Pumpkin Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

These were a BIG hit and might just be one of the best cupcake recipes I've ever made. I found the frosting recipe here on Cooking Classy, but I wanted to use a different recipe for the cupcakes that didn't use buttermilk or applesauce, which I didn't have at home. I'm not a big Martha Stewart fan, but I have to give it to her that this pumpkin cupcake recipe was DELICIOUS.

The overall process is a little time consuming, though you can do things simultaneously... such as making the frosting while the cupcakes are baking. I don't recommend making the ganache until all cupcakes are out of the oven and cooling because it needs to be put on right after making it.

Cupcake Ingredients and Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

(While the cupcakes were cooling, I poked some holes in the top with a chopstick to help them cool and also allow a little space for the ganache to get into the cupcake.)

Ganache Ingredients and Recipe

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Original directions: "Place chocolate chips in a medium mixing bowl, set aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring whipping cream just to a boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Spoon 1 tsp ganache over each cooled cupcake and spread near edges, allow to cool. Meanwhile make spiced cream cheese frosting."

(I always do ganache in a glass bowl set on top of a pan with boiling water that does not touch the bowl's bottom. Just put the chocolate chips in and when they start to melt, add the cream and stir frequently until everything is melted and combined. I then transferred it all into a measuring cup to easily pour onto each cupcake immediately.)

Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

"In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, whip together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla, salt, powdered sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and whip until smooth and fluffy. Pipe cream cheese frosting over cooled chocolate ganache covered cupcakes."

If you don't have any fancy piping equipment, it's ok! I have a set of the plastic cake frosting tips you can just buy in a 4-pack from the store in the baking aisle (they're intended for those tubes of frosting you can buy) and I cut a hole in the corner of a Hefty ziplock bag and wedge the tip in. Start with a smaller hole and cut more as necessary, you want to try to make it airtight.

I sprinkled some cinnamon over the cupcakes afterwards as a little bit of a garnish, though the original frosting recipe used chopped pecans.

ENJOY!

Tonight's Dinner

Fresh Baked Cookies and Vanilla Bean Gelato.


It's ok though, I made Spinach Taco Salad loaded with vegetables (and extra avocado) for dessert.

Cookie Bottomed Cupcakes

These look like normal cupcakes prior to their frosting, don't they?

Here's the thing: this is a food blog. So, I'm sure you're aware of this and that since you're reading, you probably like food. And cooking it. Or maybe just making other people cook it for you. Whatever works, I'm not here to judge. If you follow me on twitter, or have seen previous posts, you probably know that I could just about swear by the blog How Sweet It Is. Seriously, I think I'm addicted. If you don't follow her, you really should.

I'll admit I generally stick to her baked goods, just because I tend to cook with things that don't so much require a recipe, or things I can just make up as I go along based slightly off a recipe because it's just easier. (Though she recently posted a recipe for some roasted potatoes I am going to have to do. Soon.) Let me tell you: her baked goods recipes...OUT OF THIS WORLD. Combinations you might not think of, but that may or may not blow your mind. This one is definitely a keeper.

May I present to you: Cookie Bottomed Cupcakes.

Meaning, cupcakes with a slightly gooey cookie baby inside. The best of like, every world. You can find Jessica's original post on them HERE, but I'll post how I made them, using her cookie recipe and a boxed cake mix (a little easier when you're working with multiple batters).

I also am just giving you the recipe for the "double batch of cookies" as she suggested, because it is the perfect amount to make about 24 cupcakes (you'll have a lot of cake batter) and then some extra cookies to use as toppers. You can always half it if you're wanting to make less cupcakes, or not do the toppers. Using half the recipe should make 12 cupcakes and a few cookies to cut up and throw on top.

Cookies:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup brown sugar, loosely packed

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

"Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside in a bowl.

Beat butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until it’s light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Line a muffin tin with liners and give each a quick spritz of non-stick spray. Using a spoon also sprayed with non-stick spray, press about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cookie dough into the bottom of each liner." (I did this on some, and for others just dropped the same amount of cookie dough in but left it in a ball... this makes more of a "center" than a bottom, but both are delicious!)

Cake:

1 Box of Cake Mix (I used a yellow, butter recipe)

Anything the box mix calls for

Make mix as directed on box. To save the extra dishes, I just made sure the second bowl used in the cookie batter was big enough and then used that for the cake batter once it was empty.

Use an ice cream or cookie dough scoop to drop the batter on top of the cookie. It might be a little bit more full than when you would normally make cupcakes (slightly over a third). If you are doing the "ball of cookie dough", just make sure the cake batter has blanketed the dough. You will probably have extra batter left over even after doing 24 cupcakes, so you can either make plain cupcakes, throw the batter away, or do whatever else you please with it.




Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 18 minutes. They should be just starting to turn golden brown on top when they're ready. For the extra cookies, these can be baked at the same temperature for approximately 8+ minutes... just drop them in balls approximately the size of what you put in the bottom of the cupcake tins and keep an eye on them after 8 minutes.


Wait until cupcakes are cooled and then frost with frosting of your choice. I just used a cream cheese frosting. One store bought container should contain just enough to do a decent sized covering on 24 cupcakes. I then cut up some of the spare cookies into sixths and stuck a little piece on top of each one. Voila!

ENJOY!

But be careful if you make the full batch, make sure you have plenty of friends or family to pass the extras along too... they are too tempting to have too many just sitting around in your line of sight. ;-)

In other news, I'm about to move to my dad's apartment in Chicago to work on the job search in the Corporate Event Planning field. This basically means that aside from job searching, I'll be living right by a Whole Foods and having plenty of time to experiment and document recipes. I'm hoping things around here pick up a little as a result. Hope to see you back again soon!

How Sweet's 'Better Than Crack Brownies'

For this recipe, I'm just going to link you up with the original recipe from How Sweet It Is, because she is hilarious and I don't think I can do any justice to her original post. These brownies are true to their name (all the best desserts have controversial names!), and can almost not even be adequately described to someone who has not tried them. The brownies covered with the fluffy-crunchy-chocolatey top layer has the most amazing combination of flavors and textures, and they are not even difficult to make!

Check out How Sweet's original recipe here*! And follow her if you don't already, because if you're following this, you're clearly a foodie to some degree which means her blog and her mouth watering recipes are right up your alley.

(*As a side note, I accidentally bought semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate, and that worked out just as well! I've had them both ways, and the semi-sweet is still delicious but just tones down the sweetness a tiny bit, which may be good for those of you who don't like "sweet" in overwhelming quantities... though one could argue that in this case, this recipe might not be the one for you! ;-) )

Just looking at the pictures makes me hungry! Enjoy!

Easy Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was another recipe inspired by How Sweet It Is that made a great addition to the great cookie bake of 2010 and the resulting Christmas cookie platter, but would be delicious all year round. It's also very easy using the cake mix, though you can also find a recipe under the How Sweet Recipe List to make them from scratch! I tweaked the recipe just a little bit from the original.

Ingredients

1 box Red Velvet cake mix

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

In an electric mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until a dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

Makes about 24 cookies. (Or maybe 16ish if you're like me and make them huge. I always find that it helps them get crispy on the outside while staying gooey in the middle!)

ENJOY!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Another recipe perfect for the holidays all the way from Thanksgiving through Christmas! I prefer to do it without the marshmallows, but if preferred you can always throw a layer of them on at the end of baking and toss the dish back in the oven for another minute or two to toast them.

Ingredients

For Potatoes
3 Cups Sweet Potatoes, Boiled and Mashed
(This is about two large sweet potatoes)
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 Cup Butter
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 Cup Milk

For Topping
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup flour
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans


Directions

Preheat over to 350.

Beat eggs, sugar, and butter. Add milk and vanilla. Combine with mashed sweet potatoes and then spoon into a greased 2-quart casserole dish.


Combine brown sugar, flour, 2 tablespoons of softened butter, and pecans and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over sweet potatoes.



Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

Another great one brought to you by Red Vines for Breakfast (and Martha Stewart, but I don't like her nearly as much). You can find the original recipe here, but I made a few adjustments in mine. They were absolutely delicious, I made them for our "Friends' Thanksgiving" AND when I went home to visit family over Thanksgiving break, and I fully expect to be making them again in the next week or so!

Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp of Cinnamon***
3/4 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp each of Allspice and Cloves
1 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Salt
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
1 Large Egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Can Pumpkin Puree (ABout 1 1/2 cups)
12ounces Semisweet Chocolate Chips

(***Or instead of all of these spices use 1 Tablespoon of Pumpkin Pie spice and an extra sprinkling of cinnamon)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the bottom and sides of a 9x13in baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on the sides.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, spices, baking soda, and salt.


Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla. Add pumpkin puree and mix thoroughly. Add in dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined, and then fold in chocolate chips.



Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan. Bake approximately 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few crumbs (or chocolate) attached. Allow "cake" to cool completely.

Lift "cake" from pan by the foil and set on counter top, and cut into 24 squares.

ENJOY!

Chocolate Ganache Topped Dark Chocolate Brownies

(Whew, that's a mouthful!) This is a recipe I first made with a layer of Peppermint topping, but I went the simpler route when I made these for Saturday's tailgate. I did of course add Red sprinkles in IU spirit! It should be noted, however, that Kelly just informed me that they make edible glitter which would totally have covered these if I would have been able to find it in time. These aren't too incredibly difficult to make, but judging by their 100% consumption rate by everyone at the tailgate, I'd say they are a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

10 tablespoons butter

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate

3 Eggs

1½ cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup dark cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

8 oz semisweet chocolate

1 cup whipping cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9- by 13-in. baking pan. In a medium saucepan, stir butter and bittersweet chocolate over very low heat with a heatproof rubber spatula until just melted (do not let simmer or boil). Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Slowly pour chocolate-butter mixture into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder, then whisk together. With a clean rubber spatula, gently fold flour mixture into egg mixture until just combined.

3. Spread batter evenly in the baking pan. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until brownies are firm, beginning to pull away from sides of pan, and a toothpick inserted in center emerges with only a few crumbs clinging to it. Let brownies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

4. In the top of a double boiler or a metal bowl set over simmering water, combine chopped semisweet chocolate and whipping cream. Cook, stirring often, until melted and blended. Remove from heat and let ganache cool until just warm.

5. Pour ganache over cooled brownies in pan and allow to set until firm, about 2 hours at room temperature or 1 hour in the refrigerator.

ENJOY!

Cheesecake Nutella Brownies

This recipe came from the lovely Red Vines for Breakfast (Check her out! She has all sorts of great recipe posts!). The original recipe (here) was for Cheesecake Brownies, but Valerie added the Nutella, which makes them THAT much better! They are a definite indulgent dessert, with all the goodness of both a brownie and cheesecake, with those delicious gooey center spots spread throughout them!

Here is the recipe as found on the original website. You can also replace the first section of ingredients with a box-brownie mix to save time. I also used a 9x13 in glass baking dish, which worked fine as well.

One 9-inch (23cm) square pan

6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup (130g) sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (70g) flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (80g) chocolate chips

8 ounces (200g) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
5 tablespoons (75g) sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional: Several tablespoons of Nutella

Directions

1. Line a 9-inch (23cm) square pan with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Use two sheets if necessary. Mist with non-stick spray or grease lightly. (I didn't use the foil, but I think this might make it much easier if you're planning on cutting the brownies out to serve on a platter)

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C).

3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the 2/3 cup (130g) sugar, then the eggs.

4. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and salt, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

5. In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, the yolk, 5 tablespoons (75g) of sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

6. Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, then take a dull knife or spatula and swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter. (Before swirling the mixture, I just drizzled a few spoonfuls of Nutella and then swirled)

7. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the batter in the center of the pan feels just set.

Let cool, then lift out the foil and peel it away. Cut the brownies into squares if desired!

ENJOY!