Thursday, September 12, 2013

Pumpkin Cupcakes!



Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Autumn has rolled into Heidelberg and I'm excited to bake with pumpkin.  The first order of business was finding and/or developing a delicious Pumpkin Cake recipe as the base for a season of deliciousness.  I've adapted a terrific find from allrecipes.com - it's crazy moist with plenty of flavor.

My idea was to revisit a pumpkin-shaped cake with a delightful orange-tinted cream cheese drizzle.  Again, it was a failure.  It was an improvement, but far from what I like producing. 

We were off to a good start...



Then things started to go a little sideways... figuratively and literally.
 
 
The texture of the frosting drizzle wasn't smooth. 
 
 
We had moved past "bad idea" and entered "shoulda turned back when we had a chance."  What. a. mess.
 
 
Aaaaaaand, it looked better before I added the stem.  Sigh.
 
 

The upside, today was definitely a Test Kitchen day and that's fine by me.  I'm still trying new techniques and learning all the time.

I believe I've dialed in the cream cheese frosting on this one... and love the orange tint.  I'm very happy with results of the cupcakes; they look quite charming with a flavor to match. 

 
 


This will be a good base to jump off into cupcake autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving designs - I can't wait to try some of these ideas when I visit our oldest daughter next month.  We're going to have some fun times when The Sugary Shrink Goes to Utah!  (That almost reads like a Nancy Drew title.)

I'm really diggin' the way my Fiesta Ware 15" Persimmon Jack-O-Lantern platter looks sitting on top of an upturned $2 wire candy basket.  They're perfect together.  Though I think it's still early for Halloween decorations, some people just can't wait.  Go ahead and be Boo!tastic.


 
I love the flavor of this cupcake.  I regret the wastefulness of the ingredients in the pumpkin-shaped cake.  That's part of the really big downside of the Test Kitchen.  Here's to better performance next time.
 
There will be a next time.
 
 

4 comments:

  1. The cupcakes are delicious, and with the cream cheese frosting *tastes* like a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream! And a near-success in the test kitchen doesn't equal "wastefulness of ingredients" it means total deliciousness is just around the corner!

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    1. I LOVE the way you reframe stuff for me! I'm behind that idea that success is just around the corner. Thanks for being the best cheerleader of all time!

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  2. Do you have a recipe for your cream cheese frosting?

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    1. I love Cream Cheese Frosting. The key is to monitor and adjust the amount of powdered sugar. Depending on if I'm filling layers, the frosting needs to be thick in order to support cake layers. If I'm using cream cheese to crumb coat, thinner is better. If I need a lovely swirl - medium is just right. Play with it and find what you like. Thanks Julia for asking.

      http://thesugaryshrinkrecipes.blogspot.de/2013/06/cream-cheese-frosting.html

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