SMS: Pumpkin . . . Cupcakes?

Nothing signals fall like a good pumpkin recipe!  These recipes remind me of heavy blankets and cracking leaves—and of course, good eats.  So, of course, I was very excited to see that this week’s SMS recipe involved pumpkin!

This week’s SMS recipe was chosen by Debbie of Everyday Blessings of the Five Dees.  The original recipe was for pumpkin cookie cakes with cream cheese frosting, but I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes instead!  Be sure to check out her scrumptious blog for the pumpkin recipe!  And don’t forget to go drool over all the other SMS’ers mouthwatering creations.

I usually buy canned pumpkin, but I thought I’d be adventurous and make my own pumpkin puree.  It’s too simple!  Buy yourself a nice 5-6 pound sugar pie pumpkin, cut it in half and get to work de-seeding!  Once you’ve scooped out all that gunk, lay your pumpkin halves cut-side down and roast for 1.5 hours at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once you’ve roasted the pumpkin, flip the halves over onto a cooling rack to cool completely.  Once cool, scrape the pumpkin “innards” into a food processor and puree away!  You’ll have about 2 cups of pumpkin puree to show for your efforts!

*If you save the pumpkin seeds (after you’ve cleaned them), toss them into the 400 degree Fahrenheit oven to bake for the last 10 minutes, while your pumpkin roasts.  Set the seeds aside to cool and use them for a pumpkin seed brittle (recipe below).

These cupcakes are divine!  We’re talking moist, fluffy spice cake with a wonderfully orange hue.  A subtle hint of molasses adds depth of flavor, while cinnamon and nutmeg give the cupcakes that “homey” feel.  To top it all off: a sweet and spicy cream cheese frosting.  And, of course, add a little texture with a sprinkling of pumpkin seed brittle.  Delicious!

For the cupcake recipe, follow the recipe for “cookie cakes” posted on Debbie’s blog.

 

Top the cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting:

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 oz package cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1 1/2 – 2 cups loosely packed powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cream cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar and cinnamon and mix until a smooth frosting forms.  (Add more or less powdered sugar to suit your sweet tooth.)

Top each cupcake with a piece of pumpkin seed brittle.

Pumpkin Seed Brittle

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 TBS water

1 TBS corn syrup

Pumpkin Seeds, roasted for 10 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Mix sugar, water, and corn syrup together in heavy sauce pan.  Bring mixture to a boil and allow to boil until the mixture turns amber in color (approximately 8 minutes).  Remove the sugar mixture from the heat and toss in the pumpkin seeds.  Stir to coat each pumpkin seed and then spread the mixture onto a greased baking pan to cool.  Crack the brittle into pieces and use to top each cupcake.

SMS: Sticky Buns

I could write an ode to sticky buns.  They’re just that good.  So, really, I owe a HUGE thank you to Jen of Not Microwave Safe for selecting Sticky Buns for this week’s SMS.  You have made me a very, very happy camper, Jen.  Jen has a fabulous blog, filled with wonderful treats, so it’s really not surprising that she picked such an awesome recipe for our weekly bake-along.

Yeast-a-phobes, fear not: these yeasty buns are super easy (though time consuming) to make.  Jump on over to Jen’s post to get the recipe.  And, be sure to check out all of the wonderful SMS’ers’ creations!

Interestingly, the sticky bun recipe does not call for dissolving or proofing the yeast before incorporating it into the dough.  Rather, you mix the yeast with your flour and incorporate it in its “dry” form.  To err on the safe side (because that’s how I like to err when it comes to yeast), I warmed my milk to 110 degrees Fahrenheit before making my dough.  I also placed my dough in a previously warmed oven for its first rise.  And, man, does this dough rise!

Some of the SMS’ers reported that their dough was very sticky—the quick fix was to add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of flour to the dough.  I found that, though my dough was sticky, after beating it for 15 minutes with the dough hook of my Kitchen Aid mixer, it formed a nice, elastic ball (sticky, but workable).

The original “sticky sauce” recipe calls for making a sauce by bringing maple syrup, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to a boil.  Because I didn’t have any maple syrup on hand, I made a caramel sauce for my sticky buns.  I’ve included my recipe below.

Caramel Sauce

by Elyse

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

2 TBS corn syrup

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup brown sugar

(1) Combine granulated sugar, water, and corn syrup in a medium-sized saucepan.  Boil the mixture until it turns a deep amber color, approximately 6-8 minutes, or until it reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

(2) Remove the mixture from the heat and pour the cream over it.  Whisk the cream in.  (The mixture will bubble vigorously.  Be careful!)

(3) Place the mixture back over medium heat and stir in the butter and brown sugar.  Continue stirring until the butter and brown sugar are dissolved.  Make sure to scrape all caramel bits from the bottom of the pan (continue heating the mixture until the bits are dissolved).

(4) Pour the caramel mixture into the bottom of prepared 9X13 pan, as directed by the Sticky Bun Recipe (see Jen’s Blog for full recipe).

Instead of doing a cinnamon sugar filling in my sticky buns, I did a combination of granulated sugar, brown sugar, and allspice.  It was delicious!

My buns were done after about 22 minutes in the oven!  Flip these bad boys over (caramel-side up), and see how long anyone in your house can resist the deliciousness that is these sticky buns!

Boy oh boy, were they delicious.  My advice to you?  Get in the kitchen and get this dough started!!