Pumpkin Cheesecakes for Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkins. Quite possibly the best thing about fall. Yep, pretty sure it is. Besides the fun of pumpkin patches and carving/decorating them, the puree is so fun to cook and bake with--it can go savory or sweet and tastes delicious no matter what! I made these individual pumpkin swirled cheesecakes for our pumpkin carving contest last weekend. The food was great, the time with family and friends was awesome and of course the carving was super fun!

my 2nd place carving--a haunted house, complete with a blinking light inside!

the recipe

makes 24 standard size cupcake cheesecakes

crust

1 cup crushed graham crackers (I used about 14 full graham crackers (20 squares) and used a mini food processor to get fine crumbs)

1/2 cup whole pecans chopped in mini food processor (or approximately 1/4 cup chopped pecans)

1/4 cup butter, melted

filling

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (don't use fat free), softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

topping

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

cinnamon for garnish

Mix together the graham crackers and pecans (I just put it all in my mini food processor and chopped it all together.) Add the melted butter and mix. Place a heaping teaspoon in lined muffin tins. Press down to make an even layer on the bottom of the liner.

Mix the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add eggs. Mix in the pumpkin puree and spices until just combined.

Scoop the filling into the cups on top of the crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the sides are set, but the middle still wiggles a little (but isn't wet). Let set for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely.

Combine the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Place a dollop on top of each cheesecake and garnish with cinnamon.

Enjoy, and take a bite!

Chocolate + Caramel

Most of the time, my idea for a dessert or treat that I want to make starts out as something and ends up as something pretty different--probably having the same basic idea but not using what I intended to use or not the form I was thinking of...for example, these cho

colate sandwich cookies filled with homemade dulce de leche. I wanted to make something chocolately made with caramel bits. I got my something chocolately, but missed the boat on using these. Oh well, that just means more baking later :)

Chocolate Drops

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

Melt the unsweetened chocolate, either over a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second increments. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Stir in the flour, making sure not to over mix.

Fold in the melted and cooled chocolate until just combined. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Place cookies on cooling racks and allow to cool completely

Dulce de Leche

(recipe created/adapted from multiple recipes/tips I read online)

1 quart whole milk

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

In a large, heavy pot mix the milk and sugar. Place on medium high heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture reaches a slight boil.

Remove from heat and add baking soda mixture. Beware that it will bubble up, just keep stirring. Once it goes back to the original volume, place back on burner on low to low/medium heat until it reaches a brisk simmer. Let it be for an hour-ish (aka no stirring needed), until it becomes golden brown.

Cook about 20-30 minutes until it is close to a spreadable consistency. (It will thicken up after it cools though, keep that in mind!) Once it is done cooking, place in a small bowl and refrigerate to speed the cooling.

Once the cookies and dulce de leche are ready, it's assembly time! Put about a teaspoon of dulce de leche on the bottom side of one cookie and top with another cookie.

Smush (yes, that's a technical term!) together until a little oozes out the side. Adjust the amount of dulce de leche you put in the middle if needed.

Enjoy, and take a bite!

Love: cupcakes and weddings

chocolate raspberry, vanilla, and pumpkin cupcakes

Alright, so I'm a little behind (like about a month) and I can't believe I completely forgot to post about a wedding I was honored to be a part of! It was my friends Samantha and Shane's wedding, and it was absolutely beautiful! It was a fall themed wedding, so a fall-flavored cupcake was a must! We finally decided on vanilla cupcakes, chocolate raspberry cupcakes, and pumpkin cupcakes with maple buttercream. Also, I made an 8inch red velvet cake as their cutting cake. Soooo after 5 batches of vanilla cupcakes, 5 batches of chocolate cupcakes, 1 batch of raspberry filling, 4 batches of pumpkin cupcakes, 15-ish (I lost count...) batches of swiss meringue buttercream, one red velvet cake, a few many hours, plus all the bridesmaid duties I successfully made and frosted over 350 cupcakes! Luckily, I had a pretty great assistant for some of the filling and frosting! Thanks Tracy :) I secretly think she just didn't want to help decorate the reception...haha...oh well, I'll take it!

The beautiful bride and me!

my wonderful assistant (and the maid of honor) Tracy and me

I'm sharing the pumpkin cupcake recipe, which would be a great treat during these crisp fall days, or as a nice change in pace for a Thanksgiving dessert. It is moist like a pumpkin cupcake should be, with a little extra spice, and finished perfectly with the smooth, creamy, and sweet maple buttercream. It was a bit of a challenge to make these cupcakes, as I realized a month before the wedding that there was a national pumpkin shortage. Hmmm...luckily I have a pretty awesome grandma, who scoured her town to find me some....and bought me about twice as many cans as asked for...so needless to say, I'm stocked for awhile! But no worries, I've heard that the shelves are once again stocked with pumpkin!

vanilla cupcakes decorated with sunflowers

red velvet cutting cake

cake table

Pumpkin Cupcakes (adapted from this recipe by David Leite)
Make 2 dozen


4 oz (1 stick) butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg (I use fresh ground)
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup pumpkin


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line pans with cupcake liners.
Beat the butter, brown sugar, and sugar on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until fluffy. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt and black pepper. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the mixer. Add the vanilla to the buttermilk and alternately add the flour mixture and milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Add the pumpkin and mix until just incorporated. Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full, they will not rise very much. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.


Maple Swiss Meringue Buttercream
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
3 sticks plus 2 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (quality is key!)


See this post for instructions, adding the maple syrup instead of the vanilla.


Once cupcakes are cooled, frost with the buttercream and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.


Enjoy, and take a bite!