Pumpkin-Pie-in-the-Middle Cupcakes

Please don't tell my mom; I skipped class to make these cupcakes. I was just having a rough day. My roommate in DC this summer, Beth, posted this recipe to my wall. I was so frustrated that I promptly skipped class, drove straight to Kroger, and set to work. It was exactly what I needed to make me feel in control of my life again. How does that always happen? Even better, these cupcakes were absolutely delicious, and obviously unique. Pumpkin pie IN a cupcake!? As my friend Mackey said "They solve the eternal debate over which is better, cake or pie."

Basically, the gist of this cupcake is the following: vanilla cream cheese cupcakes with a tiny pumpkin pie in the middle, topped with vanilla-cinnamon buttercream icing. AND THEY ARE DELICIOUS. The only major flaw with the design is that it's one of the more labor-intensive recipes I've undertaken, specifically because it's like you're making two separate desserts.

Also, I apologize for the really terrible quality of the cupcake picture uptop. I was (literally) running to my exec meeting when I realized I should probably photograph the cupcakes before they got eaten. To make up for it, I will give you a zillion pictures of my friends on APhiO's exec board devouring said cupcakes. You're welcome.

Pumpkin-Pie-in-the-Middle Cupcakes

Adapted from bakeitinacake.com

Ingredients:

• For the pumpkin pies:

- 1 box refrigerated pie crust

- 8 oz pumpkin

- 8 oz sweetened condensed milk

- 2 eggs

- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger)

• For the cupcakes:

- 1.5 sticks butter, at room temperature

- 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

- 1.5 c sugar

- 3 eggs

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 tsp baking powder

- .5 tsp baking soda

- .5 tsp salt

- 1.33 c whole milk

- 2.5 c flour

• For the icing:

- 2 sticks of butter, room temperature

- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

- 2 c powdered sugar

- vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste

To Make:

• Pumpkin pies:

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

- Combine pumpkin and sweetened condensed milk in a bowl until fully incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, then spices. Mix well.

- Using a juice glass, cut dough into small circles, and use them to line mini muffin cups. Fill each crust about 3/4 of the way full with the pumpkin mixture.

- Bake for 7 minutes, then reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 10 more minutes, until the crusts are golden and the filling is set.

- Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing from mini muffin tins.

• Cupcakes:

- Cream butter and cream cheese together for about 90 seconds, then add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

- Add milk and flour, alternating between small amounts of the two until completely combined and smooth.

- Line regular muffin pans with paper liners. In each liner, place a heaping tablespoon of the batter. Place a pumpkin pie in each and gently push down (the pie should NOT touch the bottom of the pan). Place another heaping tablespoon of batter overtop of the pies, so that the top and sides aren't visible.

- Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool 10+ minutes in the pans before removing to cool completely before frosting.

• Icing:

- Cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth.

- Add powdered sugar, incorporating by half cups, then vanilla and cinnamon.

- Chill before frosting.

Some Notes:

• That pie filling is annoying. I used a full 16ish oz can of pumpkin because that's the smallest they sold and made it according to the back of the can, and I now have a ridiculous amount of excess filling chilling in my fridge. So, be warned, you will either have to throw out some perfectly good pie filling or do like I plan on, and make personal pumpkin pies in regular muffin tins. Yum!

"Everything Nice" Muffins

Om...

... nom...

...nom.

When I started baking, it was out of necessity. It was the winter of 2005, just after Christmas, and I was battling terrible insomnia and slight depression. It was awful. I would spend hours sitting, staring at my computer, updating Facebook, lying on my carpet wishing that I could sleep. One night, I wandered down to the still-set-up Christmas tree and started sifting through the gifts that I'd received. One of those gifts was Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe, still one of my favorite cookbooks today. After everyone else was asleep, I would sneak downstairs and, as quietly as possible, bake the easiest things from the cookbook with whatever happened to be around in the kitchen. Invariably, after each recipe was finished, I would crash immediately upon my bed, or the couch, or the rug in our kitchen... whatever happened to be easiest. A love of baking was born, alongside a coping mechanism.

To this day, I can tell when I'm verging upon emotional instability when I start itching to break out my pans. It's not only something to do to pass the time; it's also one of the few times when I don't let the opinions of others dictate my actions, when I have overwhelming self-confidence and a can-do attitude, and when, even in the midst of emotional quicksand, I can dance around the kitchen, singing into a whisk and everything is right in my life. The process takes as long as it takes; I can't speed it up or slow it down, even if I wanted to. And, best of all, my friends love me for it. When these muffins came out of the oven, my roommate Beth came into the kitchen and said, point blank, "I could kiss you right now. But I think you'd be weirded out."

Sugar and Spice ("Everything Nice") Muffins

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 1 c flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/4 c butter
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c milk
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 6 muffin cups with liners.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. In another bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients to wet ones and beat until combined. Add milk and stir until just combined.
3. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.
4. Spoon batter into cups half full. Sprinkle some of the brown sugar and cinnamon on top of batter. Spoon more batter into cups (until 5/6 full) and top with remaining brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Some Notes:

• Next time, I will sub brown sugar for the white sugar in the batter.
• Also, next time, I'm going to make extra sugar/cinnamon mixture and put more inside the muffins.
• These muffins are not overwhelmingly sweet, but I like them that way.

Mexican Tea Cakes

These cookies were my second contribution to ATH 305's cultural fiesta. They were easy to make only hours before the event (although I would suggest planning ahead... see my notes), and went over very well. I can always remember my mother making these as Christmas cookies, so it was interesting to see them in a new light.

Mexican Tea Cakes

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 1 c. softened unsalted butter
• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt

To Make:

1. Cream together butter and 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla, and add flour, cinnamon, and salt until just combined.
2. Chill for at least 6 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter 2 baking sheets.
4. Roll dough into 3/4 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Immediately roll cookies in powdered sugar and let cool completely. After cooled, roll in powdered sugar again.

Some Notes:

• In the interest of time, I skipped the chilling in step 2. I would NOT recommend doing this. The cookies turned out slightly flattened (as you can see in the picture) instead of perfectly round.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl Bread

My grandfather loved this bread toasted in a toaster oven with some butter on it. It was very rich but a little dry, I thought. There are some changes that could be made to counteract that problem however. See the notes.

Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl Bread

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. plus 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. wheat flour
• 2 tbsp. butter

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and lightly flour a loaf pan and set aside.
2. Separate one egg, putting yolk in a large bowl and white in a medium bowl. Mix the chocolate chips with the eggs white and set aside.
3. In the large bowl add the second egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat for a minute.
4. In another medium bowl, sift together WHITE flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon. 
5. In yet another bowl, combine WHEAT flour, butter, 3 tbsp. sugar, and a little more cinnamon until crumbly. Spread 1/3 of this mixture on the bottom of the loaf pan.
6. Combine wet and dry ingredients until just blended. Add chocolate chips, but do not mix too much. Pour batter into pan and top with the rest of the streusel mixture. 
7. Bake for 1 hour. Cool completely before taking out of pan.

Some Notes:

• If I make this bread again, I will probably add about 1/3 c. sour cream to try to make the bread a little less dry.