Perfect Pumpkin Cupcakes

Whoops! I meant to post this yesterday but I was crazy busy and exhausted.

I don't know if I can adequately explain how awesome these are. They are just amazing. The best cupcakes ever. And they have every exciting spice under the sun...even black pepper! As opposed to pumpkin bread and the like, they are actually quite light. And of course, as with every spiced cake, they taste even better the next day. If you can, bake them the night before, cover them up to keep them moist, and frost them the next morning with a generous dollop of cream cheese frosting. Perfection!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups cake flour (or 1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour + 1/4 cup cornstarch)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin


Make the cupcakes:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with about 21 liners.

2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.

3. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth. Scoop the batter among the cupcake liners — you’re looking to get them 3/4 full. Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1.Cream together the butter, cream cheese and vanilla.
2.Blend in the powdered sugar until smooth.
3. Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon or nutmeg.

Makes about 21 cupcakes.

Red Velvet

I was up late the other night watching Food Network, which is bad for several reasons. The first being that I should have been asleep because it was midnight. The second being that I knew I'd want to make everything I saw from the dinosaur cake on Ace of Cakes (not happening anytime soon!) and the gingerbread cupcakes with carmelized mango buttercream, which sounded ridiculously hard to make once I tracked down the recipe.

However, I saw a lovely girl making red velvet cupcakes, covered with a literal mountain of cream cheese icing and topped with cute little sprinkles in a rainbow of colors. It was 1 am and I was thinking "oooh...red velvet..."

It's funny how often we forget about the classic recipes. How long has it been since I've even thought about red velvet cake? I can't remember the last time. In fact, I couldn't even remember what red velvet tasted like. So guess what I was making in my kitchen the very next day?

Oh, and it is awesome.


Red Velvet Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 and 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 and 1/4 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons red food coloring
1 and 1/4 teaspoons vinegar (white or apple cider will both work)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 cup water

For the cream cheese frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar

**quick note: A one ounce bottle of red food coloring (the normal size tiny glass bottles you'd get in a grocery store) only has 2 tablespoons of dye in it, so you will need two one ounce bottles of red dye to have enough for the cupcakes. It's okay if you don't put all the dye in it, they just won't be quite as deep red.

For the cupcakes:
-Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
-Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside.
-In a large bowl mix the oil, sugar, and buttermilk until combined.
-Add eggs, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and water and mix well.
-Add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time and mix until just combined.
-Be sure not to over mix, or the batter will come out tough.
-Line cupcake pans with 24 paper liners, scoop the batter into the liners 3/4 full. (Or two 9-inch cake pans for layer cake. Grease the pans, line the bottom with wax or parchment paper, then flour. It will need to bake a little longer, I'd say around 30-40 minutes.)
-Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. (Mine got done at about 22-25 minutes) Cool completely on racks.

For the cream cheese frosting:
-Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
-Add the vanilla.
-Gradually add powdered sugar to the mixture and scrape down the bowl as needed. Mix until combined.
-The frosting can be used right away, or stored in the refrigerator up to a week.
-Frost cooled cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting.