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