples, grade B. Meaning they had bumps, bruises, and blemishes. Since I peeled and sliced them it didn’t really matter! They still tasted delicious!

1.      Sterilize 6 quart jars, if canning, by washing them with soap and water and putting them in the oven at 215 degrees for a minimum of 15 minutes. They can stay in the oven until you are ready to take them out.

2. Peel, core and slice apples. (Leave slices about 1/2 inch thick).
3. Combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch and salt in large pot.
4. Add water and cook on high heat, stirring frequently at first and then constantly until it boils. Let it boil for about a minute, at this point it should be nice and thick. Watch it very carefully, when it starts to thicken it goes fast!!
5. Stir in lemon juice and food coloring
6. Pack apples in hot jars and fill jars with sauce just to the bottom rung of the mouth of the jar. I use a wooden spoon to push the apples down. DO NOT FILL THEM ANY HIGHER! THEY WILL EXPLODE!
7. Process jars in hot water bath for 20 minutes.
8. If you are freezing them, mix apples and sauce and put in freezer ziplock bags or freezer containers.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

½ tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 ¾ cups pumpkin (15 oz. can)

1 ½ cups evaporated milk (12 oz. can)

Combine dry ingredients, in a separate bowl slightly beat the eggs. Stir in the pumpkin and the dry ingredients, mix well. Gradually add the evaporated milk, pour into pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes!

I made my own pumpkin puree!! It was SUPER easy and came out tasting delicious. Even the most novice of cooks can do this, it is a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen too!

Roasting a Pumpkin

It sounds daunting and scary but what better time of the year to tackle such a culinary task!! Trust me, it’s easy!

Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and “stringy” stuff. Put cut side down on your Flexipat or deep Flexipat, add ¼ cup water and put in a 250 degree oven for 1 hour, or till flesh is “fork tender”. Take out of oven, let cool to touch and then scoop out the flesh. Place flesh in a blender or food processor, process till a smooth consistency is reached. Use in muffins, breads, pies or mousse!

REMEMBER: Roast the pumpkin seeds for a healthy, fibrous snack!

450 degrees for 8-10 minutes or till golden brown