Pumpkin pound cake cupcakes with pumpkin mousse and cinnamon-sour cream frosting

Ok, I caved. I did a pumpkin cupcake. But you know, I really like pumpkin, and even if everyone is doing it, that's for an excellent reason. Pumpkin desserts are delicious! I was so happy with the pound cake from the pralines and cream cupcakes that I decided to do something similar with a pumpkin pound cake. But doesn't even the name sound heavy? Pumpkin. Pound. Cake. I had to do the opposite for the filling, and what could be lighter than mousse? Never mind that I've never made mousse in my life before. I found a basic mousse recipe and added pumpkin (and it was so easy. Seriously, why am I not doing this every day? After all, as I told my sister's dear friend Alma, it's just air. Everyone needs air. Sheesh).

My mother, who doesn't really like sweets all that much to begin with and to whom my over-the-top cupcakes are just...too much, offered that I ought to try a sour cream frosting. Really? I'd made a sour cream chocolate frosting years ago, but honestly I hadn't even thought about it since.

It worked great! I just added a bit of sour cream to a buttercream recipe, and added cinnamon, and the result was a warm, slightly tangy frosting that was reminiscent of cream cheese frosting, but a little fluffier. Great idea mom!

('Course, it turned out that she'd meant cream cheese frosting and said sour cream instead. But that is a detail so minor I've relegated it to italics AND parentheses. Hi Mama! I love you!). 

So these were great! I loved the mousse inside, so much that I think I'll be playing with other flavors. All the components by themselves, cake, frosting, mousse, are good (the mousse being really good), but when they all play together it's really something special.

~ Pumpkin Pound Cake Cupcakes ~
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk and pumpkin puree; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla and mix well. Add in flour mixture and pumpkin mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.

Spoon the cupcake batter into the prepared pans and bake in the preheated oven for 15 - 18 minutes or until an inserted tester comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.


~ Pumpkin Mousse ~
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
3 egg yolks
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks and chill until needed.

Place the egg yolks in a glass or metal bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Heat until the sugar is dissolved. Start whisking the egg yolks and slowly stream the hot sugar syrup into them. Place the bowl over pot of boiling water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Whisk the mixture constantly for about ten minutes, or until the egg yolk mixture thickens and lightens in color.

After it has thickened, remove the bowl from the heat, and transfer the mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer. Use the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes or until the bottom of the bowl feels cool to the touch.

Add in the pumpkin and spices to the egg mixture, and beat with the paddle attachment until well combined.

Fold a third of the whipped cream into the mixture to help lighten in, then fold next third, and then the last of it, using a lighter touch with each addition. Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare the cupcakes for filling by cutting out a cone shaped piece from the top of each one. Slice away any extra cake (go ahead and eat these) from the widest part of the cone (this is your lid). Keep in mind that the size of the opening is the amount of filling you can fit into the cupcake, and cut accordingly. Spoon in a bit of the pumpkin mousse into each cupcake and replace the lid on top. Keep in refrigerator until ready to frost.

~ Sour Cream Cinnamon Frosting ~

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients, except powered sugar, until well combined. With an electric mixer on slow, add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth. Frost cupcakes by piping on with a pastry bag using a large star tip.

Store the finished cupcakes in the refrigerator. Makes 18 cupcakes.

Pralines and Cream cupcakes

Ooh, I loved these. I really did. I was sorry to eat the last one. I will also say that these were probably among the most time-consuming of the cupcakes I have attempted so far. Of course, they didn't have to be. I'm very good at overcomplicating things.

I knew I wanted a pralines and cream cupcake. I knew I wanted to go as Southern as possible (I was bringing these to my sister, and I figured she'd appreciate it). So I made the pralines myself (I used the recipe here if you're interested, bearing in mind that the writer leaves out the Very Important Detail that you need to cook the candy mixture to about 236 degrees. I actually knew this, but I thought it odd that it wasn't mentioned). I knew what I wanted as far as frosting and filling (salty sweet filling, and I had caramel leftover from the caramel apple cupcakes, so, easy enough), and I wanted to go super-Southern with the cake part, so I turned to Alton Brown's chiffon cupcakes (this is one link-happy paragraph, isn't it?).

Wanting to pump up the praline-ity, I had bits and pieces left from trying to get the candies off the wax paper upon which they had cooled (which always happens. Those are cook's pieces), so after putting together the batter I gamely plunked in the praline bits. Which immediately sank to the bottom. I could hear my mother's voice - "And did you really think that was a good idea, dear?" Well, no. I didn't. I didn't think at all, actually. I was plunking.

Still, I forged ahead and baked the cupcakes and hesitantly unwrapped one. Yep. All the pieces had gone to the bottom and sort of goo-ed to the paper liners, leaving sticky, snaggle-toothed cupcakes. The cake itself was lovely - not-too-sweet, light and fluffy and moist, but obviously the praline idea wasn't going to work with this recipe. This is probably because I baked chiffon cupcakes after Labor Day and before Memorial Day, or something. So, delicious but not quite right, appearance-wise.

Pound cake, while certainly not strictly Southern, has, to my mind, a Southern-ness about it, but typically it's dense, dense, dense, and not really what I want for cupcakes. Rather it's what I like toasted, with coffee. But sour cream cupcake is a bit lighter (in texture, anyway - ha!), and so I tried that. Of course, I had to make caramel sauce again (darn!) and pralines again (double darn!) and I had it quickly because we were leaving for the family visit on the next day and instead of plunking I gently folded in the pralines, and...

Eureka! Light and fluffy cupcakes with a tender crumb, which I then filled with a salty dense caramel buttercream, and topped with a praline frosting. Yummmmmm - just kissing the line of altogether too much, but not there yet. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. And feel free to take shortcuts! It won't hurt my feelings a bit.

~ Sour Cream-Praline Pound Cake Cupcakes ~
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups crushed praline pieces (make your own pralines or purchase them or wait for someone to give them to you and use some up this way)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners (so, 24 cupcakes and you may still have extra).
 http://www.rachelscookery.com/2011/10/caramel-apple-cupcakes-with-apple-pie.html
Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside.
In a stand mixer cream butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time; add vanilla.
Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream and mix just until combined. Gently fold in the praline pieces.
With a spoon, scoop the batter into each cupcake liner and fill it 2/3 full.

Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.


~ Caramel Buttercream Filling ~
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup caramel sauce (use the caramel drizzle found here or purchase some from the store)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until soft and creamy. Add in caramel sauce and salt and mix well. Beat in powdered sugar.


Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling.

Look at that crumb. Look at that filling!

 ~ Praline Frosting ~

6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream (plus more if needed)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring butter, brown sugar, and cream to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.


Pipe frosting on using a pastry bag with a large star tip. If desired, garnish by perching a leftover praline piece jauntily on the top of the cupcake. Store in the refrigerator, but let come to room temperature before serving.

Makes between 24 - 30 cupcakes.

Caramel apple cupcakes with apple pie filling

Rustic!

I've been torn over this cupcake. It's a different animal from what I've been making lately. Compared to last week, this is health food! Well, sort of.

Fruit in the middle! Fruit in the cake! And, as I thought when I pulled the first pan out of the oven...

Oh hell. I just made muffins.

But I didn't! Once I tasted them...the crumb is tender, and the grated apple adds moisture and flavor. The apples in the middle are...dare I say...refreshing! And who can go wrong with a caramel swiss meringue buttercream (go here if you want more detail on the caramel-making, with pictures)? I didn't make muffins a-tall. These are delicious!

A word on the apples - I wasn't overly concerned with the baking-appropriateness of the apples in the cake - I just needed a little apple flavor, but was after the moisture more, so I used up some Red Delicious that I bought in a fit of...something. I don't even know what I was thinking that night. It's more important to use an apple that is good for pie making for the filling, so go with something that holds up well, like a Granny Smith, or whatever you like in your pies. And if you're lucky enough to have apples growing nearby (Apple Hill is just a..well, a long stone's throw from here), go pick your own and start enjoying the season!

~ Brown Sugar-Spiced Apple Cupcakes ~

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 2 large eggs 
• 2 cups flour 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 4 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and grated (about two cups total)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 standard-sized muffin cups with baking liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs; whisk until well combined. Add in flour, baking powder, salt, and spices, and stir until just combined (don't overmix). Fold in apples. Spoon into muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full, and bake for 15 - 17 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

~ Apple Filling ~

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 4 - 5 medium apples (Granny Smith or Fuji work well here - whatever you like in a pie) 
• 2 tablespoon granulated sugar 
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 
• 1 tablespoon water

 Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add apples, sugars, lemon juice, spices, salt and vanilla. Cook until the apples are tender and release their juices – about 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Add to apples and stir, cooking until thickened. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature (cover and refrigerate overnight if making ahead).

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the apple filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling.

Not the prettiest photo, but you get the idea.

 ~Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream~ 
(borrowed from How to Eat A Cupcake)

~Caramel Drizzle~

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

~Swiss Buttercream~

• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces, room temperature

For the frosting:
In a heavy-bottomed, high-sided saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat until it begins to melt around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stirring with a clean wooden spoon, continue to cook until the sugar is melted and has turned golden amber, about 3 minutes longer.

Carefully pour the cream down the side of the pan in a slow, steady stream (it will bubble and spatter), stirring constantly until completely smooth. Don't be alarmed if your sugar forms a huge lumpy pancake. Just stir, gently (you don't want this to splash on you, either), until it's all melted in. Stir in the salt. Pour the caramel into a small ceramic bowl and let cool completely before using. (The caramel can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; bring to room temperature before using.)

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) barely simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160°F on an instant-read thermometer), 3- 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Transfer to a stand mixer or, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the frosting appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add 1/2 cup of the caramel drizzle and beat until combined (or almost combined for a swirling effect).

Looky! A buttercream rose, just dripping with caramel!

Refrigerate the frosted cupcakes before drizzling with additional caramel, if desired. Let come to room temperature before serving, if possible.

Cookies and Cream cupcakes - part two!

I am afraid I am a bit of a perfectionist.

If I am not happy with the way something turns out, it haunts me until I can figure out what to do to make it right. Now, I try not to be like my grandmother about these things - she would serve dinner and then proceed to tell you that really, it wasn't very good and then list exactly why the dinner didn't measure up. I am learning to keep my opinions to myself. Plus, most of the time no one is going to notice anyway. They're just happy that you made something for them to eat! I know that's how I approach the dinner table.

My first cupcake recipe was also for cookies and cream cupcakes, but I was definitely not thrilled with the results. I thought the cookie on the bottom was soggy, and not crunchy like I wanted. The chunks on the top made it hard to fill the cupcakes. The frosting was grey, and gritty with the crumbs. The cookie shoved into the top looked like an after thought (or a tombstone). Plus, you can see a sausage grinder in the background of the photo. That's just silly.

Still, it was my first time, and you know, people really liked them, and they did taste good. They just didn't reflect what was in my head - a cupcake that really encompassed the cookieness and creaminess of the idea.

Soggy bottom being out, I borrowed from my key lime pie and s'mores cupcakes and did a baked cookie-crumb bottom that I topped with more chocolate, just because. I like this technique because I like the texture contrast. It doesn't show well in the photo (dark on dark), but it's definitely there and I think it adds to the cupcake.

I wanted the cake itself to be like the classic sandwich cookie: dark and not too sweet with that creamy filling (but without the marshmallow I had used before). I found a few Oreo knockoff recipes on the web and piecemealed my own together - sweet and yes, with shortening (that was necessary for color and texture and leave it out if you just can't bring yourself to do it. I think shortening has its place, myself. Like in piecrust. Anyways...), and thicker than my cupcake fillings usually are.

For the frosting, I really wanted to reflect that cream aspect, and after much thought, went with a whipped buttercream. The amount of air you beat into the butter makes it creamy and light like a whipped cream, but with much greater stability, and the frosting ends up tasting like melted vanilla ice cream. Crumbled cookies were the garnish and look pretty against the pale frosting.

These were the cupcakes for my son's third birthday - and everyone in attendance loved them. Liam himself just ate off the frosting with a spoon, took the lid off of the filling, and licked out that part, leaving the cake behind. Still not too shabby for a three-year-old.

This makes about 21 cupcakes.

~Chocolate Cupcakes~
For cookie bottoms:
1 1/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (about 2/3 of a package of chocolate wafers)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup dark cocoa powder
1 cup hot coffee
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line 21 standard-sized muffin cups with baking liners.

Combine together the chocolate cookie crumbs and melted butter until the mixture is damp and crumbly but holds together when squeezed into a ball. Place about a tablespoon of the crumb mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup, dividing as evenly as possible among the 21. Press down gently with your fingers to cover the bottoms in an even layer. Sprinkle over with the chopped chocolate. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until the chocolate melts a bit. Let cool for 10 minutes before filling with the cupcake batter.

Combine the chocolate and cocoa in a medium mixing bowl and pour hot coffee over. Let sit until chocolate is melted. Stir to combine; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. To chocolate mixture add vinegar, oil, eggs, and vanilla; mix well with fork to combine. Pour over flour mixture and stir well.

Pour the batter into the lined muffin tin (filling about 3/4 full). Bake at 350 for 15 - 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes in pan and then cool completely on a wire rack.

~Vanilla filling~
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cream or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla bean)

Mix together the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer until fully combined. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add in the cream or milk as needed to achieve the proper consistency (you're going for the filling of an Oreo cookie, remember, but just a little creamier than that).

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a tablespoon of the marshmallow filling (or however much you need). Replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, and then put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill and set the filling (once cool, it will become very thick and hold the caps in place).
 
~ Whipped vanilla buttercream frosting ~ 

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crumbled Oreo cookies, for garnish

In your electric mixer, beat the butter using the paddle attachment for 8 minutes. No, I am not kidding.

Slowly add in the powdered sugar, beating in after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl, until combined.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.

Pipe on the frosting using a pastry bag or just swoop it onto the cupcakes with a spatula, and sprinkle the crumbled Oreos on top. Store in the refrigerator, but ideally let come up to room temperature before serving.