Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

A new gluten-free dairy-free pumpkin cupcake recipe for Fall.

Before I get to my new cupcake recipe, I need to wander off a bit. Just briefly. Because it's who I am. A person who wanders. Ponders. Finds solace in books. I've been like this since girlhood. Curious. Serious. No good at catching balls. Or dressing dolls. I am beyond inept with hair. And eyeliner.

I get anxious and non-verbal if I have to wear anything that isn't a pair of jeans.

It might be because I'm a child of The Sixties, that starstruck Age of Aquarius, when kindred souls united for peace, beauty, and rock and roll. As Hunter S. Thompson wrote, "You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right," and there was that "...sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave."

I've been remembering the beautiful wave lately. The idealism. The hope. The belief that there is more to life than collapsing in front of the television and microwaving hot dogs.

The belief that beauty- as Steve Jobs believed- is important, has value. That we are deeply interconnected. That life on Earth is precious- from the house sparrow to the living sea. That we are part of a vast and mysterious collective- not merely of our absurd egos (who natter inside our heads and squander our attention on drama, conflict, acquisition and the need to control)- but of a newly unfolding awareness of astonishing inner space and outer space. Infinity in every direction. The Universe is far more capacious than we ever dreamed. Perhaps even multi-dimensional. A Multiverse.

Which begs the question.

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Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe with Mocha Icing

Gluten-free vanilla cupcakes. Let's celebrate.

The world is my oyster. No. Wait. I'm allergic to oysters. At least that is what a blood test declared, four years ago. Puzzling. I never had any symptoms. That I recall. Though who knows. I haven't actually eaten an oyster in (...let me count), maybe 17 years. They were fried oysters. At a jumping local hang-out on the Cape. The Land Ho in Orleans. Famous for grilled burgers, golden dipped fish and chips, fried clams. And yeah. Oysters. And beer. Truth is, I would much prefer a cupcake. No slimy, muscular middle. No fishy liquor. Just tender, soft sweetness in exactly the right portion. Not too big. Not too heavy. Not too much.

Just right.

As you may have guessed, I have issues (who among us doesn't?). Texture is a big honking issue for me. Size is an issue (portions bigger than my head? A  serious turn off). And taste, well, that goes without saying (you know how I loathe bean flour). If I was a storybook character I would inhabit The Princess and the Pea.

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Hey there, little lady(bug)!

Ever since I bought the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book; I've been dreaming of making these little ladybug cupcakes.

For the cupcakes, I decided to go with chocolate instead of vanilla, though, thinking it looked more like dirt.  Don't we all want our cupcakes to look like dirt? ;)

The recipe for the chocolate cupcakes (below) is so good...the cupcake are moist and light...perfect!


In Martha's book, the ladybugs are made from marzipan.  These I made from fondant that I had on hand.  And, I tried the Satin Ice fondant, although making it at home is easy, too.  The Satin Ice brand tastes great and smells like sugar heaven...it's nice to have on hand for fondant emergencies. ;) I found it at Sur La Table.  Either way you go, you'd use AmeriColor Super Red and Super Black food colorings to tint them.


One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes
{adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes}

3/4 c. dutch-process cocoa powder, such as Hershey's Special Dark
1 & 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 c. sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. coarse salt
2 eggs
3/4 c. warm water
3/4 c. buttermilk
3 TBSP vegetable oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.

With the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, whisk together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix on low speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed.

The batter is very wet. Pour into a large glass measuring cup to easily pour into muffin cups.

Fill baking cups 2/3rd full of batter. Bake about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the tops bounce back when lightly pressed. Cool on wire racks 10 minutes, then invert and remove from pans.  Cool completely on the wire racks.

The frosting is swiss meringue buttercream, although you could use any frosting that holds its shape.  For a great post on SMBC (I hear that's what the cool kids call it), visit my friend Gail, over at One Tough Cookie.  Her recipe is delicious and she makes the process look so easy!

The buttercream was tinted green with AmeriColor Leaf and Forest Green food colorings and piped onto the cupcakes with a #233 Wilton tip.

*That grass frosting counts as a serving of "greens," right?*

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes. . . . . yeah, you heard me.

Kiddo's birthday was last week and he LOOOOOOOOOOVES cookie dough.
{So does his mother...it's hereditary.}

I knew exactly what to make him for his birthday cake, Cheryl's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.


Let me break these bad boys down for you....

First, there is a chocolate chip cookie cupcake. Then, they are filled with chocolate chip cookie dough filling.  And finally, they are topped with a brown sugar cookie dough frosting.

{Yeah, you don't WANT to know the WW points on these puppies.}

For the cupcakes and the filling, I'm going to link you to Cheryl's printable recipe.  The only change I made on those was to add just a *pinch* of salt to the filling.  You could totally skip that if you wanted.

I changed up the frosting just a bit, so here is that recipe...

Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Frosting

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
1 lb. box powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
3 TBSP milk
2 and &1/2 tsp vanilla
mini chocolate chips

Cream the butter and brown sugar with the paddle attachment until fluffy.  Add in the powdered sugar and beat on low until incorporated, then increase the speed and beat until smooth and combined.  Add the salt, milk and vanilla; blend until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes. (I used a Bakery Crafts 9CS tip.)  Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.



Now, it's time for the candles.

And I have NO IDEA how this happened, but the reflection of the flames made ♥'s in the picture.  Is that cool, or what?!?!?


{Here's what 12 looks like around here.....sweaty hair, flared nostrils, fruit punch mustache and all. ♥}

Hoping you had a Holly Jolly Christmas!

 

Christmas!  It came and went!  But, I'm still celebrating because there are still CUPCAKES!!!

These are coconut cupcakes and they are delicious!  The cake, the frosting, everything!  They're from Ina, you know, the Barefoot Contessa.  Don't you wish you lived right next door to Ina?  I'd like to live right in between Ina and the Pioneer Woman with maybe Martha the next block over....I don't clean enough for Martha to live next door.

I trust Ina....and this recipe is no exception.  I've made them several times and make the recipe exactly as she writes it.  No tweaking, no modifying....it's perfect.

Here is the recipe for the coconut cupcakes and the frosting in their original perfect state from Ina. (I did use large eggs instead of XL, but that was all I had on hand.)

{Just to give you an idea of how good it is.....the frosting starts like this:

....with 3 sticks of butter and a pound of cream cheese. Yep, it's good.}

For the holly, I planned to make fondant, but December 25th kept getting closer and closer.  I saw marzipan on the grocery store shelf and decided to give it a try.

You guys....it was EASY!!!  Marzipan is basically ground almonds and sugar.  Inside the box, it comes wrapped in a tube.

I divided it and used my AmeriColor Gel Paste food coloring in Super Red and Leaf Green to color it.  (I put my hands in baggies while kneading in the color because I didn't have any gloves....and we were going to a Christmas party and I didn't want to scare anyone with red & green hands.)

To shape the holly berries, I just pinched off pieces of the colored marzipan and rolled it into balls.  For the leaves, I rolled out the marzipan and used a tiny maple leaf cutter. Then with a paring knife, made the leaves a little more pointy.  I used the knife to make veins in the leaves as well.

Once formed, the marzipan can be left out at room temperature.

I do hope you had a HOLLY jolly Christmas. We did...and this picture about sums it up...

{Have a favorite from your holiday baking? Or a favorite from someone else? Feel free to leave a link in the comments.}

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Icing

Gluten-free chocolate cupcakes.

Gluten-free cupcakes are hot. Or should I say, HAWT. Tack on vegan status, too, and you've got a trend worthy of the most BoHo WeHo GoGo. So I'm reprising this chocolate cupcake recipe to tempt you into baking this weekend. These little beauties remind me of Devil's Food Cake. Dark, moist and chocolatey. So go grab your inner Domestic Goddess by the hand and stir up some trouble.

But before we get to (what happens to be my favorite) chocolate cupcake recipe from the archives, I want to share something. Maybe it's the waxing moon, that cyclic siren pulling us toward wholeness, to embracing our shadow, urging us to let go, shed the outworn for the sake of authenticity. Or maybe it's the fresh start of a new school year, possessing me with cravings for newly sharpened pencils and thick stacks of paper, clean as a cloud. Fall always wakes me up. It conjures images of new beginnings.

And yes, there will be baby pictures.

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Cupcakes and Baking and Why You Need an Oven Thermometer

Before you bake these cupcakes, get an oven thermometer.

I attempted my first baking recipe yesterday. In the new apartment, that is. The kitchen is new, not the baker. I've been around the block a time or two when it comes to batter and dough (so if you're new to the blog, Darling, don't panic- I've got armloads of gluten-free recipes waiting for your brilliance to coax them to life). See that sparkling little cupcake gem above? Try it's zesty orangeness on for size. Because the recipe I was developing for you... Well. 

It failed. 

What was it? you idly wonder. Zucchini bread. A bread that should have been moist and tender and bursting with juicy bits of zucchini. A perennial August favorite I haven't sunk my teeth into since going gluten-free nine years ago. So I was due.

What happened?

Here's the thing. The thing I have to share with you that could change your gluten-free baking life. The back story: the stove is new. As in brand spanking new. No gluten has ever darkened it's white enamel door (a psychological plus). And it's a gas stove (heats quickly, super efficient). So what I am about to tell you may surprise you.

The oven temperature was off. As in way off.

How do I know? I had an inkling. I bought an oven thermometer. I installed it. And I set the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. When the preheat light went off I opened the oven door. It read 400 cussing degrees.

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Kiddo in the Kitchen : Zucchini Spice Cupcakes

Desserts for Dudes

I don't know about you, but when kiddo and I go to the farmer's market, our minds turn to big, farm-fresh salads cupcakes.  I'm pretty sure he chose this recipe so that zucchini I bought wouldn't show up on his dinner plate.

{Don't worry...I'll torture him with the tomatoes.}

The cupcake and frosting recipes come from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. We halved the recipe (I really don't need 24 cupcakes sitting around the house). 

Zucchini Spice Cupcakes
{modified from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes}

1 and 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 egg, room temp.
1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 c. light brown sugar, packed
1 and 1/2 c. grated zucchini
1/2 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

Whisk together the flour through cloves.  In another bowl, whisk together the oil, egg, vanilla and zest.  Whisk in the brown sugar until smooth.

Stir in the zucchini.  Add the flour mixture just until combined; stir in the walnuts.

Divide the batter evenly between the cups.  Bake, rotating halfway through, about 20-24 minutes.  Cupcakes will spring back when lightly toughed in the center and a toothpick should come out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove cupcake to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

{Aren't they pretty? I'm thinking we could stop here and call them muffins. But, we won't.}

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp.
6 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low, and1/2 c. sugar and vanilla.  Mix until smooth and combined.  Add the remaining sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition until smooth.

Now it's time to frost the cupcakes...

Kiddo said he wanted to try piping instead of spreading the icing.

 

He did a really great job...and I couldn't get enough of watching him. 

These cupcakes are wonderful...moist and full of flavor.  And, you can never go wrong with cream cheese frosting!  We think you'll like them!

 The verdict?

Here...we saved one for you....

{OH! I almost forgot....there are a couple new videos over at University of Cookie.  Be sure to check how the method TidyMom uses to roll her cookie dough.  Genius!}

German Chocolate Cupcakes (and a giveaway!)

Desserts for Dudes month continues....

with a giveaway!

{See those toppers? Cupcake toppers of YOUR CHOICE are part of the prize package. That's right, package!}

It seems as far as cakes go, German Chocolate is a man's best friend.  I don't know if it's the coconut, the pecans or that caramel-y frosting, but these definitely will win your guy's heart!

First, let me tell you about Laurel...maker of the cupcake toppers and more, like these:

See, a few months back a relatively unknown blogger came through our area on a book tour.  A few, or maybe a thousand, of us took pity on her and went to the book signing.  Dork that I am, I made her cookies and envisioned us becoming besties: making cinnamon rolls, herding cattle, that sort of thing. 

OK....so that didn't happen, but during the wait (and wait and wait) to get my book signed, I really *did* meet some other fabulous women.  Joann, Kimberly and Laurel (just to name a few)....Laurel, of Go Against the Grain on etsy.  Laurel does really cute custom graphics and, it just so happens, cupcake wrappers and toppers.

Laurel is giving TWO Bake at 350 readers their choice of cupcake toppers/flags (go check 'em out!)  Woo-hoo! 

And to go along with those, I'm giving each winner their choice of a few goodies from Bake It Pretty (pics from Bake It Pretty):

{sugar pearls, rainbow non-pareils, or chocolate jimmies}

{baking cups in dots, animal print, or plaid}

Won't your cupcakes look so cute?!?

On to the cupcakes......this recipe is from Ina.  Every one of her recipes that I've tried has been delicious.  This one included.  Oh, and the batter....I will make this again JUST TO EAT THE BATTER.  We're lucky there *were* any cupcakes.

German Chocolate Cupcakes
{adapted from Ina Garten in House Beautiful}

1 & 3/4 c. flour
1 c. natural cocoa powder
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1 & 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 c. sour cream, room temperature
2 TBSP freshly brewed coffee, cooled


Preheat oven to 350.  Line cupcake pans with 15 liners.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

{heart-shaped measuring cups are a *must* for brown sugar!}

With the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugars on med-high speed for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Lower the speed to medium and add in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl as needed.  Beat in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream and coffee.  On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture alternately with the flour mixture, beginning with the buttermilk and ending with the flour.  Mix only until blended.  Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure the batter from the bottom is incorporated and blended.

Divide the batter into the cupcake tins.  (Remember to test it....you may get only 14 of those cupcakes after all.)  Bake on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely before frosting.

{Look at those beautiful cupcakes!!!}

German Chocolate Frosting

1 & 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 & 1/4 c. sugar
5 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 c. sweetened flaked coconut
1 c. blanched, sliced almonds, toasted
1 c. chopped pecans

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the milk, sugar, egg yolks, extracts and salt with a wooden spoon.  Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, stir and simmer 5 minutes until thickened. Mixture should coat the back of the spoon.

Strain the mixture using a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl.  Stir in the coconut, pecans and almonds.  Allow to cool at least one hour before using.  Frost cupcakes with an off set spatula or butter knife.

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To enter the giveaway, tell me....

Are cupcakes are all about the cake or the cake is just a vehicle for the frosting?

For an extra entry, tweet the following and leave a separate comment:
"German Chocolate Cupcakes and a sweet giveaway from @bakeat350tweets! http://ow.ly/1Wvlh "

TWO winners will be randomly selected Sunday, June 13th at 8pm CST.  Good luck!