Photo: Mission Pie, San Francisco; credit: Dave Cook, Flickr

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So back before Thanksgiving, when I found out what the plans were/whose house it would be at & I was figuring out what to make & bring, I had a plan. My plan was that I was going to make two pies, hence the title of the post. Why was I going to make two pies, you ask? Well, a few reasons. One- I had recently acquired two new pie plates; one gorgeous Lola-pink 9″ pie plate from my wonderful friend Brianne (who sells Longaberger, the makers of the aforementioned pie plate which is no longer available in pink) and another beautiful eggplant-colored pie plate from Michael’s that I got for an obscenely low price. So low I won’t even tell you because you’ll hate me. But you see, the pink pie plate was important. It was especially important that I show it off properly. I ordered this cute little basketweave pink pie plate back in like, May or June, and I waited for it until October 30th… patiently. It was limited edition, immediately retired, the shipment was delayed & it was back-ordered & whatever else. And then it finally came & Brianne ever-so-kindly delivered it to me during a time when she was a bit otherwise preoccupied (her new house in Connecticut that her, her husband, her 3-year-old & her almost 2 month old newborn baby had literally just moved into was slammed by the freak October snowstorm & lost power for days). So this plate was a major thing for me. The other pie plate is lovely, and is a gorgeous color with a fluted ruffly edge, but it doesn’t match Lola or my website, so it doesn’t have as much significance. Anything that matches Lola is a must with me. My kitchen is not a masculine place, hah. Plus, being it was part of their breast cancer initiative, Horizon of Hope, & my mom is a survivor, the pink color has double significance.

Reason two for the pie dramatics: I like pie- not really fruit pies, but chocolate, Shoo-fly or creamy ones; like coconut cream, chocolate cream, etc. Those are the kinda pies I can get diggity down with. Just me, a pie, a fork & some whipped cream. And reason three? Because I have a ton of pie recipes that I’ve never made. For example, Nigella Lawson’s Girdlebuster Pie. Tell me you aren’t intrigued by the title alone! And there are tons more, some of which are very traditional, some not so much, and others slightly too complicated for an everyday pie. But nonetheless, I had these two pretty little pie plates & I so desperately wanted to use them. That said, I had all intentions of making two pies for Thanksgiving. But alas I did not. And why not? Because this one pie that I tested out in the few days before turkey day was so simple yet so amazing I couldn’t bear to make another. What was it? Maple syrup pie. MAPLE. SYRUP. PIE. Read it again: maple syrup pie. Thanks to that book by Patty Pinner that it came from, my pie-making life was changed. Seriously. This pie made me rethink my non-pie-making self. It took no time at all and yet there it was, smelling all fantastic &… maple-y. Like a Shoo-fly pie but maple. I’ve made some things from the book before (namely a lemon ice cream that was so creamy & delicious it was like frozen lemony perfection) but this is just… so crazily simple & yet so delicious. I just don’t even know. But… *sigh* …unfortunately, the pie didn’t photograph well, and didn’t last very long either, admittedly. It did taste like sticky, sweet, gooey heaven on a plate.

However… it just didn’t look very good in pictures. Actually it looked downright awful; kinda poo-ish. And I used the eggplant colored pie plate, so it was all kind of dark. If you’re a blogger who takes pictures of food you know things like shoo-fly pie, pecan pie, chocolate frosting & chocolate cookies are the hardest things to photograph well. Especially in bad lighting, and my kitchen sadly has horrid lighting. And on top of that, like I said, it definitely didn’t last long enough for me to attempt another photo shoot in better light. So I was on to my next (& newer) plan: another pie. I didn’t know what kind, yet, but I just knew I’d have to use these pie plates for something photogenic & post-able!

And so Halloween came & went. Then I made the maple syrup pie, then Thanksgiving passed, & no more pie. Two batches of cupcakes instead. Then it started to inch closer to Christmas, and still no pie. Cupcakes, gingerbread cookies, brownies, etc… but I still hadn’t found the perfect pie. I kinda stopped looking for one in all the holiday hubbub. The pie plates looked more & more lonely every day. And then… crustless cranberry pie came into my life.

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They say you find it when you’re not looking. Whatever “it” is.

See back before Christmas, Rosella, a friend of mine who I’ve known since freshman year of high school (which is far longer ago than I’d like to admit) had me & my mother over for coffee with her & her mom (& Rosella’s one year old baby, Giovanna). I know Rosella so long I remember when her niece was Giovanna’s age. I know her from back when we wore spike bracelets to school, when she dyed her hair green in her mom’s white bathroom sink & we “borrowed” her parents’ Infiniti to go joyriding a few too many times. I could mortify us both by posting a picture of us way back then but I won’t. And anyway, we’re talking about pie. So we all got together & Rosella served this crustless cranberry pie. Wow. SOLD. And I don’t even like cranberry. Forreals. Cranberry, almond, streusel… it was like a berry crumble-type thing. Like a coffee cake. Made in a pie plate. And it was so good. So that night I asked her for the recipe & she told me it was from AllRecipes.com! So I downloaded the app immediately. My faith in recipe websites has been restored.

CRUSTLESS CRANBERRY PIE (courtesy of Jean at All Recipes, with alterations)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons set aside for topping
• 1 cup white sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole fresh cranberries (or whole frozen)
• ½ cup sliced almonds, divided, half set aside for topping
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ cup butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons butter just softened, set aside for topping
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Grease one 9″-inch pie pan (or 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish).
2. Combine the 1 cup flour, white sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the cranberries and half the almonds, and toss to coat. Stir in the ½ cup melted butter, beaten eggs, vanilla and almond extracts. If you are using frozen cranberries, the mixture will be very thick. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix the 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter, brown sugar & ¼ cup almonds together to make a streusel-like topping. Sprinkle mixture on top of pie.
4. Bake at 350° degrees F for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.

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This would be great with fresh blueberries in the summer, too. Or raspberries, or blackberries, or even chopped strawberries… with a bit of lemon zest. Totally adaptable. The original recipe calls for walnuts, but I took the advice of the commenters & went with almonds since that’s what Rosella did with her version, so if you prefer walnuts then that’s okay too. It’d probably be great in any capacity. I can even see it with a spoonful of fresh berry jam on it, or vanilla ice cream. Served warm or room temperature, with coffee, tea or cranberry ginger ale, it’s fantastic any way you like it. I scaled back the amount of cranberries from two cups to one, because I felt like one cup was just fine. Feel free to add the full two cups. But even if you don’t, and you end up with a practically full bag of cranberries, you can make tons of other neat cranberry stuff- amaretto cranberry sauce, pomegranate cranberry sauce, cranberry muffins (this recipe would work excellently in muffin form), cranberry bliss bars, etc. Or even make a second pie. I mean, this is a pie you can have for breakfast.

Photo: Lauretta Jean’s + Café Vélo, Portland; credit: Leela Cyd Ross

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It’s true- I had it for breakfast, around 10 a.m., that day at Rosella’s mom’s house. It’s a dessert, it’s a breakfast, it’s a pie, it’s a cake. It’s everything. So really, where have you been all my life, crustless cranberry pie? The dish that made me like cranberries. Sorta. I’m still not big on them, but this pie definitely made me rethink my almost 30-year long cranberry strike. I made it for my “second Christmas” yesterday & it was a massive hit. And in my beautiful pink pie plate! Squee. Best of all? This one was extremely photogenic. And I’m no master pie-maker, I’m totally more a cake-girl than anything else, but because this is more like a coffee cake you don’t have to be a master pie-maker! No pesky crust, no bothersome filling. Easy as 1-2-3. You don’t even have to make it in a pie plate. But when you have such a pretty one like I do, why not?

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Clearly the mathematical reference in the title is purely for satirical reasons. I failed math one semester in high school, it shames me to say. I got a whopping 35 on one of my math regents. I’m not bragging, and I am certainly not proud of it. I can’t help it though, I use the other side of my brain. I got a 90 on my History Regents, an 88 on Chemistry and a 92 on English. But you give me a math equation involving numbers & my mind shuts off. This doesn’t make baking difficult at all, though, because of a bevy of apps that provide me with the exact measurements & equivalents that I need, if I should need them (most of them I have memorized by now). I never thought I’d say it but my iPhone has made my life considerably easier, thank you Jay. So yes, I know the term 2πr, and that it means that the radius squared multiplied by pi (π) or 3.14 or ²²⁄₇, equals the circumference of a circle. However that’s where my knowledge ends. Don’t even ask about my problems with the Pythagorean Theorem. I was pretty decent at truth tables but linear pairs? Forget it. Yes, I pity my future children too; they will be seeking math homework help from the internet. Or iPad apps. But that’s okay, because they will be so insanely excellent in History & English they’ll really frighten you. As well as correct your grammar.

So really, I did make two pies. Just not at the same time, and nowhere near the same type. Pie(s) are squared.

So am I going bananas? Not really. Well, kinda. I guess I’m sorta going bananas. Between the holidays, blogging & getting myself together “in real life” I’m kinda pulled in a million directions lately. And truth be told, it’d be nice if this horrendous cold/flu/whatever it is I have went away for good, & took the lingering cough/malaise with it. Not only all that- but where has the time gone?! I feel like Sleeping Beauty; as if I fell asleep in July, after canning fresh fruit & veggies & sweating my ass off… & woke up to Thanksgiving being over & the temperature dipping down to the 30′s at night. Strange. But my saving grace in life is staying busy, enjoying the little things & the sad truth that food rules my life; put those together & no matter what happens you’ve got a broad who’s cookin’ something up. So this blog will never see a lull in posts, hah.

And of course, I like to try unique things. And banana jam sounded pretty unique. Not only that, but bananas are good for ya (thanks, Wikipedia!):

Bananas are an excellent source of vitamin B6 and contain moderate amounts of vitamin C, manganese and potassium.

Along with other fruits and vegetables, consumption of bananas may be associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer and in women, breast cancer and renal cell carcinoma.

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This particular recipe was something I stumbled on coincidentally after realizing my bananas had once again turned dark brown & spotty. My mind started to click through recipe ideas. See, I hate throwing good food or fruit away, especially when it still has delicious potential. Yet I didn’t feel like banana bread, I couldn’t even fathom banana ice cream & I was too tired for making muffins, so luckily this recipe found its way onto my laptop screen one dark, chilly, quite frozen evening at about 11 p.m. However, I didn’t actually open it to use it until the next day. In case you’re wondering, that’s Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread, toasted, accompanying it. But I guarantee you it will be equally stellar on whole wheat or white toast, pancakes, or vanilla ice cream. Or now that I think about it, bran muffins, too… or a spoonful on top of oatmeal.

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BANANA BROWN SUGAR BUTTER/JAM (adapted very slightly from Neo-Homesteading)

Makes 1 8-oz. jar

Ingredients:

• 2 bananas, the riper the better
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. In a small pot combine banana, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, lime juice and butter.
2. Whisk over medium heat for 5-8 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and the the banana has softened. Adjust the heat as necessary to prevent burning. Using the whisk thoroughly smoosh the banana.
3. Once the mixture is smooth-ish, you are simply thickening without burning. The mixture will bubble 3-4 minutes over medium heat and it should be about ready at this stage. Refrigerate and use within one to two weeks.

Note: I did indeed say this recipe makes ONE 8-ounce jar. You may halve it to make a 4-ounce jar, or double it, but being I’ve done neither I can’t vouch.

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AMAZEBALLS. Super rich, buttery & caramel-y ’cause of the brown sugar. Holy crap. If you like bananas, this is a must-make for you. The only downside? Banana can’t be canned safely (unless you’ve got a pressure canner), so it has to be eaten pretty quick. But if you make a small batch, 4-8 ounces, that should be fine. Especially for a brunch date or something, where more than just one person will be having it. Maybe for a Christmas morning brunch, maybe even for an afternoon tea. Speaking of Christmas, it seems it’ll be here before we know it! Jeez, seriously, is it just me or does it seem like just last week it was June?

This has a very home-y flavor, sweet & kinda rustic. Reminds me of a fall morning, a fireplace going at a nice blaze & old family photos.

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That photo is so important to me because it’s the only photo that I have of my great-grandmother as a young woman. She’s all the way on the right, holding my grandmother in her lap, and the woman next to her is my great-great-grandmother. I’m lucky to have pictures like this, and I know that. This time of year especially it’s important to remember family & the generations before you, even if it’s only by doing a holiday tradition that’s been passed down through the years. As my Christmas tree goes up this week, & I start to put up my lights & garlands, I’m struck by that. How each generation of my family has done the same thing before me. I can trace parts of my family back to the 1100′s & that’s the one thing that can humanize them & make them relatable to me when they’re just names/dates on paper- that they all celebrated Christmas, albeit in very different ways, & loved their families. So time goes on and the generations go on… and at some point, we’re all just special, cherished photographs on a wall.

Well that was fucking cheerful. Sorry. Have some banana jam & you’ll cheer right up. Anyway, like I said- I personally can’t believe it’s almost December, let alone almost 2012, can you?

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This post is not particularly Halloween-y, but it is very fall-related (the apples, the caramel, whatever & whatnot, etc). Not exactly horror movie stuff. It also does not contain a recipe, just a link to a recipe. Despite all that though, it does contain an important lesson. It’s also pretty funny, so I suggest you read it all; especially if you want a laugh (at my expense, admittedly).

Okay so, I’m far from perfect. Even though I say I am & act like I am most of the time, I’m aware that in reality I am not. I lack patience, I get frustrated easily if things aren’t going 100% smoothly, I can lose interest if it’s not going quickly enough for me and sometimes, just sometimes… I get distracted by pets/music/television/my iPhone/Jay/my reflection in the microwave/a mug of delicious coffee/shiny objects, etc. I admit this. But how could this sleeping cuteness not distract me, I ask you?

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Also, I don’t know everything. I know that. Despite acting as if I am in fact the smartest person alive, I know there are things I don’t know. So yeah, I’m aware I’m not all-knowing and I am not perfect. And you should know that, too. If you’re coming here looking for perfection, or someone who’s all-knowing… keep on clicking, ’cause that person doesn’t blog here. The person who blogs here is a rebellious, at times indifferent, at times rushed, at times ill-prepared person who just so happens to love baking, cooking, canning, preserving, and all things culinary in terms of it being a “hobby”, or much-beloved stress reliever (although I will not deny the fact I’d love my own bakery, I’m aware of the difficulties & realities of it). I am not a chef, I was never trained at a Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, I have no excuse for why I think I should have a blog like this. I just know what I love to do, and as far as baking goes (and cooking, too, but that’s pretty easy)- I’m pretty fucking awesome. I rock hard at cupcakes, my ice creams are phenomenal, my stuffed shells/lasagna/macaroni & cheese dishes are legendary, my risotto is never gummy & my frosting skill cannot be beaten. I’ve made homemade pasta without a machine that was perfection. All that, I can do in my sleep.

Canning… I’m new at. Relatively. I only started in July, so I can hardly be called anything but a newbie. I knew that my first few amazing attempts at canning would be marred by an epic failure. I’ve made amazing pickles, awesome jams, fantastic preserves, much-requested marmalades, super jellies, etc. So I knew that nobody could have that much good luck when first beginning anything. The bottom had to fall out, the other shoe had to drop, all those cliches. I knew I’d probably end up with moldy pickles or a watery jelly at some point. Except I really did end up lucking out this time, even with my “failure”- turns out, caramel apple syrup that was supposed to be a caramel apple jam isn’t so bad after all.

Cute little mistake…

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See this is what happened: I found a recipe I wanted to make, and obviously given this time of year, I had a bunch of apples; particularly some firm but soft-spot apples (two Granny Smith, two Gala, and one who’s sticker came off so I have no idea) that I wanted to use up and of course, there were a few sad, empty Ball® jars looking lonely. So I said, “Self, we’re going to make this nice, fall-like recipe known as caramel apple jam.” Apparently, myself and my “self” were not on the same page. I was doing about 300 other things at the same time- washing apples, peeling apples, coring apples, dicing apples, sterilizing jars & lids, measuring spices, finding the brown sugar, drinking coffee, talking on the phone, texting, watching Dr. Phil (okay that last one is a lie, I swear). And I ended up throwing these things in the pot and cooking ‘em up and then plopping them in the jars & sealing them, only to realize, as they were processing in a water bath… that I did not add the pectin.

I DID NOT ADD THE PECTIN.

Do you realize what I just wrote? Yes, I understand that sour apples that are not too ripe naturally have enough pectin to make jam. I know that, I’ve read the books & websites. And I know non-sour, not-ripe apples have decent amounts of pectin anyway. But I didn’t let them cook long enough to take advantage of that, because I cooked them as though I did add the pectin. Not only that, but I thought I’d like a chunkier jam, so I left the apples for the most part in chunks, which didn’t cook down much, leaving even less pectin in the mix.

See the dilemma? No? Okay, maybe this will explain it. Or maybe this post where I kinda went into detail about pectin. See now? Yeah. I messed up.

Anyway, after smacking my forehead with my palm, I decided to finish processing the two jars, since I figured even if they didn’t work out at all, it was only two jars, but maybe I could salvage it and use it as a syrup, not a jam. You know, an ice cream, pancake or pound cake topping as opposed to a scone or bread topping. And I believe it worked. They seemed very runny at first, almost watery… which made me a bit nervous. But after sitting & cooling in a dark place for a week or so, it seemed to thicken a little. Not quite a chocolate fudge or caramel consistency, but more a maple syrup consistency. The seals were fine, everything was good, so why not market it as a syrup?…

All dressed up, labeled, & lookin’ gooood… as if I totally meant to do that!

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Sure, I could have pretended this was all intentional when I wrote this blog post. But I’m going to be honest with you all because that’s how you learn- from mistakes, right? So anyway, they processed perfectly, were sealed, and they got a bit thicker each passing day (although not to jam thickness, obviously), not to mention it looked pretty awesome in the jars. I remembered the advice I gave in my marmalade post, about using it even if it doesn’t set, so I said screw it! I called them ‘caramel apple syrup’, I made some pretty labels, hyped them up a bit (“It’s fantastic on pancakes or waffles! Believe me!”) and I gave my dad one of the jars, using him as a guinea pig. Despite him balking at first (“I don’t know if I’ll ever eat this…” “Don’t waste it on me” “What am I going to have this with?”) he decided to crack it open not even two hours after getting it. And boy, did he rave about it. He had it with a hamsteak, but he agreed it’d be perfect on pancakes not to mention on ice cream or even biscuits. Like I said, he called it “Apple pie in a jar.” He never actually got the chance to have it in pancakes or waffles… because he started eating it right out of the jar! I swear. He then finished it & started harassing me about making more! MAKING MORE OF WHAT WAS A MISTAKE TO BEGIN WITH, MIND YOU.

And you want to know something? It thickened a lot more in his fridge, as these things are wont to do. So yet another serving option is to just throw it into some of those pre-made pie shells, et voilà. Little apple pies. Or… use Pillsbury croissants and fold ‘em up into little turnovers with this as the filling.

It does look pretty, too, I have to admit.

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I have learned from this, believe me. No need for lectures or lessons. I know, I know. But the basic concept is that sometimes mistakes aren’t really all that bad. Yes, you should pay attention. Yes you should be careful. And if you’re preserving fruits or veggies that are low acid & you accidentally skip the lemon juice or “acid” when making a jam or jelly, the entire batch should not be eaten and it should be remade, this I know. But just like way back in the day, when my cupcakery was in it’s infancy… I learned to pay more attention when I put a batch of cupcakes in the oven without adding the eggs, this incident will make me doubly careful from now on. I reassured myself by saying “Before you know it, I’ll be canning blindfolded just like I can bake & frost cupcakes or make risotto or macaroni & cheese blindfolded.” Which I pretty much can do right about now. This was just a stupid mistake. But as far as mistakes go, this one was a really good mistake to make. Of all the canning horror stories out there, this certainly is not one of them. Caramel apple syrup, a mistake? Hell no.

Anyway, since October is National Apple Month, get yourself some apples & start making some caramel apple jam. Alternately, as you’ve learned here, make some amazing caramel apple syrup by taking this recipe & omitting the pectin. This (or it’s originally intended ‘jam’ form) would be an amazing Thanksgiving hostess gift, as well. You could also wait a few days & see my next (and much easier) apple-related recipe…

Or you could just eat the damn apple.

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When the Romans conquered Britain they brought with them the apple tree. The apple was representative of the goddess Pomona, the goddess of fruit trees. She was known for her great beauty and fertility. Romans, although conquerors, were accepting of other cultures and soon accepted Celtic beliefs and the Samhain festival. The two were blended together and the apple became part of the harvest celebration that would become Halloween.

Because Pomona was a fertility goddess and because the Celts believed that the pentagram was a fertility symbol and when an apple is sliced in half the seeds form a pentagram it is natural that they believed the apple could be used to determine marriages during this magical time of year. From this belief comes the game bobbing for apples. During the annual celebration young unmarried people try to bite into an apple floating in water or hanging from a string. The first person to bite into the apple would be the next one to marry.

While the apple may or may not have had any ability to predict the future it brought people together from distant farms and villages who may otherwise have never had contact with others outside their own families. This was very important as most people did not live through their childhoods. Marriage and fertility were extremely important. Without children there would be nobody to carry on your genes. If you didn’t have a large supply of children there wouldn’t be enough labor to survive. In this respect bobbing for apples wasn’t just a game but a matter of life or death.

-source The Haunted Bay

 

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Part of the charm & intrigue of Halloween is the fright factor. That things-that-go-bump-in-the-night-”what-was-that-sound” factor that gives you the chills- but you love it. The reason why people go on scary roller coasters or watch horror movies. That same feeling, that’s the best part of Halloween. I try to make that a part of everything I make around this time of year, not to mention I try to include the fall flavors that everyone loves. Of course, I’m biased. Like I said, this is my favorite holiday. I think some of my favorite things about it, in addition to the “scary” aspect, are all the traditions & symbols. It has such strong Celtic roots, I find the origins of the things we do today to be really interesting. Some of which I’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks in detail… for now:

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. For instance, the carving of jack-o’-lanterns springs from the souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory.^[5] The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween,^[6][7] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.^[6] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837^[8] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.^[9]

The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).^[10] Among the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne in 1780, who made note of pranks at Halloween; “What fearfu’ pranks ensue!”, as well as the supernatural associated with the night, “Bogies” (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns‘ Halloween 1785.^[11] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, or mythical monsters.^[12] Black and orange are the holiday’s traditional colors.

I’m aware not everyone enjoys this day as much as I do, and I guess my personal opinion that they’re a bunch of boring, humorless stick-in-the-mud’s is irrelevant, but either way I think it’s fun & harmless. What could be more fun than dressing up as something you aren’t & getting free candy? I don’t know. It sounds pretty friggin’ amazing to me. So being it’s my favorite holiday, I have lots of treats for you to choose from for your spooky fall baking needs. I’ve done compilation posts before, as a matter of fact this past year, 2010-2011, I did one for every holiday, Halloween being the first. But being I did it early on each season, I excluded all the new ideas I had & implemented afterward. So this year it’s a truer compilation: all (or most) of my muffins, cupcakes & other treats; all with a Halloween or fall theme. Some are slightly more complex than others, but all of them are pretty simple when you get down to it & they really don’t take a lot of time or effort (or money, or experience really) to execute.

If you have any questions about where I bought supplies, etc, or just about the cupcakes/treats in general, feel free to comment or e-mail me.

CHOCOLATE STOUT CUPCAKES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE BONES TRUE BLOOD ORANGE CUPCAKES WITH CANDIED BLOOD ORANGES

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DEVIL’S FOOD CUPCAKES WITH CINNAMON RED-HOTS FROSTING DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

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CHOCOLATE MALT CUPCAKES WITH FUDGE FILLING EERIE MONSTER CUPCAKES WITH SWEETMELT EYES

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TRUE BLOOD VELVET CUPCAKES & CREAM CHEESE FROSTING BLACK LICORICE CUPCAKES & ORANGE MARSHMALLOW FROSTING

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JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKIN MUFFINS PUMPKIN STREUSEL MUFFINS WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

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MARSHMALLOW BONES APPLE MUFFINS

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CINNAMON VANILLA CUPCAKES & MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE FROSTING TRES LECHES COCONUT CUPCAKES

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S’MORES CUPCAKES WITH MARSHMALLOW BUTTERCREAM SPICE CUPCAKES WITH BROWN SUGAR FROSTING

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And of course, if you’re looking for something in particular, you can always go through the archives, specifically the seasonal ones, like the pumpkin or apple categories. Another particular favorite of mine not pictured are the infamous apple cider donuts, they’re perfect for Halloween shenanigans. You could go bobbing for apple cider donuts! And if you’re into pumpkin seeds, I have two recipes, both plain & brown sugar/spice versions. And the two recipes second to last on the list, the cinnamon/vanilla & tres leches coconut, would both be perfect for Dia de los Muertos as well (which is what I used the latter for myself).

Almost any cupcake recipe or cookie recipe can be altered or decorated to fit in with Halloween. Use your imagination… you never know what you may come up with. If worse comes to worse, and you’re stuck for ideas, ask a kid! Kids have the best imaginations and come up with the best stuff, especially for Halloween. A kid’s brain works on a totally different level, they’re practically un-offended by everything, which is perfect.

And stay tuned this month for many more creepy (& not so creepy) fall-appropriate recipes & ideas.

Back when my grandma passed away unexpectedly in July, we were inundated with beautiful cards & amazing e-mails & gorgeous flowers, etc. It was so wonderful to have people reach out that way. One of the things we received was a HUGE Harry & David gift basket sent by some high school friends of mine. I think my mother & I might have lived off of that basket for the first few days we had it. For dinner we’d have Moose Munch & butter toffee chocolates or strawberry licorice rope & yogurt pretzels. It was a heatwave, we were in a daze and we had absolutely no desire to eat let alone cook. But snack? Sure. A handful of popcorn & candy here & there got us through the days without crashing from low blood sugar.

Of course, there are always a few things left at the bottom of the basket. One of them was trail mix. Don’t get me wrong- there’s nothing wrong with trail mix. Especially not gourmet Honeybell Pecan Trail Mix. But let’s face it, when there are piles of delicious candy on top of it, what are you going to choose to eat first? Probably not the trail mix. Needless to say, in any gift basket, those are the things that are eaten first, but especially with us. We’re candy people. Chocolates always trump dried fruits around here.

So it was one really chilly night recently while I was watching History Detectives, when I saw the unopened baggie of trail mix & thought, “I bet that’d make a damn good muffin.”

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It contains: Honey Bell pecans (pecans coated in a mixture of butter, sugar and oil of Tangelo [Honey Bell] flavoring), dried cranberries, raisins, almonds, pumpkin seeds and roasted cashews. A great fall breakfast muffin, right?

Not only that but it would use up that trail mix that was sitting there all lonely. All I did was I altered my favorite chocolate chip muffin recipe to include trail mix & some oats. Of course, I added considerably more trail mix than I did chocolate chips, then sprinkling the tops of the unbaked muffins with oats.

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HONEYBELL PECAN TRAIL MIX MUFFINS

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup light-brown sugar
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup milk
• ½ cup butter — melted and cooled
• 2 eggs – beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 ounces trail mix (or less, depending on taste)
• few tablespoons steel cut oats

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. and grease up twelve muffin cups or put liners in them (I prefer liners because it’s less messy that way).
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, stir together milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in trail mix. DON’T OVERMIX THE BATTER.
3. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them almost to the top; top each muffin with oats. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.
4. Remove muffin tin to wire rack; cool 5 minutes and remove from tins to finish cooling.

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Now that school’s open again & everyone is busy, they’re fantastic to pack in a kid’s school lunch or to send them off with in the morning for a quick breakfast when you’re (or they’re) running late. Even as an after-school snack. You could add some peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips, maybe some yogurt covered raisins, or even regular chocolate chips to it, if the mixture doesn’t include them. Some shredded coconut or coconut flakes. Maybe substitute buttermilk for the regular milk? And of course, you can use any trail mix at all. Or even just a mix of whatever dried fruits/nuts you like. If you want to make them healthier, use whole wheat flour, substitute applesauce or coconut oil for the butter and use honey or agave nectar instead of sugar. Add some oat-bran, make a streusel topping- the possibilities are endless!

Eat one toasted with some fresh cream butter, homemade jam or marmalade, or just have it room temperature as a snack. I’m told they’re best warm out of the oven, though. However, since that little cold snap is over, & right now it’s about 100° degrees & humid as all get out in NY, I can’t imagine having the oven on to make more of these. This weekend, though, the baking is ON again. Get psyched.

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That photo is from Eleanor & Frank’s wedding in the late 1940′s. As you can see, my grandfather & Mike’s grandmother were siblings, and my grandmother & Mike’s grandfather were also siblings. So Eleanor & Frank are the grandparents of my aforementioned cousin Mike, and in turn are the parents of my mother’s cousin Tom. Agnes & Butch are my grandparents, a.k.a. the parents of my mother. Make sense now? I hope so, because I really don’t want to break out the pie charts & graphs. Either way, our family tree only has one branch on this particular side, haha.

Anyway, Mike & Heather sent a care package to me & my mom a few weeks back from a (seemingly) awesome store down there called Roux Royale. We each got a mug, a pair of adorable salt & pepper shakers and this awesome cake plate!

Can you tell I’m a bit in love with the photography apps on my iPhone?

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Because I’m inspired by everything, this beautiful cake plate gave me the urge to bake something fantastic to put on it. Although I kept looking at it and rethinking what I was going to do. I’ve made King’s Cake cupcakes before, so I didn’t want to do that. Even though that’s where the natural progression of thoughts went, it’s taboo to bake it before Jan. 6th or after Mardi Gras. I’ve also made beignets, and as good as they are, I recently had a gigantic serving of them from the Grand Lux Cafe which satisfied my craving, plus I wasn’t sure they were really appropriate for display on this cake plate.

Mmm… Grand Lux beignets… *sigh* …. anyway back to reality…

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And I could’ve done a Cherries Jubilee-type cupcake, especially since the plate mentions cherries, but I’ve done enough cherry stuff lately. So I kept on thinkin’…

Then I remembered that famous New Orleans dessert, Bananas Foster. Ahh, the lovely Bananas Foster. It originated down there in NOLA at a famous place called Brennan’s, so what better dessert to display on that New Orleans cake plate!?

Bananas Foster is a dessert made from bananas and vanilla ice cream, with the sauce made from butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum, and banana liqueur. The butter, sugar and bananas are cooked, and then the alcohol is added and ignited. The bananas and sauce are then served over the ice cream. Preparation of the dish is often made into a tableside performance as a flambé.

The dish was created in 1951 by Paul Blangé at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[2] It was named for Richard Foster, a friend of Owen Brennan‘s who was then New Orleans Crime Commission chairman. It is still served at a number of fine restaurants in New Orleans as well as in many restaurants around the world.

-Wikipedia

Brennan’s is really, really famous. It’s in the French Quarter. The head chef, Lazone Randolph, has been featured on more TV shows than Rachael Ray. Well not quite, but almost. Along with Cafe Du Monde, it’s seemingly one of those tourist places that screams New Orleans.

So yeah, I figured Bananas Foster was a perfect idea. Besides, my family is a bit bananas, so it’s even more appropriate! I love them, don’t get me wrong. I love them & they’re pretty much wonderful, but they’re mostly insane. Which helps to make them wonderful. If everyone was sane, wouldn’t the world be a boring place? I’m sure this concept has been done to death, but this is my version of Bananas Foster cupcakes. Easy, not a lot of drama, and no tableside fire action… but the end result does look & taste far more complicated. And it doesn’t melt, unlike the ice cream in the traditional, original version. I even had some cupcake liners left over from last year that were very similar to the cake plate’s design. How do you like them apples bananas?

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To avoid the dense, heavy cupcakes that using real bananas cause, I used banana extract. I don’t care if Florian Bellanger would disapprove. They came out amazing, so he can suck an egg. I mean that in the most respectful way, of course. They’re moist, fluffy, but not dense & thick. I’m including a recipe for a gorgeous, thick, creamy caramel made from condensed milk as well. If you’d like to use that (I didn’t) you could spoon it over the frosting, over the caramelized bananas or even on the cupcakes before you frost them. I thought the flavor of the bananas themselves was enough… but if you want a really decadent over the top cupcake… go for it.

BANANAS FOSTER CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• Caramelized bananas (recipe below), cooled
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk caramel (optional, see here for recipe)
• 1 cup cake flour, sifted
• 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons milk
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure banana extract
• ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg, room temperature
• few drops yellow food coloring (if desired)

Directions:

1. Set oven to 375° F to preheat. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together, into a deep mixing bowl, the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter, ¼ cup of the milk and flavorings. Beat on low until blended, then beat on high for another minute or two.
3. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the remaining ¼ cup milk, egg, and food coloring (if using) and beat ½ minute longer on high. Scoop into muffin tins to fill them about ¼ or ½ way because they rise a lot. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick/cake tester comes out almost totally clean. Cool completely.
4. Frost with evaporated milk buttercream frosting (recipe below), then drizzle condensed milk caramel on top with the tines of a fork or a small teaspoon. Top each cupcake with one or two caramelized bananas, and if desired, a bit more caramel.

Confession time. Okay, my confession here is this: as you can see below, I did not use pure banana extract like I recommended. I used Watkins‘ imitation banana extract. However, unless you use Watkins, I’d go with pure. The Watkins flavor is really good & not overly fake or sweet, I know sometimes supermarket extracts can be a bit strong at times, in a bad way.

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EVAPORATED MILK FROSTING

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 4 ¼ cups powdered sugar
• 2 ½ ounces evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Cream together the butter, vanilla and 2 cups of the powdered sugar.
2. Once well incorporated, add evaporated milk alternating with a cup of sugar at a time until all ingredients have been added. Beat on high for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Spread or pipe on completely cooled cupcakes.

Gotta have some cafe au lait with them, of course…

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CARAMELIZED BANANAS

Ingredients:

• 2 bananas, sliced
• 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Spray a non-stick frying pan and a ceramic plate with cooking spray (or waxed paper or parchment on the plate instead), and heat the pan up over medium heat.
2. Mix sugar & cinnamon together in a shallow dish. Dip each banana slice in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Make sure they’re completely coated.
3. Using a fork or small tongs, place bananas in pan as they’re ready. Cook until golden-brown, then flip. The first side will take a few minutes, the second side a bit less. Do not let them burn! If you see them getting too dark, sticking to the pan or smell a burning smell- flip them immediately! Keep an eye on them.
4. When finished, place on coated plate (bananas will be sticky). Let cool before topping cupcakes.

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If you choose to use it, you may need to soften the condensed milk caramel a bit before drizzling it, depending how warm your kitchen is, etc. In that case, place the can, open side up (obviously) in a small saucepan of simmering water (only about one inch- don’t get the caramel wet!) for a few minutes, stirring fairly constantly, until it softens enough.  I didn’t feel as if I needed it, but it would make a lovely addition. You could even fill them with it- that would be divine.

Proper “Nu Awlins” cupcakes for a proper “Nu Awlins” cake platter. Thanks again, Mike & Heather, for my newest additions! They’ll be well used around here, as there’s always some kind of baked goods out for display.

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I had never made butter pecan cupcakes before, and I can’t really ever remember having butter pecan cake to compare it to, and I barely remember having butter pecan ice cream once or twice, so thankfully I found this kick-ass recipe to steer me in the right direction. What can I say? I’m a New Yorker. We aren’t down with a lot of butter pecan stuff! But now I know, and it’s a great recipe to have up your sleeve (recipe coming, after all the pictures). The Maple Irish whiskey buttercream recipe is over here at this post, and I used Magnolia’s vanilla cupcake recipe.

We (Jay & myself) brought them over to her place last night (in a huge ass cake box!) and surprised her with them! She was definitely surprised. Especially at the mini-toppers made of her tattoo (done by her sister, Amanda Rodriguez).

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Liners are from Cupcake Social (my new favorite cupcake supply shop), I kept ‘em simple in plain black & brown. I wanted them to be unique and special, so I hand wrote the 30′s in red Candy Melts and red sparkly sugar for a little somethin’ extra. Messy looking, but I didn’t want ‘em perfect. I wanted them to look like paint. The other “toppers” are a photo of Melanie’s actual tattoo that I mentioned above; I just cropped it, adjusted the brightness & contrast and voila! The other toppers are just letting everyone know what they’re eating. It was actually really cute because it looked like the cupcakes were talking in the box. The butter pecan cupcakes were also sprinkled with gold crystal sugar.

Melanie was really happy with them, which was what I hoped for. Happy birthday, Melanie!

BUTTER PECAN CUPCAKES (adapted from A Cuppy Cake Life from A Taste of Home Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups chopped pecans, toasted (see below)
• 1  cup softened butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and remaining cup of butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add the dry mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk. Mix well after each addition. Stir in  the toasted pecans.
4. Spoon ¼ cup of batter into each liner. Bake for 13-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 3 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

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TOASTED PECANS

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup pecans
• 1 ½ tablespoons salted butter, melted (the rule is approx. 1 tablespoon for every cup of pecans)*

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, melt  the butter. Add the pecans and toss to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they’re toasted and fragrant, about 10-15 minutes. Do not overcook the pecans. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

..*The amount listed is JUST the amount for filling the cupcakes. For topping them, toast an extra half cup to a cup of pecans, I used pecan halves for the tops (I also added a little light brown sugar as they were toasting for a caramelized kinda flavor).

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BUTTER PECAN FROSTING

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 8 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 5 ounces evaporated milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

1. Cream together the butter, vanilla and 3 cups of the powdered sugar.
2. Once well incorporated, add evaporated milk alternating with a cup of sugar at a time until all ingredients have been added. Beat on high for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Spread or pipe on completely cooled cupcakes. Top with a few toasted pecan halves & gold crystal sugar.

I halved the recipe and I got about 16 cupcakes, I did not halve the frosting recipe and yet I got just enough. I pipe a little high… If you wanted to make it a cake, I’d say two 8″ pans would work. Just check the timing in the oven.

I was really happy with how these turned out, and like I said, Melanie & Matt were too.. and that’s the important thing. So no… I am not doing cupcake orders now. Stay tuned until that bakery is opened, or until I get a gourmet kitchen with more counter space. But for now I’m just glad these were a success.

Alright, so, back to the baking… what’s better than fall flavors? I mean, summer is great with all the fresh fruit and vegetables, and clean crisp flavor. But fall… pumpkin, rich spices, cozy maple, caramel & brown sugar-y flavors. It’s just a great time of year for food. Plus, it’s a perfect time of year for the savory comfort food; macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, casseroles and au gratins. Fall clothes are great too. I can’t wait to wear my boots & sweaters! There comes a point no matter how much you love the summer that you start to say, “Enough with the 90 degree heat!” Actually more than that, for me, is “Enough with my makeup sliding off my face, my hair frizzing up & my shirt sticking to my back even though I’m just sitting here!”

So with this season (my favorite season), come new cupcakes. This time around it’s a variation on spice cake, in a cupcake. I topped them with a light, whipped cream-y brown sugar frosting, but they would also be great with a cream cheese frosting, a maple frosting or even a Mexican hot chocolate style frosting. Thanks to Dinner With Julie for the recipe. You can also make it into a cake very easily (instructions for that are in the recipe). I bet it would be good in a bundt-type pan too, with a confectioner’s sugar type glaze on top. Of course, I’m sad that Thanksgiving means the end of fall & the official start of Christmas, I might as well just keep taking advantage of the fall while it’s here.

But without further ado, here they are. My spice girls.

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No, no! No. Not those. *cringes* Those are NOT my spice girls. That is just terrifying. These… these are my spice girls.

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SPICE CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg and/or allspice
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cups packed dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 3 6-cup muffin tins with liners (the recipe makes 1 ½ dozen), or spray two 8” or 9” round cake pans or one 9″ x 13″ pan with nonstick spray.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. In a larger bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer for about half a minute, until it’s pale and creamy. Pour in the sugar and continue to beat for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever it needs it.
3. Stir the vanilla into the milk. Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir it in by hand or with the electric mixer on low speed, just until it’s combined. Add about half the milk in the same manner, then another third of the flour, the rest of the milk, and the rest of the flour, mixing just until the batter is blended.
4. Divide the batter between the prepared tins, filling them about ¾ full, and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cupcakes are golden and tops are springy to the touch.

I went a little higher with the frosting on this one… I think it looks better. Oh well.

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PERFECT CUPCAKE FROSTING- BROWN SUGAR FLAVOR

First, get this:

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup milk (whole milk is best)
• ½ cup unsalted butter (NOT margarine!)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

And then yer gon’ do this:

1. Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.
2. Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan. It should still be liquid-ish though. It’s okay if you have lumps, because we’re gonna strain those out right now. Place the mixture in a mesh strainer and stir with a rubber spatula to push it through.
3. You should end up with a nice, smooth mixture. It’s almost like pudding before it’s set.
4. Put this mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it’s fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don’t want it warm at all. When it is chilled, you can move on to the following step.
5. It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You’ll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, not the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Don’t be scared. It’s going to look like a goopy mess and kind of lumpy and separated. But you just wait. It’s gonna blow your mind in a few minutes.
6. Beat on med-high for 7-8 minutes. Yes, that long. I know it seems like forever, but that’s when the magic happens!
7. After 7-8 minutes it will have transformed from that sloppy mess into something gorgeous, fluffy, and incredibly light and silky.

The cheese stands alone.

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Yum. I used a little less than a ¼ teaspoon each of nutmeg and allspice, and I think that it really added something, so I’d suggest doing that if you’ve got both ingredients. I actually only have whole nutmeg, so I grated it myself. When all was said and done, I sprinkled some orange/yellow colored sugar on top of mine, because I just can’t leave well enough alone.

So every fall, Starbucks & Dunkin’ Donuts have their pumpkin-flavored coffees & lattes, and some fall treats too. D+D (what Dunkin’ Donuts is referred to around here, for all you West-coasters or international visitors) has pumpkin muffins as well as pumpkin donuts. Now I myself have never had one of either item, but I see the muffins all the time & I think “I could make those.” They’re a pumpkin muffin topped with a streusel-y topping and then drizzled with a cream cheese icing. Are you drooling yet? No? Then look at this:

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Yes, I managed to tear myself away from Boardwalk Empire and thinking about how delicious Jimmy Darmody is for 5 minutes to make some pumpkin muffins in the style of those infamous ones from that popular donut chain. What can I tell you? I guess I’ve got a thing for guys with guns. And a thing for muffins.

I’ve made pumpkin muffins before, but not with an icing. I did make ones with rum recently, though. These, however were completely different. Rich, comforting, with great spices and the streusel with rolled oats was amazing. Talk about the perfect Thanksgiving morning breakfast treat. If you make these along with some cream cheese cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving morning, your family will love you forever. Because they don’t really have to love you forever now, you know. You’ve gotta earn that. It’s true, I swear. Even I, who isn’t such a huge pumpkin fan, enjoyed these immensely.

(No clever name for these. What you see is what you get, here. Besides, I’ve seen a few blogs lately where the bloggers clearly desperately try to be funny with the titles, and my feeling is, if it’s overly cheesy or obvious you’re trying too hard, then it’s not funny. Not that I’m saying that I’ve never used a cheesy title- but there’s a thin line between outright cheesy and funny cheesy. Are you taking notes? Anyway speaking of cheese… let’s get on with the show…)

PUMPKIN STREUSEL MUFFINS WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING (adapted from Taste Of Home)

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg (I use whole and grate it myself)
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Streusel:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold butter
• 2 tablespoons rolled oats (optional)

Cream cheese icing:

• 2 ounces cream cheese
• about 1 – 1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
• ¼ – ½ cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs, and molasses. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and mix into the batter. Stir just until combined. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin tins 2/3 full of batter.
2. For topping: combine the flour and brown sugar and oats (if using)  in a small bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly. Spoon streusel topping over the muffins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pans very gently using a large spoon & butter knife, being careful not to burn yourself. Place on wire rack.
3. For icing: beat cream cheese and heavy cream together until smooth. Add confectioner’s sugar a little at a time until desired consistency is reached. Add extra heavy cream if needed (consistency should be similar to a frosting, somewhat thick but not too thick). Drizzle over still-hot, right out of the oven cupcakes. It will melt and drip accordingly.

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So are you drooling now? You should be. Again, while I haven’t had the Dunkin’ Donuts muffins, I can pretty much bet that these are just as awesome, if not better, than they are. I have it on good authority from people who have indeed had those D+D muffins that these are way better. And that icing is like melty cheesecake. I was feeling lazy and used a sandwich bag with the corner cut off to drizzle the icing, but a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip or a disposable pastry bag with the tip cut off would work just as well.

These are best when eaten fairly warm, but just as good room temperature. I’m sure you could pop ‘em in the microwave for a few seconds to heat them up though, if that’s how you prefer them. Just be careful- you don’t want the icing to get too melty in there… So make these, shove ‘em in your face while watching your local Thanksgiving parade or as fuel before you start your Christmas shopping. I know there are some of you crazy people out there who already have gifts hidden in your house. You animals. Save some for the rest of us who shop on December 21st!

For those of you in other countries, or who really could care less about what us asshole Americans do, here’s a little bit on the holiday to get you acquainted:

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God.^[1]

It is thought that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive their first brutal winter in New England.^[2] The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.^[3] The feast consisted of fowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash. William Bradford’s note that, “besides waterfowl, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many,”^[4] probably gave rise to the American tradition of eating turkey at Thanksgiving.

Of course there’s more to the story, and it ain’t pretty, but hey, whatever. I can’t lie- I like to eat. So I can’t hate on the tradition too much.

Anyway I did this for Halloween, and I thought I’d do it for Thanksgiving too since it’s convenient to have all my holiday (in this case, Thanksgiving-y) themed recipes in one spot. Here they are in no particular order; my top picks for Thanksgiving cupcakes!

These were amazing. Of course, purists may dislike it because the recipe asks that you use a box cake mix, but it’s worth it. They were dense, chocolate-y, had amazing spicyness and had a fantastic texture thanks to the addition of a can of pumpkin. They were excellent with the chocolate frosting, but would be equally excellent with a whipped cream topping, a seven-minute frosting or even a marshmallow Fluff frosting. The recipe can be found here: Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcakes

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These cupcakes were a surprise, because I wasn’t anticipating them turning out as well as they did. The frosting was perfect too. The cinnamon in the cupcake makes it a great choice for Thanksgiving, but it’s not too heavy, so it’s a good idea for an after-dinner cupcake; after everyone has gorged on turkey & sweet potatoes. If you wanna read more about them, here they are: Snickerdoodle cupcakes with seven-minute frosting

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Now these were amazing! I’m a big fan of brown butter, so I knew that these would make me really happy. Add to that cream soda and toffee? Forget it. Just fantastic. I ended up with none left after leaving Thanksgiving dinner last year- everyone insisted on taking some home with them. Take a peek at the recipe: Cream soda toffee cupcakes with brown butter frosting

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Apple is a no-brainer for fall. And these just so happen to be the best apple cupcakes there ever were, EVER. Add to that the brown sugar buttercream and you have yourself a delectable treat. And I like to think it’s healthier because of all the apple. *ahem* Anyway, here’s the recipe: Apple cupcakes with brown sugar buttercream

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Now you may not be looking for a cupcake recipe. Maybe you’re looking for a fall cookie, breakfast treat, muffin or a donut recipe? Well, you’ve come to the right place! The following just so happens to be Jay’s favorite cookie, and I’m sure you’ll love it too. And the rest? They ain’t bad either. You can’t go wrong with donuts, cookies, cinnamon rolls or scones in my opinion.

Delicious sugar cookies cut into leaf-shapes and topped with maple icing. How good does that sound? The recipe can be found here.

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A tried and true fall favorite: apple cider donuts. And they’re really easy to make at home- trust me! A great baking project to do with kids. Go here for the full recipe.

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The best cinnamon roll recipe, ever. Hands down. I love these on Thanksgiving morning while watching the parade. Just make the first steps the night before, allow the dough to rest overnight, then finish it and pop it in the oven that morning. Then the icing goes on while they’re warm. Seriously, they’re amazing. Get the recipe & more here.

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Ahh, Ina. You never fail me. And these scones were yet another example of that. These were a HUGE hit with my family when I made them for Thanksgiving a few years back. The texture was perfect, the flavor was awesome and everyone loved the glaze. This is another really simple yet impressive recipe. Find out how to make them here.

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There are tons more fall-themed and fall-flavored ideas on this blog. You just have to search for ‘em a bit. Although, many of the cupcakes I’ve made for Halloween could work for Thanksgiving too, specifically the pumpkin, apple, cinnamon vanilla or mocha ones, and even the french toast cupcakes (which I myself are planning to recreate for Thanksgiving). Apple dumplings are also an excellent choice, and really quick and easy. And pumpkin muffins are another great idea for breakfast, but so is pumpkin bread; a nice slice of that, all warm from the oven… Mmmm. Pumpkin muffins made with rum are a nice adult alternative. And olive oil cake? Amazing, with it’s orange-y flavor and rich texture. Although anything is really good for Thanksgiving, though, because everyone just really wants to be fat & greedy & shove food into their face. Most of the time, people don’t even notice the fancy decorations on the pies or cakes because all they want to do is stick their face in it. It’s true. Have you ever noticed how much food is put on the plates at Thanksgiving dinner? It’s ridiculous.

Which leads me to my next thought: how about, this year, for every 3 items you plan on making for your Thanksgiving spread, you donate one food item to a food bank? Whether it’s a canned vegetable or a box of au gratin potatoes or whatever. It’s time we stopped being so damn selfish in this country. And in this economy, when so many people have lost their jobs and have to rely on Food Stamps & food banks for their meals, I think all of us can afford to donate two or three cans or boxes of something to those who need it. And if you’re really feeling generous, in some supermarkets you can buy an entire meal for a family that needs it; from the soup to the turkey to the side dishes. Consider it, really. It’s the least we can do. If you’d like to contribute, there are places like Food For Others that can lead you in the right direction. Also, a quick Google search can help you find other places in your area.

It’s the big day! All you freaks out there are hopefully all dressed up in various costumes, scaring people & getting candy for free. What a great holiday, huh?

BOO!

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I’m a bit busy today, answering the door to little mini-goblins and ghosts and giving them the tooth-decaying sweets they demand, but I wanted to share my jack-o-lantern and an interesting recipe with you. Just in case there’s anyone out there who’s carving a pumpkin tonight or has seeds laying around… traditionally, I just salt mine & bake ‘em. But this year I had a LOT of seeds in my pumpkin, so I split it into 2 batches and made one in a new way: covered in sugar and spices.…

BROWN SUGAR SPICED PUMPKIN SEEDS

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (I used light brown)
• ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• butter flavored cooking spray

Directions:

1. Separate seeds from stringy pulp and rinse off in warm water. Drain completely, and dry on paper towels.
2. Spray a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone. Spread seeds in a single layer and coat with brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Spray lightly with butter flavored cooking spray to “set” ingredients.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and enjoy!

I’ve noticed a sad decline in the amount of kids that go trick or treating nowadays. I’ve always loved Halloween, and I want you all to get down with some delicious treats today, some candies that stick to your teeth & are bad for you, Halloween cupcakes, caramel apples, pumpkin muffins, all that good stuff. But I want you to be safe too. Be careful out there, especially with little ones… there are scarier (and realer) things than mummies & witches lurking tonight. And if you don’t usually do it, go buy a mask and wear it, even just to answer the door. Just for me. I promise you’ll have fun. I know I am…

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Speaking of True Blood and treats, if you’re still looking for Halloween-worthy baked goods, check these out: True Blood Velvet cupcakes. They’re so awesome they’ve been talked about on the Tru Beverage website. There are more too, just take a peek at the Halloween category.

Salted caramel is a bandwagon I never jumped on. About a year and a half/two years ago, the foodie world was nuts for salted caramel anything (except Jay, who obviously missed out on this fad because he asked me “Why would you salt caramel?” Haha, I love men). But me, I kinda stayed away from it. Not because I don’t like it- the opposite is true. Like I said above, I love caramel anything, and I’m kind of a salt fanatic, so that combination is just perfect to me. Truth be told, I stayed away from it because it just seemed like there was an over-saturation of salted caramel-y goodness on the web. But now that it’s died down somewhat, I feel better about making some salted caramel cupcakes. The cupcake recipe is from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski, and I’ve made one of her recipes before with much success. The frosting is a total departure for me… it’s a new way of making frosting that I found at Our Best Bites. The recipes for both are below, and my comments on both are below the recipes.

You may remember those liners from my birthday cupcakes. I had a bunch leftover and decided to use them. Again, I got them from sweet estelle’s baking supply on Etsy.

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I also think brown sugar is appropriate for me to be using now, since I just dyed my hair brown. Yep, bye-bye, blonde. Remember when I said my hair was breaking at the end of my peanut butter ice cream post? Yeah. So I went dark brown. It looks pretty snazzy. I snapped this picture before leaving to go to a wedding the week before last, so far it’s the only picture I have of the new dark coif so you’re just gonna have to make due with this until I get a better one.

(SALTED) CARAMEL CUPCAKES

Get together these items:

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup whole milk

Then do this with them:

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugars and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

PERFECT CUPCAKE FROSTING- CARAMEL FLAVOR

First, get this:

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup milk (whole milk is best)
• ½ cup unsalted butter (NOT margarine!)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon caramel extract

And then yer gon’ do this:

1. Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.
2. Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan. It should still be liquid-ish though. It’s okay if you have lumps, because we’re gonna strain those out right now. Place the mixture in a mesh strainer and stir with a rubber spatula to push it through.
3. You should end up with a nice, smooth mixture. It’s almost like pudding before it’s set.
4. Put this mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it’s fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don’t want it warm at all. When it is chilled, you can move on to the following step.
5. It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You’ll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, not the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Don’t be scared. It’s going to look like a goopy mess and kind of lumpy and separated.
6. But you just wait. It’s gonna blow your mind in a few minutes. Beat on med-high for 7-8 minutes. Yes, that long. I know it seems like forever, but that’s when the magic happens!
7. After 7-8 minutes it will have transformed from that sloppy mess into something gorgeous, fluffy, and incredibly light and silky.

Silkiest frosting ever…

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Dark brown sugar is important to get the caramel flavor in the cupcake.

If you don’t have caramel extract for the frosting, Sara says using a mix of ½ white sugar and ½ brown will give a caramel flavor (meaning ¼ cup each). I used Watkins caramel extract myself, and good lawd it was yummy. This is some good frosting. Seriously. OH MY GOD. I can’t even say enough about it. Delicious. It might turn out to be a staple around here. It is tricky though- don’t cook the white sauce too long or you’ll end up with a mix too thick. I’m not lying when I say that it’s amazing. It takes a bit longer than the traditional buttercream, but less time than Swiss or Italian meringue. And the texture is light and fluffy and smooth, very reminiscent of a meringue-based frosting, not thick or too sweet. It’s a bit tempermental (you shouldn’t use anything but name-brand, 100% real butter, really, she swears it makes a difference… I used Breakstones and had no problems, but people on Sara’s blog commented saying that using Wal-Mart brand butter made it too greasy & other store brands just didn’t work at all) but worth it, trust me. Using vanilla extract or lemon extract or coconut extract is also an option, and there’s a chocolate version of it as well. It’s really good. Who’da thunk it? Frosting made from basically a bechamel sauce is not only light, but almost whipped cream-y.

These would probably be heavenly sprinkled with Himalayan pink salt. But all I had at 10 p.m. when I got the baking bug was plain ol’ Kosher salt, and they were divine. I avoided drizzling these with caramel because I thought, “How much caramel flavor can one cupcake tolerate?” and I decided that would’ve been too much. Or you could top them with caramel candies. But even for me, a caramel lover, I felt this was enough caramel flavor, between the frosting and cupcake itself. Speaking of the cupcakes, I wasn’t hugely thrilled with the texture. The taste was great, but I found that the top formed a bit too much of a “crust” for my liking. Oh well. Still, the entire package was delicious.

Also, you may have noticed that my pictures now have a watermark on them stating that they’re copyrighted to me. I really didn’t want to start doing this, mainly because it’s more work for me to have to add that on to every picture I post. But it seems as though in light of recent events, it might be a good idea. So from now on, all the baked goods and food items I create will have that logo watermark. I won’t bother to do it with pictures of my garden, etc, because I don’t think anyone will steal those anyway. But I’ve sorta had it with people taking my cupcake photos and passing them off as their own. *cough cough*Sharon Lou Ann Swann Stallings*cough cough*

Stay tuned to the blog this week everyone… because I’m getting ready for Cupcake Rehab’s third birthday giveaway! On September 12th, this blog turns three. And to celebrate, I’m sponsoring a giveaway of a bunch of really awesome cupcake-related stuff. So come back on the 12th and enter to win!

Sutton Gourmet Paper liners pride themselves on the fact that their liners are greaseproof and will stay just as colorful and crisp looking after baking as they do beforehand. I admit, I was skeptical. Of course, I’m always willing to try something new and give my honest opinion. And I found that what they say is true. I made a chocolate cupcake, my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe actually, and I’ll be damned- the liners did stay, for the most part, pretty clear, even after baking. Much better than regular liners. I have never had that experience with a chocolate cupcake + paper liner combination. Ever. As a matter of fact, I haven’t had that experience with many vanilla or white cupcake recipes + paper liners! The zebra ones, red damask, and red & white checked ones did get a bit darker than the rest, but all in all they were much better than I expected them to be. The red/turquoise and the brown/turquoise ones just stayed so bright and beautiful, so did the brown/white damask, which made me happy, because they looked so pretty next to my new vintage cake carrier. These liners would be outstanding for a vanilla cupcake as well, the color would be so amazingly bright. The green and pink checked ones also stayed lovely.

Look how gorgeous that turquoise one is!

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As far as the recipe goes, like I said, it’s my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe from Billy’s Bakery in NYC. I cut the recipe in half because I didn’t need 27+ cupcakes. But just so you know, this full recipe does indeed make that much, so it’s perfect for a party. This recipe isn’t a particularly greasy or oily recipe, neither is it the darkest chocolate, but it’s dark enough to know whether or not the liners do what they say they do. And they do! That’s a lot of ‘do’s.’ I frosted them with a vanilla/orange buttercream. Another excellent chocolate cupcake recipe that has a bit more of a punch to it (thanks to coffee) is this one, also frosted with a vanilla/orange buttercream. I have other chocolate cupcake recipes, including a S’mores recipe, if you’d like to see them. Just search or nose around in the archives over there to the right. But now, I give you Billy’s chocolate cupcakes.

I wonder if Lou Ann Stallings will steal these pictures too. They’ll probably be on Craigslist tomorrow! Haha. Speaking of that, let me reiterate once more (despite it being written on almost every fucking page here) that these photos are my property. If you steal them, that’s theft. Plain & simple.

BILLY’S BAKERY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter (8 ounces)
• 1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
• 1 cup light brown sugar (7-¾ ounces)
• 4 large eggs (one at a time)
• 6 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
• 2 cups cake flour (9-¼ ounces)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk (room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Cream butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Add 4 large eggs (one at a time) and beat each until thoroughly combined, then add chocolate (chocolate should be melted, then cooled for approximately 15 minutes before being added)*. Add and alternate cake flour plus baking soda with buttermilk (room temperature) plus vanilla extract.
3. Place cupcake paper into each cup of 2 muffin pans (each pan yielding 12 muffins). Then fill each cup with 1 leveled off scoop of an ice cream scooper.
4. Bake at 350 degrees in regular oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

*If you only have unsweetened cocoa powder, not baking chocolate, and still want to make these cupcakes, you can. For every ounce of baking chocolate required, simply use 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon oil or shortening. Ta-da! If my calculations are correct, which I’m sure they are, that roughly means 6 tablespoons shortening or oil plus ¾ cups of cocoa powder for this full recipe. You do not have to melt it together separately. Just add it when it says to add the unsweetened chocolate. Or, alternately, you can just add unsweetened cocoa powder to the dry ingredients. That’s what I did.

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All in all I was extremely satisfied! I would definitely buy from Sutton, absolutely. I was super pleased with the end results. There’s really nothing I hate more than greasy liners. Well, there are things I hate more, actually. But greasy liners are up there on the list.

And on that note, here is a picture of me being very awesome lame with my new(er) short(er) hair that I mentioned previously. And please don’t tell me I look like Pink. Not that there’s anything wrong with Pink, I’ve just been hearing that for 10 years now, and I absolutely do not see it at all. By the time you see this, my hair might be a is a totally different color. Oh- and my hair is slick with product in this picture, so don’t think I just have a greasy head. Haha.

Now, I’m a pretty good baker. I am. I make all kinds of shit from scratch, no mixes at all. I can wing it without a recipe if need be, I’ve substituted random things when I run out of eggs, etc and the final result has been pretty decent. I’ve made my own pasta, made a freakin’ OPERA CAKE and homemade eclairs, and they were all easy as pie, er, cake. However despite that… usually, streusel hates me. Seriously. I love it, but it just tries my patience every time. For something that simple, you’d think it’d be a breeze. But no. Streusel likes to fuck with me. One time I made it and it just disappeared into the cupcakes, leaving a sort of caramelized layer of brown sugar and flour (yeah, I was like “WTF!?”). Another time I made it and it didn’t look anything like streusel, but tasted delicious anyway. Another time I thought I had it, but it was just mush. This time though, streusel gave me a break. It realized how badly I want it, and gave in for once. I think I tricked it into working for me. How, I don’t know. But I did. Next time I’d use a light brown sugar instead of dark with these, but just for aesthetic reasons. The streusel actually came out like real streusel! Yippee!

This is a recipe altered from a previously altered Williams-Sonoma recipe that I found on Baking Blonde. Both her recipe and the original recipe sound delightfully good. As a matter of fact, unbeknownst to me, it seems that that Williams-Sonoma recipe is the same as the donut-muffin recipe I’ve been making for years! Or as Chichi calls them, “Mo’Nuts.” Awesome.

BUTTERMILK CHOCOLATE CHIP STREUSEL MUFFINS

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• half of a 12 oz package of chocolate chips (or more, if you like more)

For the streusel:

• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp  ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray; alternately, line them with cupcake liners, which is what I prefer to do.
2. To make the muffins, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well until pale and smooth.
3. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add to the butter mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. Stir just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each three-fourths full.
5. To make the topping, in a small bowl, mix the flour & brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or forks until mixture resembles cornmeal. Gently sprinkle topping evenly over batter in prepared muffin tin. Gently press down topping slightly.
6. Bake until the muffins are golden, dry and springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the muffins and let stand until cooled slightly.

Noms.

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I prefer my muffins room temperature so I didn’t eat them right away. But they were extremely yummy. Jay even liked them, and he’s the toughest person to please, being he hates sweets (well, not really hates, but he’d much rather have a pizza… or steak). I’m just so happy my streusel came out this time… but seriously, the muffins were really good. The liners are from sweet estelle’s baking supply, if anyone is interested.

Unfortunately I couldn’t wear one of my two new Two Lumps of Sugar cupcake aprons from Yoyo because they hadn’t arrived yet when these were baked. But I’m so happy and I can’t wait to use them- they bring my apron total to 11 now!  I know, I know, I have to take pictures. I’m really bad at that. I will though, I promise. I did take one picture though… because I was even more excited when I realized my nail polish matched one of the aprons!

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I know I have a problem, but aprons are useful as well as cute. So it’s a collection that isn’t completely useless gathering dust like… stamps or something. Like I said, my count is up to eleven now. Three Jessie Steele aprons with matching oven mitts (fall cupcake print, pink & brown polka dots & leopard print), two handmade aprons from Yoyo (one police-themed & one a reversible Halloween theme- you can buy one of her half apron creations at her store), and a few vintage half-aprons: a red, white & blue patriotic one & a vintage flowered print one, plus a birthday half-apron with a cupcake on it that isn’t vintage. Then I have one from Foodbuzz (just plain white with the logo) and then these two new gorgeous additions I got last week!

Psst… If you’re an apron maker, and you want to pimp your aprons… feel free to send one my way *wink* I’ll pimp you from now ’till next year! I’m always looking for new additions to my collection, especially handmade (but not exclusively handmade, I’m not opposed to a mass-manufactured apron- trust me) because I like to support craftspeople. Buy handmade!

The type of flour used will ultimately affect the finished product. Flour contains protein and when it comes in contact with water and heat it produces gluten, which gives elasticity and strength to baked goods. Different types of flour contain different amounts of protein. Therefore using a different type of flour than what is called for in a recipe (without compensating for this change) will alter the outcome of the baked good.  A cake flour is used to make a white cake where a delicate tender crumb is desired.  Bread flour is used to make a chewy bread and all-purpose flour makes a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies.

All-purpose flour has a 10-12% protein content and is made from a blend of hard and soft wheat flours. It can be bleached or unbleached which are interchangeable.  However, Southern brands of bleached all-purpose flour have a lower protein content (8%) as they are made from a soft winter wheat.  All-purpose flour can vary in its protein content not only by brand but also regionally. The same brand can have different protein contents depending on what area of the country in the United States you are buying it.  Good for making cakes, cookies, breads, and pastries.

Cake flour has a 6-8% protein content and is made from soft wheat flour. It is chlorinated to further break down the strength of the gluten and is smooth and velvety in texture. Good for making cakes (especially white cakes and biscuits) and cookies where a tender and delicate texture is desired.  To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour.  Make your own – one cup sifted cake flour can be substituted with 3/4 cup (84 grams) sifted bleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch.

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html#ixzz0lnC73cdM

Now, normally, I could just go out and buy some AP flour and be done with it. Except I had just come home from CVS where I had to purchase a cream for a suspicious rash that popped up under my right eye last weekend and that was resistant to hydrocortisone and every other allergy and itch cream you can imagine. So the past few days had been completely taken over by my funky, itchy, random eye rash that I lovingly referred to as my “EYE PROBLEM” much in the same way Heather at Dooce said “SHINGLES!”, although not always with jazz hands. Was I in the mood to go out again just to buy flour, especially with aforementioned EYE PROBLEM? HELL-to-the-motherfucking-NO. Yet I kinda did want those muffins. So I decided to do a little experiment, and I thought you all, my little baking minions, would appreciate the results, either way. I’m all about substitutions and cheats and tricks when it comes to baking, so I don’t mind being the guinea pig. I figured the worst thing that would happen is that the muffins would be lighter, which isn’t a bad thing at all. I didn’t expect them to come out even more perfect than before!

What I did was I used the regular substitution equation: 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour for every 1 cup all-purpose flour needed (that works the same in reverse, by the way, 1 cup – 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour = 1 cup cake flour in a pinch… although the results won’t be as lightly textured, and this shouldn’t be used in every recipe, some French pastries and desserts need cake flour).

(EVEN BETTER!) BASIC CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

Ingredients:

• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1/3 cup light-brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup milk
• ½ cup butter — melted and cooled
• 2 eggs – beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 ounces mini chocolate chips (about half an average size bag)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. and grease up twelve muffin cups or put liners in them ( I prefer liners because it’s less messy that way).
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, stir together milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them as much as possible; bake 15-20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.
4. Remove muffin tin to wire rack; cool 5 minutes and remove from tins to finish cooling.

Like I said, these are the best muffins ever, and apparently they only get better with cake flour! Now you know- no matter what flour you use, these are going to come out pretty damn spectacular. If you substitute self-rising, though, just remember to take out the baking powder and salt.

I filled the cups up more this time, and still got 3 more muffins, making a total of 15. No idea why, really, even though there are two extra tablespoons of flour in them, the flour is so much finer than all-purpose I don’t know if that would really give me an extra 3 muffins. But boy am I glad it did. They came out a tad smoother on top than the ones made with all-purpose flour, but still not as smooth as my banana chocolate chip yogurt muffins. That could be the difference in the flour, or the difference in my hand-mixing of this particular batch.

I know you’re all still waiting for that second frosting tutorial, and I promise you it’s coming. Between my EYE PROBLEM and the usual crap, once again I got behind on my plans. But it should be up next week. Okay? So stop hating me!

oh, and my EYE PROBLEM? All gone, thanks for asking.