Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

It's that time of year again . . .

Pumpkin spiced something everywhere you look.

Although it's still not sweater season here,

just seeing the Starbucks signs that pumpkin

is once again on the menu makes my taste

buds perk up and gives me great comfort.

These are a mess. I know you can do WAY better at decorating, especially on the cream topping.

These are some very moist, very delicious and

VERY dangerous cupcakes to have around.

Well for me anyway.

Do your confections ever whisper

(or shout "hey! you! over here!")

to you as you're passing by,

just minding your own business?

This recipe was adapted from Annie's eats

who adapted it from Williams Sonoma.

So it's made the rounds and has been

taste tested by the some of the best.

I just wanted to simplify it a bit

and use what worked best for me.

The flavors and spices have been bumped

up and I switched out the whipped cream

for a more stable option and added some

spices to that part as well.

Who wants to bite into an almost great cupcake?

Stablized whipped cream would also work or

even a light buttercream.

And you can go all fancy and use vanilla beans

and real whipping cream if you prefer.

I'm sure they are wonderful.

Maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough

to truly appreciate them.

The original recipe for Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce

is included below however, as a time saver,

I substituted Brach's caramels which I melted and

thinned with a little bit of caramel ice cream topping.

Simmer gently until desired thickness is achieved.

Unfortunately when I made these, I neglected to note

just how many caramels or how much sauce I used.

So you be the judge in your kitchen.

You may want to start with about 1 1/2 cups of

caramels since that is the yield for the caramel sauce recipe.

If you can't find the vanilla powder in your area, substitute with good 

quality vanilla extract and increase the baking time by a couple of minutes.

I also piped a ring of canned caramel frosting

(gasp!) to help contain the whipped topping.

A true sin for all of you "from scratch" bakers, I know.

Leave it out or do as I did or use your favorite

recipe for caramel buttercream if you'd like.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes  

Yield: about 2 dozen cupcakes


Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour


4 T instant coffee

3 T vanilla powder (CK brand) or vanilla extract

2 t baking soda


2 t baking powder


2 t ground cinnamon


1/4 t grated nutmeg


1/4 t ground cloves



1 t salt


1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree


1 cup sugar


1 cup brown sugar


1 cup canola or vegetable oil


4 extra large eggs


½ cup coffee or espresso, for brushing

Whipped topping:


2¼ cups non-dairy Frostin’ Pride

3 T confectioners’ sugar

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. ground cloves

1/8 t. ground nutmeg

Garnish:


Ground cinnamon

Caramel sauce (store bought caramels thinned with caramel ice cream topping)

Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce 

Yield: 1½  cups

1 cup sugar

1¼ cups heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

¼ tsp. coarse salt

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Spread the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Place over medium-low heat, watching carefully.  When the sugar begins to liquefy around the edges, use a heatproof spatula to gently stir it towards the center.  Continue stirring very gently until all the sugar is melted, taking care not to over stir.  Measure out the heavy cream in a liquid measuring cup and scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the cream.  Set aside.  Once the caramel reaches a deep amber color, immediately remove the sauce pan from the heat.  (To test the color, spoon a drop onto a white plate or bowl.)  Carefully whisk in half of the heavy cream along with the vanilla bean seeds.  The mixture will steam and bubble violently.  Stir until the cream is well incorporated, then whisk in the remaining cream.  Stir in the salt and the vanilla.  If any sugar has hardened, place the saucepan over low heat and whisk until smooth.  

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  If needed, it can be rewarmed in the microwave or in a saucepan over low heat.

Directions:


To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line cupcake pans with foil liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, instant coffee, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  Stir together and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  With the mixture on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until incorporated.

Fill the cupcake liners about three-quarters full.  Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.  Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans.  While the cupcakes are still warm, brush them two or three times with the coffee or espresso, allowing the first coat to soak in before repeating.  Let cool completely.

To make the frosting, place the Frostin' Pride in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-low speed at first, gradually increasing to high speed.  Blend in the confectioners’ sugar and spiced gradually.  Whip until stiff peaks form, being careful not to over-beat.  Use a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip to frost the cooled cupcakes.

Sprinkle with ground cinnamon and drizzle with caramel sauce.  *Store in an airtight container and refrigerate.

*Add the caramel drizzle just before serving or it might get runny looking

like this rather than the beautiful golden strands they started out as.

Why do I always try to do so many things at once and

not leave enough time for the photography?

ARGHHH!!!

For even more fun, top with mini pumpkin pie slices made from caramels & fondant.

See another version of the pie topper and a tutorial

at The Frosted Cake 'n Cookie.

And be sure to check out her other cute toppers while you're there.The mini cake is adorable! 

Oh, and she piles on the whipped cream topping for her cupcake much better than my lame attempt.

So make yours look more like hers. Okay?

Happy Fall Caking!

House Warming Cake

This is a cake for a friend that also adores keys almost as much as I do. Maybe more. She creates beautiful handcrafted cards and tucks antique keys inside some of the more special ones.

We didn't have a contest or anything so I'm not sure who loves them the most but here is some of my key collection. A bit off center. Like me.

Back to the cake . . . 

The guts: lemon cakepop mixture under the roof and lemon lime soaked cake with key lime frosting for the rest of the structure.

The glory: (and I use that term EXTREMELY loosely here) white chocolate exterior and trees. Letters were formed using a mold and Chocopan. The fence was punched from a Wilton frosting sheet with a Martha Stewart punch.

Happy new house Megg!

Cookie Recipe for Hidden Shapes

Last year about this time I showed you the Hidden Stars cake I'd been working on using cookie shapes inside.

I used the all white version of this recipe for the Hidden Butterflies cake.

But somehow in the confusion I neglected to share the cookie recipe I came up with. Oops!

Many of you have been asking about it so without further delay, here it is!

********************************************************************************

Seven Minute Sugar Cookies

For Twice Baked or Hidden Surprise Cakes

 

By Deborah Stauch, Once Upon A Pedestal

 

Notes: The baking time is short so that the cookie is set and no longer shiny but not at all browned. Seven minutes at 350°F or 176°C is perfect in my oven when using the small or mini cookie cutter shapes. You many need to adjust the time to fit your oven.

 

This recipe uses powdered sugar rather than granulated to insure that the bite or texture of the cookie is be more similar to the surrounding cake and not grainy. The baked cookie isn’t overly sweet. Its bite is slightly denser than the surrounding cake when baked but is still easy to cut into and doesn’t snap or crunch when the cake is cut.

 

Be sure to chill the dough once it has been pressed into the pans so that your shapes will keep their bevel and won’t spread.

 

Equipment

Parchment lined baking sheet(s)

Hand or stand mixer

6 inch round cake pan or pan of desired ring size

Plastic wrap

Cookie cutter(s) no taller than the round cake pan

Ingredients

2 ½ cups (5 sticks) salted butter at room temperature [565g]

OR: for all white cookies like the Hidden Butterflies: substitute 2 3/4 cup shortening for the butter [56.5g]; and add 1/2 tablespoon [7.5 mL] white coloring by Americolor.

3 ½ cups powdered sugar [700g]

2 large eggs

2 Tablespoons clear vanilla [15 mL] OR flavoring of your choice

7 1/2 cups flour [720 g] plus additional 1/2 cup if needed

1 teaspoon salt [5 mL]

Food coloring

Instructions

 

1.     Preheat oven to 350°F or 176°C.

2.     Cream the butter or shortening and sugar together in a bowl with an electric mixer on low to medium speed.  Mix until thoroughly incorporated – about one minute.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more. Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporated into the dough.  If you’d like a light and fluffy cookie, that’s ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking, which is not ideal if for Twice Baked Cakes since you need the cookie to hold its shape.

3.     Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated. 

4.     Add flour and salt and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.  If using a stand mixer, the dough is ready when it clumps around the paddle attachment.  It’s important not to over mix the dough, just make sure all the flour is blended. This will prevent the glutens in the flour from developing and making a tough cookie.

5.     Line a 6” or desired ring size cake pan with plastic wrap. Press the dough firmly in the pan. Cover with additional plastic wrap and chill for 1-2 hours or more.

6.     Remove the dough from the pan and set aside the plastic wrap. Using a sharp serrated bread knife, slice the chilled dough into 32 even pieces by cutting in half, then in half again and so on. This step replaces the need to roll out the dough and gives each wedge an even bevel so that it can form the ring when stacked side by side.

7.     Cut out desired cookie shape from each wedge and place the cut shapes on a parchment lined baking sheet. Set scraps aside. The shapes shouldn’t spread much so you can place them fairly close on the baking sheet. Dipping your cutter in a little bowl of flour after each cut is a great way to keep the dough from sticking and stretching out your shape. If your kitchen is extra hot or if you’d like some time to chill out while the cookies do the same, put the cookie dough shapes back into the fridge for 10 minutes to 1 hour to chill again. 

8.     Bake cookies for about 7 minutes or until the dough is just set and no longer shiny. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie your oven.

9.     Let cookies cool to room temperature before stacking in ring shape inside larger cake pan.

10.  Press remaining scraps into smaller pan for an additional ring if your plan calls for it.

11.   Cookies can be baked ahead and kept in an airtight container or frozen until you are ready to assemble the rest of the cake.

Metric conversions from charts by The Metric Kitchen http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml

Recipe adapted from/inspired by Sweetopia.