Halloween Cupcakes

These halloween cupcakes were very last minute. I made the the chocolate vanilla "ghosts" on Thursday night and the pumpkin spice ones on Halloween itself. I think that with Halloween, there has to be a little chocolate, and pumpkins are basically the symbol of Halloween, so you've got to have that. I've found that people tend to enjoy the mini cupcakes the most. First, they're irresistibly cute and they just pop into your mouth so easily.




When a regular size cupcake is presented to someone they will most likely eat it, but feel rather sick afterward. To avoid that bad feeling being associated with cupcakes, I usually make these little guys. The frosting/cake ratio also seems to work a little better with the minis.

Chocolate Cake

4.25 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter; softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Stir until melted. Remove from water and let cool.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. On low speed, add the melted chocolate until incorporated. On medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and beat until the mixture has changed to a slightly lighter color. Mix in the yogurt until completely blended. Dissolve espresso powder into water and pour into batter. Mix on low speed just until smooth. Line a muffin tin with paper cups and spray the whole pan with vegetable oil [to prevent sticking]. Fill each cup almost to the top. Bake minis for about 10 minutes.

Vanilla Buttercream

1-1-½ stick unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1-1-½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Sanding sugar or sprinkles

In a stand mixer, beat softened butter and powdered sugar, then salt, and mix thoroughly. Add in vanilla extract and mix. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes. Sprinkle with orange sprinkles or any other decorations of choice.

Pumpkin Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin puree in mixer until thoroughly combined.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix together well. Add to the wet mixture. Do not overmix.

Butter and flour mini muffin tins. Fill each cup 1/2 way with batter. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cakes are firm to the touch.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix ingredients together in mixer until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

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Pumpkin Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches

My school is a little weird in that it divides the year into 5 parts. My first "quint" is ending, which means teachers decide to pile on the work. All at one time. The last week of the quint is always a little insane; everyone's very stressed and a little grouchy. But there is reward to the difficult week. We get a couple days off to recuperate, which means I'll most likely have time for an extra post (woot woot). I've been doing a lot of college searching lately, and I'm completely falling in love with the courses I've been looking up. I'm not exactly sure what I want to, but graphic design has always been a love of mine. I get really excited whenever I start to research it. There's a lot of anxiety involved in picking out what you want to be for the rest of your life. But there's a lot of fun involved, too. Seeing the types of things I'll get to do in a couple of years, eases the pressure, as it looks like so much fun. I know I love my web designing, photography, and baking, so that's what I'll stick to for now!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

1 cup pumpkin purée
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 egg yolks

Combine pumpkin and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Whisk egg yolks with 1/2 cup of cream and 1/2 cup brown sugar until thick.

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream. Heat on low until sugar is dissolved and steam rises, continually mixing.

Add 1/2 cup of hot cream into egg mixture gradually, whisking thoroughly.
Pour egg mixture into saucepan and heat on medium-low until mixture is thickened, but does not boil.

Pour through a strainer and let cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes, then mix in pumpkin. Cover in an airtight container for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Transfer mixture to ice cream maker and use manufacturer's in structions.



Gingerbread Cake
adapted from martha stewart

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a half sheetpan with cooking spray and line with parchment. Spray parchment and use a paper towel to spread. Flour well and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together spices, salt, sugar, and flour.

In another bowl, whisk together molasses, egs, canola oil, and buttermilk.

Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water.

Gently fold in molasses and water mixtures into the dry ingredients until a batter is formed. Pour into prepared sheetpan and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cake springs back with a light touch, depending on your oven.

Let cool for at least 20 minutes before attempting to remove. Once cooled, use a ruler or other straight edge to cut equal size squares. remove the squares and each cut in half, producing two rectangles.

Assembly

Once the ice cream is made, spread it in a sheetpan lined with parchment into one even layer. Let set up in freezer for at least 3 hours. Once hardened, use a ruler to cut ice cream squares the same size as the cake.

Just before serving, stack ice cream on top of one piece of cake, layering another on top of the ice cream. You can make a little powdered sugar+cream glaze to drizzle on top, and pecans go nicely with this.

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