Showing posts with label pumpkin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pumpkin. Show all posts

Friday, December 10, 2010

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and the blog turns 1!



Wow... it happened... this blog turned a year old! Happy bloggiversary to me! It's amazing to see how much this blog has changed my life and how much my life has changed in a year. 

A year ago I was in Boston, now I'm in Portland. I was working at a company, praying to get admitted in a PhD program. Today, I'm a PhD student, with a lab, a project and a fantastic boss. (For real, no ass kissing). I've made tons of new friends, I've said see you later to the old ones, I've cried, laughed and got my heart broken.


 
This is my 94th post. Crazy huh? 94 recipes shared with all of you. 94 recipes that have allowed me to share my sorrows, my happiness, my struggles in the kitchen and outside of it. And most importantly, to meet amazing people in the blogging world. Like Maria, who's become one of my closest friends, even if she's all the way back in Spain.  

There's also all those blogs that inspire me, because of their recipes, their photos and the people who write them. Megan, Steph , Ellie, Carmen, 'the reds' and



The pictures have also gotten better, even if they could still improve a lot! I have to thank Foodgawker and Tastespotting for accepting my pictures and for making me really mad when they didn't. Because that made me put even more effort into taking 'good enough' food porn. I can't forget 'Baking is Hot' either. Specially Patty for being such a nice gal and always willing to post my recipes.


And last but not at all least. I have to say thank you to all my testers. To all the friends, roommates, labmates and coworkers who've eaten everything that's been baked in my kitchen. Thanks for your smiles, for your hunger, for your complaints about gaining weight and for your praise over this blog. I wouldn't bake if I didn't have amazing eaters around me.


And now for the recipe!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (or as much as you like)
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

For the frosting:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (or more depending on how sweet you want it)

Preheat your oven to 350 F
In a bowl, mix the oil, brown sugar and pumpkin. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda and the spices. Add the dry mix to the wet mix in increments. Do not overmix or your cupcakes will be heavy.
Pour the batter into lined muffin tins. They should be about 3/4 full. I used mini muffin liners to have 'bite size' cupcakes but you can use whatever size you'd like. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Make sure to check them at the 15 min mark. 

For the frosting. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and maple syrup until the consistency is right. If the frosting is too runny add more sugar. It should be 'hard' enough that you can frost the cupcakes with a spatula or pipe them with a bag. 

Once the cupcakes are baked, let them cool and then frost. While they are cooling, make sure to keep your frosting cold or it will become too soft. 


And because it's my blogiversary, I'm gonna allow myself the license of posting a picture of me. Frosting a cupcake. Because it's ok to do so once a year! (and yes, it was cold and I was wearing a hat inside the house...)

 


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Pumpkin muffins

I was talking to my friend Amanda, who is right now in Prague, under water. She was saying how appropriate it would be to eat a piece of pumpkin something. Very seasonal. Turns out I had canned pumpkin at home, a little spare time and the craving to make myself some real good breakfast for tomorrow. The result are these pumpkin muffins topped with dried cranberries. Very tasty, very yummy... very very, extraordinary.


Oh, did I mention they are super easy to make?




1 cup of pumpkin
1 jumbo egg*
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/3 cup oil
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon**
A pinch of nutmeg

*I ran out of eggs and my roommate only had those, you can substitute for 2 eggs
**yes, I know, it's a lot of cinnamon. Pumpkin has a very mild flavor and usually it´s not the same in every can you open, so just adjust the spices to your taste.

Preheat the oven at 375 F

In a bowl, combine pumpkin, brown sugar and oil mixing with a spatula. In another container beat the egg. Add the egg to the pumpkin-sugar mix. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and give it a taste. Correct spices if needed. Slowly add the flour and fold it into the mixture. Do not overmix!. Place the batter in a muffin tin or baking cups. (I only filled 7, very full ones). Bake for 11-15 min until a toothpick comes out clean.

I promise what's gonna get cleaned out is the plate where you put them...



Thursday, December 17, 2009

Thanksgiving goodness

This was my second thanksgiving in the US and while last year I enjoyed the yummy stuff made by my roomates. This year though, I got to bake my first turkey, make cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. But! I got to celebrate thanksgiving twice thanks to Kim's party, so it was time to make pumpkin cupcakes! Here are the recipes!


PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

















1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 1/2 baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 large eggs
7.5 ounces canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

Important note! As you see, the amount of spices in this recipe is pretty low... Pumpkin doesn't really have much of a taste and needs to be spiced very well. I kept adding spices until the taste seemed about right. Around 2 teaspoons of each one of the spices plus a pinch of cloves.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Wisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and keep on mixing. Add the pumpkin and mix. Start adding the dry ingredient mix slowly while mixing. Place cupcake liners in a muffin pan and fill them almost to the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops spring back.

Cream cheese frosting

1 pound cream cheese
2 sticks of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and confectioners sugar and mix well. If you want you can add food coloring to it. If using a piping bag is useful to put the frosting in the bag and cool it in the fridge for about half an hour.



PUMPKIN PIE
















This was it before baking. I used Paula Deen's recipe and it turned out gorgeous, soft and yummy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-pie-recipe/index.html