Tag: fall cupcakes

Cinnamon Orange Cupcakes

As always, I’m fascinated by whoever thought, hmm…I’m going to combine cinnamon with orange and it’s going to be delicious. But here we are, with absolutely delicious cinnamon orange cupcakes. Not unlike the combination of chocolate and orange, this flavor pairing is a surprisingly good one, and it made for popular cupcakes at the office a few weeks back.

The one thing I didn’t love about this recipe was the frosting color – the cinnamon in the buttercream tints it the color of oatmeal, which isn’t always the most appetizing shade. The next time I make these, I might experiment with a subtle color for the icing and add a few drops of orange food coloring to see what happens – I suspect the end result would be a pumpkin-like shade, so we’ll see.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled; this is also 209 grams, for those baking by weight)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon*
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Scant 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
  • Zest of 1 medium  orange

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Scant 1/4 teaspoon orange extract, to taste
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • Zest of 1/2 medium orange
  • 3/4 teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon

*You can use regular cinnamon if you like, but it’s not as flavorful as the Vietnamese variety – I buy mine at Penzeys, a spice shop based in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, but you can also find it at King Arthur Baking and at various other places online. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 17 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, orange extract, and orange zest. Stir into the flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract, orange extract, orange juice, orange zest, and cinnamon and beat to combine completely.  Fit a large piping bag with a large star tip (I use the Wilton M1) and pipe swirls of frosting using a back-and-forth motion onto cupcakes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Maple Cupcakes

maplecupcakesA cupcake without sugar? Well, you don’t need sugar when you’ve got maple syrup. This recipe comes from Inspired by Charm, originally written as maple walnut cupcakes and including chopped walnuts in the batter. Instead of sugar, it uses a cup of pure maple syrup as its sweetener. Hear me now, friends – do not use pancake syrup in this recipe, because it is absolutely not interchangeable with pure maple syrup.

But speaking of pancakes, these treats do taste like them. I actually wish I’d added some cinnamon to my batter, so I might do that next time, and I plan to develop a maple pecan version as well. One note – the original recipe said it makes 16 cupcakes, and this wasn’t true for me; my batch yielded 23 and could have probably made 24 if I’d measured better.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • Walnut halves, toasted and cooled, if desired for garnish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; this recipe makes about 23 cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat maple syrup and heavy cream to combine, then add eggs, vanilla extract, and butter and beat to combine. Stir in flour mixture to combine completely.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, fill cupcake wells about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and remove cupcakes from the tins; cool on a wire rack.

To make the frosting, beat butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Add powdered sugar and beat on low until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this takes a few minutes. Add maple syrup and vanilla and beat to combine completely.

Fit a piping bag with a large star tip (I use the Wilton M1) and pipe swirls onto each cupcake. Top with a toasted walnut. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Fall Spice Cupcakes

fall spice cupcakesDespite what retailers would have you believe, it’s still fall. And we have a lovely holiday – Thanksgiving – to celebrate this week. I get that Christmas can be a magical time of year for people, and most folks (even those who hate winter) get excited for the holidays, seeing family, spending time with friends, having special foods and whatnot. But when I heard Christmas music while out shopping this past weekend, I thought: not today, Santa. Not. Today.

Perhaps in response to the premature Christmasification of things, I baked these fall spice cupcakes, a warming combination of cinnamon, cloves, maple syrup, and applesauce. I found the recipe over at The Live-in Kitchen and cut it down to make a smaller batch, and I decided on a maple buttercream frosting instead of the original cream cheese one in the recipe. These treats are bound for my friend Diana, who is a fantastic baker herself and one of the few people who ever actually bakes for me.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, at room temperature
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, at room temperature

For the frosting

  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners; my recipe yielded 10 cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and cloves; set aside.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add maple syrup and egg and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and applesauce alternatively in two batches, mixing to just combine.

Using a two-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into cupcake wells, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and remove cupcakes from tin; cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute; add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add maple syrup to taste, as well as 1 tablespoon milk to reach a spreadable consistency. Frost cupcakes using an offset spatula; store in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, or in the fridge for 2-3 days. The tops of these cupcakes get kind of sticky, so a cooler environment is best. Makes 10.

Fall Fun Chocolate Cupcakes

fallfuncupcakesI struggled to figure out what to call these cupcakes. They’re actually just chocolate cupcakes, frosted with vanilla buttercream to look like pumpkins. But chocolate pumpkin cupcakes – that’s a different thing altogether. And it actually sounds delicious, despite what some people might think about the pumpkin/chocolate combo. And so, I settled on “fall fun,” because they were fun to make.

As you can see in the photo below, Tucker was quite impressed with them – but as they’re chocolate, they are absolutely not dog friendly. Next time, I’ll go with more vibrant colors for my frosting – these shades are quite muted. I’ll also use a different piping tip for my pumpkin stems, because these ended up looking more like the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter than I’d like. Regardless of how they look, they’re quite tasty. I hope my brother Andy and nephew Roman, who were in town from North Carolina this weekend, will enjoy them.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water

For the frosting

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • Orange, green, and brown food coloring

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe yields 14 cupcakes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, divide batter among your cupcake wells. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, then remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on wire racks.

To make frosting, in a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until all of the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this will take a few minutes. Add vanilla extract and almond extract, beating well to combine completely. Divide into three portions; two small portions of just a few tablespoons each for your stems and leaves, then the remainder for your pumpkins. Tint the largest portion orange, then the smaller portions green and brown. Fit a large piping bag with a Wilton M1 tip and pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake to create your pumpkin shape. Fit a small piping bag with a star or plain tip and pipe stems; fit another small piping bag with a leaf tip and pipe leaves. Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Makes 14.

tuckerwithcupcakesTucker was very interested in these, but remember – chocolate can be deadly for dogs. Never feed your pup chocolate!