Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

 First, I must give credit where credit is due! I found this recipe here.  I have to say of all of the recipes I've tried from Pinterest, this is my favorite.   I've been seeing pumpkin recipes all over the place but I think for a sweet pumpkin recipe, this takes the cake! I've taken these cupcakes to all kinds of gatherings and I've never had any leftovers to take home.  And they get some pretty rave reviews!   I use to make pumpkin rolls during the fall but these are so much easier to make!

 2 Dozen Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 (15-oz.) can pure pumpkin puree
• Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below) 

In a mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a separate bowl combine the salt, oil, sugars, eggs, milk and pumpkin puree.  In the original recipe it says to blend the oil and sugars together until fluffy, then add the rest of the wet ingredients.  I never reached a 'fluffy' consistency in doing this so now I just put all of those ingredients in a bowl and mix it up and it turns out just the same.  Why complicate things? Just make sure if you're using a mixer that you scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until combined. Ta-Da! Pour the batter into the cups, filling them about 3/4 full and bake on 350 for 20 minutes.  While they are baking you can make the icing...

 Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
       *This recipe makes A LOT of icing.  You will have plenty to liberally ice all 24 cupcakes!

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 7 1/2 to 8 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 In a mixer (or with a handheld) blend the cream cheese and butter until creamy.  With my Kitchenaid stand mixer I usually let it mix on level six for about two minutes, scraping the sides a few times. Mix in the vanilla and cinnamon. Add the confectioner sugar one cup at a time.  I use right at 7 1/2 cups of sugar. 

It's VERY IMPORTANT that you let your cupcakes cool completely before you ice them. The icing has butter and cream cheese in it! If your cupcake is hot the will melt and slide right off! If you're impatient like me just throw them in the fridge for a few minutes!

I have a few piping bags and tips but I HATE cleaning them.  I'm lazy, what can I say.  So I just use a gallon size Zip Lock baggie.  *My experience is that the off brands bust pretty easily*  I cut a very small tip in a bottom corner and put my icing tip in nice and tight and fill it up with icing.  When I'm done I take out the icing tip and throw the dirty bag away.

 

Dining Room Shelves & Decorating for Halloween

One thing I really miss about our old house is our fireplace.  In the winter there were very few days we didn't have a fire going.  Our house was small enough that the fire would just about warm up the entire place.  And I love the coziness of a fire.  You can't recreate that, but I have attempted to recreate another aspect of the fireplace, the mantle.  The fireplace was the focal point of our last living room and the mantle was usually decorated for the season.  I was inspired by Shelley at House of Smiths to build my own shelves to decorate.  It just so happens that she built the cafe shelves that I wanted from Ballard Design, for much less than they were at BD. I was really happy with the way they turned out.  They are easy to build and less than $100! You can't beat that.  They are up in our dining room and ready for Halloween!

HomeGoods is usually my go-to place for decorating, but I also find some great things at World Market, garage sales and flea markets. 

I made this plate using my Silhouette.  Whenever I see a unique plate or dish on clearance I usually grab it. You never know what you might be able to do with it.

You see the strip running across the bottom of my shelf?  That wasn't there originally and I am a little bummed you can see it, but it turns out there's a large metal air conditioning vent running behind the wall where I was going to hand the shelves.  I had to get creative and find a different way to hang the them and this seemed to be my only option.  

I don't normally do skulls but I was feeling it this year...

A view of the shelf from underneath.  If anyone is wanting to build one I think this picture sums up how I did it....I think... I took some pictures to document the process.  I will try to post them soon!

Thanks for dropping in!