Pumpkin Mini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Maple Frosting

Typically, I am a creator of non-edible treats. But something about fall just makes me want to bake! I was invited to a costume party for Halloween and each guest was asked to bring some sort of treat for everyone to enjoy. I decided I would whip up some pumpkin cupcakes!

To keep things easy, I used pre-made boxed mix. The Pillsbury Doughboy and I are close friends and his Quick Bread mixes are great. 

I wanted to get the most cupcakes I could out of this mix, so I decided to make mini cupcakes. Luckily, I had a mini cupcake pan and some paper liners all ready. 

On the Quick Bread box, there are directions for making bread and making muffins. I followed the directions for making bread to make my cupcakes. The only real difference is that the bread recipe requires water while the muffins require milk. 

Soooo yeah... Heat your oven to 375*, fill your cupcake tins, and bake for 18-20 minutes. If your making full sized cupcakes, the time would be longer. Mine were minis, so it didn't take very long at all. I normally fill my cupcake cups all the way to the top since I like them to have a rounded, puffy top. 

One box of mix will give you about 30 mini cupcakes. Mmmm... they sound great, huh? Let's make 'em better...

Cinnamon Maple Frosting

(adapted from a recipe by Bakerella)

• 8oz cream cheese, room temperature (1 package)
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (1 stick)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 lb confectioners sugar (1 box)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Using your mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese until it's nice and blended. Add in vanilla and maple syrup. Mix in sugar a bit at a time until you get a nice, creamy frosting. Add cinnamon once the sugar is fully blended in. Put into a plastic zipper bag and put in the fridge. I like to have my frosting on the cooler side to pipe it onto the cupcakes.

You can make the frosting in advance, as I did. This recipe will make A LOT of frosting, so you can probably make three boxes worth of cupcakes before the frosting runs out.

By now, your cupcakes should be all done in the oven.

Poke 'em with a toothpick to make sure they're fully baked - the toothpick should come out clean. Wait until they are fully cooled before bringing out your frosting. 

Push your frosting down into one corner of the zipper bag and cut a hole at that bottom corner. Slowly squeeze (pipe) your frosting on to your cupcakes in a swirly motion and....

Enjoy :)

This post also serves as my entry for the Cinnamon/Nutmeg Challenge at www.AFoodComa.com

Tea for Tuesday: An Introduction

It wasn't until I began my sophomore year of college that I realized my love for tea. I had been a faithful coffee drinker since I was able to figure out the coffee maker when I was in high school. Strangely enough, I drank less coffee in college than I did at home. Soon, it was hard for me to drink coffee regularly without getting an upset tummy. Still needing my caffeine fix, I craved an alternative.

image from Kind over Matter

My Grandma has always been a tea drinker, but my interest in tea stopped at imaginary tea parties and thoughts of fancy English women. I wanted to start small - the typical Lipton bagged tea that sat out in baskets in my University's cafeteria seemed like a good starter-tea. Add a little sugar (no milk for me, that was part of the reason I needed to get away from coffee), and I was set! I soon fell in love with all sorts of teasl green tea, chamomile, black tea, herbal infusions, and so on. A cup in the morning, a cup of decaf at night... It got to the point during my senior year that my roommates and I had a whole shelf dedicated to the multitude of boxed tea owned between the three of us.

I even had the pleasure of putting on historic tea parties at my summer job to highlight three generations of tea parties and recipes. (I'll be sharing my favorite recipe with you later in this series). Through all this, I stuck primarily to pre-bagged, brand name teas. I had only experienced loose tea during my historic tea parties and those were pretty basic teas - Oolong and Darjeeling, mainly. I didn't fully realize the lengths to which loose tea had become so varied and unique.

Well, my dear readers, I have seen the error in my ways. I've recently gone head-first into the world of loose tea and the wonders it holds. This series, Tea for Tuesday will be a record of my exploration of various teas and all of the delicate luxuries of tea culture. I will have recipes from myself and other bloggers, crafty tea-related tutorials, and (of course) a few giveaways here and there. I highly suggest you stick around.

This week's feature comes from the fabulous foodie blog of my good friend, Alexandra. She and I go waaaay back to a few years ago when I was her RA during her first year of college. That year was filled with plenty of laughs and late-night lounge-dwelling. Ahh, the good old days. I was so happy/proud/excited when she went on to become an RA herself. Anyways... A Food Coma contains recipes, reviews, and helpful hints for the budget-conscious food lover. Brought to you by Alex and her partner-in-crime Brandon (another former RA), this blog really is the place to go when you want to indulge in some eye-candy. Earlier this week Alex was featured on Epicurious.com with tips for college foodies. How cool is that!?

A Food Coma has great Podcasts that walk you through recipes and other kitchen adventures. A while back, when A Food Coma was just getting started with podcasts, Alex starred in a really helpful guide to brewing loose tea. Lights... camera...

 

video from www.afoodcoma.com

If you're new to loose tea brewing, I hope that takes a bit of the edge off. I know I was clueless, so I want to give a HUGE "Thanks" to Alex and Brandon. Keep up the great work! Come back next week and I'll provide you with a few tea reviews and maybe even some samples ;)