cookie butter and pumpkin cupcakes

there is only thing i can say about these cupcakes... they are EFFING awesome!! every bite is like eating the very best flavors of fall and winter... pumpkin, cinnamon,  and gingerbread... mmm....

 

now... before i get started i have to thank trader joes for bringing so many good things into my life... like chile lime chicken burgers, my chocolate/coffee bean and sugar grinder, dark chocolate caramels, veggie pot stickers, almond and apple butter... and now... this... this delicious gift... cookie butter... many of you have probably heard of biscoff spread... this is basically the same thing... and it is utterly amazing... whether you eat it by the spoonful, on pretzels, or my style... faceplanting right into the jar :)

i figured it would make a delicious topping for a pumpkin cupcake... and as always, i was right...

 

pumpkin cupcake recipe (yields 12 cupcakes):

ingredients:

1 cup cake flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

2 eggs at room temp

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

7.5 ozs. pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp. pure maple syrup

 

directions:

1.preheat the oven to 350 and prepare the cupcake tins

2. in a medium saucepan, melt and brown the butter, set aside to cool

3. in a small bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together

4. in mixer, beat the eggs and the sugars together, when combined add the cooled melted butter

5. gently fold in the dry ingredients, and don't over mix

6. whisk in pumpkin and maple syrup until combined

7. bake about 17-20 minutes, cool on wire rack before frosting

 

speculoos "cookie butter" cream cheese frosting

ingredients:

4 ozs. softened cream cheese

1/2 cup of trader joe's speculoos cookie butter spread

confectioners sugar

heavy cream

 

directions:

1. in a mixer, blend the cream cheese and the cookie butter until smooth

2. gradually add the confectioners sugar until you reach your desired sweetness, and the heavy cream until you reach the desired consistency

3. try not to eat it right out of the bowl, and frost your cupcakes!!

now the hubby doesn't share my enthusiams for eating the cookie butter straight from the jar... but he could not get enough of these cupcakes... and he actually said these are probably one of his top 5 favorite cupcakes i've ever made... sweet!

 have a great weekend everyone... and as always happy baking!!

Avast ye scallywags!!

 

well shiver me timbers!!

happy national talk like a pirate day!!

 

to mark this occassion (which i was made aware of by my mom this morning... thanks mom!!), i made my little buccaneers some adorable swashbuckeling cupcakes...

enjoy you landlubbers!!!

and here is my happy little band of pirates... love these two faces!!

happy baking me heartys!!

an end of summer camping trip, back to school cupcakes and getting ready to say good-bye

hey everyone... well... summer's over... boo... but, on the other hand that means fall is upon us... we are just getting back into the swing of things, back to days with normal schedules... the past few weeks have been wonderful up here... we had an amazing time camping up north of us in an area called "rangeley, maine"... it was beautiful... it was the perfect place to introduce the boys to camping... we camped on one of the lakes, right on the beach (well, lake front beach)... it was gorgeous, and peaceful, and it was the perfect way to end our summer vacation... here are a few pictures...

 a beautiful view from the front of the canoe... look how calm and beautiful the water was...

my two little men

 our beach front campsite... on beautiful cupsuptic lake...

happy jack :)

 ben all prepared to go out in the canoe... with style :)

a moooooooose!! we were so excited we finally got to see one!!

 small falls... so pretty...

 a quick family portrait... it took us like 10 times to get it this good...

now... it's back to school time... look at my handsome 2nd grader...he was so stoked for his first day!

 

i made him a yummy treat for when he got back from school... yummy apple pie cupcakes

 mmm, mmm... delicious... vanilla cake, filled with homemade apple pie filling, topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, a little of the cinnamon, brown sugar and butter mixture from the filling, and a dash of cinnamon sugar... (by the way, i love my new tablecloth, thanks homegoods)

and now it's time to get ready to ship the hubby out to sea... luckily this trip for him is just about a month and a half... i'm not at all stressed this time around, but i know the boys are feeling a bit sad about it, i mean, what kid wouldn't miss their daddy... at least school will be keeping the boys busy, and me as well... and it's coming on fall time, my favorite time of year... so, i'll make sure the house is all comfy and cozy... and that the time is enjoyable for them when daddy is gone...

 

saying good-bye is always tough, and although we might not want to be in the situation we are in, we know in our hearts, in the long run it is whats best for the family... i never knew how strong i was until the hubby started leaving and i was all by myself with no family around with 2 kids to raise... i always thought of myself as a tough chick, hey, i'm from the mean streets of staten island (HA!), but the strength you get from knowing you are raising your kids alone, and raising them damn good is a whole new feeling...i'm proud of the woman, mother, and wife i have become... but and believe me, i have it easy... there are plenty of other women out there with their hubby gone for months upon months, some even years at a time... my heart goes out to them, along with the utmost respect...

love you hubby... be safe out there...

well that's that... until next time...

jacks mad science birthday party

hey everyone... this weekend we celebrated jack's 7th birthday... after changing his mind like a gazillion times, he finally settled on a theme... mad science... and whats great, is that there is this company that does these awesome science parties for kids... and they totally nailed a perfect party for a bunch of 7 year old little boys... there were lots of loud noises, setting things on fire, rockets, smelly gases, and slime...

now i am ashamed to admit that i was a bit off my game for this party... usually i have everything planned to the second... but i haven't been feeling that well, so i kinda just went with the flow and tried not to stress... so... i stuck to simple decorations, and some fun and colorful desserts... thanks to amazon i was able to order somethings like test tubes and petri dishes to display some of the goodies...

so here are some pictures of jacks party... enjoy :)

cupcakes topped with pop rocks and sour gumballs... and i mean sour gumballs... i felt bad for the kids and all their puckered little faces!!

here's jack, the birthday boy,who was the special assistant of the day

 and here's ben... he couldn't wait to get up and be involved

happy birthday little man... love you to pieces!!

just some cupcakes

hello... and happy monday to you all...

here are some cupcakes i baked up... not much back story into why i baked them up, other then the fact that i have not baked cupcakes in awhile... i went with my favorite vanilla cake recipe... and made a simple vanilla bean frosting... but i decided to top them two different ways... one with honey and toffee crunch pieces... and the other half with homemade hot fudge (post to come)...

here are some good looking pictures... try not to drool...

as always... happy baking everyone :)

monday morning cupcake pick me up :)

happy monday morning everybody... i hope this week has lots of great and wonderful things in store for you and yours :)

i figured i would post a quick little tasty tidbit for your enjoyment... a caffeinated chocolaty caramel concoction to get your monday started... if you read my blog on the regular you know by now that i'm a sucker for these flavors...

now i try my hardest not to indulge in cupcakes for breakfast, and for the most part i am triumphant... but, sometimes on the rarest of occasions all my willpower goes out the window... and i end up devouring the cupcake hunched over the sink so that my boys don't catch me being naughty...

these little beauties are a moist chocolate cake with hints of coffee, topped with a cappuccino buttercream, salt caramel and dark chocolate shavings... sticky, gooey and god damn worth every sweet sinful calorie :)

happy monday everyone... and as always... happy baking :)

fresh peach cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese frosting and carmelized almond crunch... yummm

hello my wonderful readers... i trust you are all enjoying this gorgeous sunday... my three men and i just got back from a fun little hike at a nearby nature park... it was a fun start to our sunday funday... now the hubs is busy doing some carpentry projects, and the boys are building with legos... so while they are all occupied, and no one is in need of mommy assistance i am going to share a delicious little bite with you guys...

fresh peach cupcakes...

every friday my little town hosts a wonderful farmers market with locally grown veggies, fruits, homemade jams, artisan breads, cupcakes and delicious fresh goat cheese... on our last trip i scooped up some fresh peaches, some perfectly ripe tomatoes, some amazing garlic and herb goat cheese from the flying goat farm, some strawberry rhubarb jam, some cupcakes from a lovely lady named rosie, and these delicious peanut butter chocolate cookies from a place called buddahs burning buns... all and all a pretty good haul...

those fresh peaches inspired me... i was going to bake them into something... but what... i've made plenty of peach galettes, and cream pies with fresh fruit... and to be honest i was hankering for some cupcakes... so after a bit of browsing i came across a yummy recipe from the fabulously amazing smitten kitchen for peach cupcakes with brown sugar frosting... yea, needless to say i didn't need much convincing, i was making them...

peach cupcakes from smitten kitchen:
ingredients:
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark or light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) buttermilk, sour cream or full-fat yogurt
3 large peaches, peeled, cored, and chopped small, bite sized

directions:
1. preheat the oven to 350 and line 28 cupcake tins cups with liners
2. sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and set aside
3. cream the butter and sugars together, beating until fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition, and then the vanilla
4. gently mix in the buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt, stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the peach chunks
5. divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of cupcakes comes out clean, cool the cupcakes for five minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely

brown sugar cream cheese frosting:
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

directions:
1. in a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and powdered sugar
2. in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy
3. add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and vanilla, beat until frosting is smooth and light
4. chill the bowl in the refrigerator until it thickens back up a bit, about 30 minutes, then decorate as you wish

these cupcakes were super super moist... with sweet and tart juicy bites of peach... and the brown sugar frosting... sweet and tangy... it was a real treat for the taste buds...

and as for the caramel almond crunch... it was just something i whipped up... i made a quick caramel in a saute pan, by caramelizing some sugar till a deep brown, then i added some heavy cream (carefully) then butter and sea salt... then i coated some almonds with it and let it cool on a greases sheet pan... when cooled i pulsed it in the food processor and sprinkled it on top... the combination of flavors and textures was amazing...

happy baking everyone :)

banana cream pie cupcakes

so yesterday i made some yummy banana blueberry muffins for my main man jack, but i also made some plain ol' banana muffins that i decided to jazz up... so then by altering the muffin with toppings and such, do they then become cupcakes?? so would you call those cuffins?? nahhh... or how about muffcakes?? ehhh... the more i ponder over that word, the more and more it makes me giggle...

well whatever they were, they were delicious... topped with vanilla cream pudding, some finger lickin caramel, and some crunchy sprinklings of nilla wafers...

check out yesterdays post for the banana muffin recipe...

here's one all dissected for your viewing pleasure... mmmm...

hehe... muffcakes...

happy baking everyone :)