Pumpkin Pie in a Cupcake

OK so I DID make these. However thanks to the gods that be (sarcasm) the photos are no longer on my camera and the cupcakes are all gone. Sighs....

HOWEVER.....they were sooooooooooooo good. OMG were they good. I had to substitute the icing because I can't find Cinnamon Chips anywhere. I've seen them before but I'm thinking maybe they aren't out yet?? I made a simple Cinnamon Buttercreme that turned out really nice! Mom gave me the idea to actually make a cake with these flavors. That is definitely doable.

The recipe did take a very long time to do since I decided to make my own pie crust. So I had to make the pie crust, make the pumpkin pie (used Paula Deen's recipe and it WAS mouthwatering), cook it, make the cupcake batter, pour it into liners, add the pies and bake. Then make the buttercreme.

I think these are in need of a do over. I may introduce my southern family to these at Christmas time this year.

Next: Almond Dream Cupcakes

On Hold: Amnesia Sparklecakes (waiting for my sister)

Tinkerbell Cupcakes - I did make these but due to time constraints they did not come out as decorative as I wanted.

Dannen O'Donnell Cupcakes

These were inspired by a character Kim created in her novel. I asked her if she were Dannen, what flavors would she like? The result was this monster. A chocolate cupcake with liquid salted caramel center topped with salted caramel buttercreme, crushed pretzels and salted caramel drizzle. Oh, the caramel was home made by the way. I used to hate making home made caramel but after a bit of practice, it comes out nice. I didn't add the buttercreme as the center because I thought it would be overwhelming. The caramel I did pour into the cupcake became absorbed by the cake. However it still worked. Will try next time to see if I can thicken it up.

Cut open. You can see the darker section inside the cupcake is where the caramel went. I wasn't so sure about the pretzels on the top but it really was good adding that crunch!

I hope to be making these again soon!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

Yes I know I deviated from my list of cupcakes for a bit here. Brother-in-law was in town and had to make them for him since his poor Hurricanes took a beating from the Seminoles (Go Noles!)

And I was shocked to hear he had never had pumpkin cheesecake! Blasphemy! This turned out really good and I can't wait to make other cheesecake cupcakes. I love this idea as opposed to a full cheesecake because you don't need to dirty my dishes to eat it. Oh, they also fit in the fridge nicely.



The crust is made from crushing pecans (you can toast them first too) and gingersnap. The center is of course pumpkin cheesecake. Then I made a home made vanilla whipped topping and sprinkled crushed pecans and gingersnap on top and drizzled it with caramel. I bet a chocolate drizzle would work well too....hmmm....think it's time to taste test that! :D

IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN!!

OH....MY...GOODNESS! I found this recipe. The recipe of all recipes!

Pumpkin Pie in a Cupcake

No I am not yanking your chain...it's an actual pumpkin pie complete with crust baked into a standard sized cupcake. Well...of course the pumpkin pie itself is not your standard size.

These WILL be made next week! I am a pumpkin pie fanatic! I am a cupcake nut! They have created a recipe that satisfies all dimensions of the baking universe for me! To merge my two obsessions into one! Why.....it's almost as good as....I'll let you fill that in.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercreme

Doesn't that look yummy? For anyone who likes strawberries this is the cupcake bomb! Although with the recipe I don't taste a whole lot of lemon in it which is probably nice. It is slightly tart, however. I can't remember where I got this recipe from, but the buttercreme was a nightmare. No matter how much confectioner's sugar I put into the mix it would still be loose and runny. So I switched gears and pulled out a tub of vanilla buttercreme I had made last week (it turned out awesome) and added strawberry jam and some lemon juice. VIOLA! That worked. I believe from this point on I will not stray from my own buttercreme recipe and will just add to the vanilla base what I want. I thought it might be fun to try other people's recipes for buttercreme but it turned out to be a not so good idea. Not saying other people don't have good buttercreme / icing recipes, just the one I selected wasn't as good as some others. Plus the jam (I recommend jelly next time) has small pieces of strawberry in it that adds to the buttercreme. This one might be good with a straight lemon buttercreme but I was afraid it would be too sour.

Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes with Cocoa Cinnamon Buttercreme

When I first saw chocolate with chilies in it I was like.....whaaaaaaaat?! Who the heck eats chocolate with chilies in it? ..... apparently the Mayans did. Yes yes I knew that just at the moment had forgotten about the long arduous history classes I've had to take to complete my degree.

So anyhow, once again I got this recipe from gimmesomeoven and tweaked it a bit. Yes this chocolate cupcake has a bite, a sting, a kick, whatever you want to call it. But the cool creamy buttercreme mixes so well with the heated chocolate. Although it all tasted good together (hello? it's chocolate!) I was not a huge fan of the cocoa cinnamon buttercreme ONLY because it tasted more to me like a royal icing than a buttercreme. So next time I will tweak the buttercreme a but more and hope to get a more buttercreme texture out of it.

The little white flakes you see in the photo is sea salt. I didn't have any really coarse sea salt and wish I had since....believe it or not.....this added immensely to the cupcake. Since I was skeptical, I didn't go out and buy coarse sea salt in case it failed taste wise to me. But alas, I was wrong. It was actually really good.

These cupcakes are good with regular Cocoa Cinnamon Buttercreme and Salted Cocoa Cinnamon Buttercreme.

* also decided I don't like that piping tip. Will stick to my 1M and 2A.