Pumpkin spice cupcakes

Here's what happens when you love a holiday so much, the chief item of consumption becomes an ideal cupcake topper.

And...

 if you're in the season of pumpkin spice, you may not want to let this one go.

So...

these cupcakes are a must mention- generously moist, balanced perfectly against a not too decadent cream cheese buttercream.  

Btw, those are fondant turkey faces up there. It's a cinch using my marshmallow version right here.

Got to tend to the real turkey today- twenty pounder for a table full of folks who'll gather under the roof shortly.

Happy Thanksgiving friends🦃

For the cupcakes~

Ingredients:

(recipe adapted from IheartNaptime)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp cinnamon 
• ½ tsp powdered cloves
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp powdered ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup canola oil
• 2 eggs

Directions:

• Preheat an oven to 350 °F.  Line muffin wells with paper liners.
• Sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a mixer, beat pumpkin puree, brown sugar, sugar, canola oil and eggs until blended.  Combine flour into this and mix until just incorporated.
• Spoon into muffin tins approximately 2/3 way up.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops become golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Frost with cream cheese frosting. 

Recipe for cream cheese frosting here with modifications, 8 ounce cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar. 

Thanksgiving:

owl cake pops

Thanksgiving cake pops

pumpkin spice layer cake

sweet potato casserole

acorn squash

Coming here and updating this space is a blessing I don't take lightly and for which I'm absolutely grateful for. Thank you for reading.

******

"Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Baby Yoda cupcakes

It's slightly colder in the Southwest desert. Not quite the bonechill which ushers in pretty long coats, fuzzy loungewear or even the down parka I wanted last year. Nope, but sufficient enough my wardrobe gets a special section labelled sweater weather, in hopes that most items in it are adequately utilized. 

Indeed, cooler is better. It means my cakes don't have to live in the fridge. I can have one, two or even three out on the counter for more than five minutes without their structures becoming terribly malformed. And for someone who bakes as a side gig, I am fastidiously OCD about things staying in place as intended, not sliding/shifting because they can't adhere. If I put it there, it needs to stay- pretty much a universal truth.

Likewise, let me, once again, extol on the virtues of homemade marshmallow fondant. When you're equipped with an arsenal, in my case, a new batch every two weeks, there's abundance for practice, play and put away.

This type of cake icing is elastic yet sturdy. It gives molded cakes a finish that is very forgive-able. Marshmallows and sugar combine to an exceptional pliability,  which means polished covered treats and smooth trinkets adorning the same, example being the cutest Yoda ears ever. It surpasses a lot of typic fondant hurdles and is amply delicious. 

I don't think there has ever been a time the recipe has failed me.  It certainly makes the confectioner's repertoire a more consistent, less anxiety driven one. Your ends to a sculpted cake are totally attainable and the resulting "oohs and aahs" on delivery never get old.

So when you roll out nearly 101 circles to top dozens of cupcakes, you come to realize that a reliable mmf recipe is not to be taken lightly.

In the case here, the same fondant in three colors, rolled and cut with plain edge cutters created an adorable topper: the edible ascent of the ultimate internet baby.

Frankly, your Grogu moment can occur with any flavor or type of confection you choose. Tell me he wouldn't look just as adorable tucked on pumpkin spice cuppies with thick cream cheese swirls? 

I know you see it.

Take a look, enjoy some Fall and may the Force be with y'all.

Marshmallow fondant recipe right here.

I used geometric cutters to make my toppers uniform: a circle cutter for the white base, the same cutter halved for the blanket, a small oval for the face and squares that I stretched to create the cutest Yoda ears.

Trying to clean the slate and clear my drive- recipes/ pictures/ cakes- before attempting to share anything new. So it might be fewer words, more images. Hopefully I'll be able to balance it out with fair dottings of season appropriate gems too. 2021's coming to a close too soon. Don't you think?

2020: Owl cake pops

2019: Cherupayar payasam

2018: Multigrain pizza crust

2017: Yoghurt rice

2016: Cashew chicken curry

2015: Stuffed acorn squash

2014: Chili roasted cauliflower

2013: Alfajores

2012: Beef fry

******

"You are my hiding place;  you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."-Psalm 32:7