Nothing screams fall like the blooming of a pumpkin! They come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. And even better, they have found a way to be conveniently pureed and packaged in small cans for your daily pumpkin fix! So I have decided to be amongst the many to fall into this "pumpkin craze" and dabble around in an assorted mesh of recipes. The first of many recipes I rustle up, is that of my sweet, spiced and surprisingly fluffy pumpkin spiced cupcakes. Not just any old boring pumpkin muffin, but filled with a homemade brown& smoked bourbon sugar orange marmalade and dressed up with a cinnamon and Chinese 5-spiced buttercream frosting swirl! Now if you are familiar with my other cupcake recipes, you know that I always start with my perfectly calculated base for a light and fluffy vanilla cupcake! And for those of you who aren't, well here's the recipe as follows:
LIGHT AND FLUFFY VANILLA CUPCAKE
DRY
1 1/2 c of all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp of baking powder
1/4 + 1/8 of baking soda
1/4 tsp of cream of tartar
1 c of sugar
1 pinch of salt (kosher or sea salt)
1 vanilla bean (optional)
WET
2 eggs (room temp with yolks and whites separated)
1/2 c of softened unsalted butter
1/2 c of milk
1-2 tsp of vanilla extract
OK, so I take my light and fluffy cake recipe and tweak it just a smidgen for my pumpkin spiced cupcakes! For the spices, I use pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, curry powder, and cayenne pepper for a little kick! I replace the vanilla bean and use fresh orange zest. And how could we forget the most important ingredient, PUMPKIN! For this, I go to my favorite local grocery store and find organic pumpkin puree in a can! Cuts down on time with actually baking a pumpkin from its raw state, since that takes almost forever. For this recipe you only need half of the amount that's in the can.
So any who, I first sift together all of my dry ingredients minus the sugar and cream of tartar but include my spices, so that I get equal distribution of everything and it also makes it lump free! Setting that to the side, I work on my wet ingredients. I take the separated egg whites, cream of tartar and whip them until they form nice stiff peaks. Since we kept the eggs and room temp, the peaks will take less time to form. The cream of tartar is used to stabilize the peaks so they keep their shape and stay fluffy. I set my fluffed whites to the side and begin to cream my softened butter and sugar together. Adding the yolks to the mixture, one at a time, I start in with my pumpkin puree! A 1/2 cup is blended in while air is being whipped into my batter(this is where the magic begins). Dry ingredients go in next, the paddle to my standing mixture is moving in a frenzy when a spice cloud suddenly forms around my head! Once all of my flour/spice mixture is added, I spoon in another 1/2 c of the pumpkin. We're almost in the home stretch! A 1/2 c of milk,vanilla extract, and the orange zest are the finishing touches to that of a wonderful smelling and even more promising tasty batter! O yes and our egg whites! Take them and carefully fold them into the batter! Being mindful of not over mixing so they don't deflate!
Once everything, the wet and the dry are fully incorporated, I fill my muffin pan. Depending on the size of your muffin pan, will determine who much you need in each little pocket. Since I use a mini pan, I have found it rather helpful to use a mini ice cream scoop with the trigger on the side or as the handle. This gets all of the batter out of the scoop and gives you an even amount for each one. With my oven pre-heated at 400 degrees, in go the little cakes! I decrease the temprature to 350 degrees so that the tops and bottoms don't over cook before the middle. No one likes a doughy cake! Now that my little cakes are nestled away in the oven for approximetly 15 minutes, I start on my orange marmalade. SMOKED BOURBON AND BROWN SUGAR ORANGE MARMALADE
1 navel orange peeled,segmented, and chopped
1 Tbs of fresh orange zest
1 Tbs of unsalted butter
2 Tbs of brown sugar
1 Tbs of smoked bourbon sugar
a dash of cinnamon
2 Tbs of water
1/4 tsp of corn starch
1/2 pinch of salt(kosher)
First, I zest my orange and place that to the side. Then, taking my handy chef's knife, I remove the peel exposing the flesh so there is no white biter peel left. I then go in and remove each pulpy segment by placing my knife on each side of the individual wedges, and removing it from the core. Once all of the segments are removed, I chop them all up, not to small but all the same size and place them in a small sauce sauce pan on medium heat. Next I add butter, sugar, cinnamon, zest, corn starch, water and bring it all to a boil until it becomes thick. I remove it from the heat and refridgerate immediately so that the marmalade can set. Now it won't be the gelled consistency that we are used to since I didn't add any pectin to it. But the butter and corn starch will give a nice thickness, good enough to fill the cupcakes with.
DING! Mon petite gateau or "little cakes" are ready and smell like a spiced heaven! I place them on a cooling rack and start on my cinnamon and chinese five-spiced buttercream.
CINNAMON & CHINESE 5-SPICE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1 c sifted powdered sugar
1 c softened unsalted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp Chinese 5-spice
1 Tbs of heavy whipping cream
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt(kosher)
I cream together softened butter. Add powdered sugar, cinnamon, and 5-spice sifted together into creamed butter. Blend at medium speed, trying not to over whip! We don't want the butter to curdle. Slowly pour in heavy cream,vanilla extract and toss in pinch of salt. Taste for quality control, and VIOLA! Buttercream is finished. place in pastry bag with a fun star tip and its placed in the fridge for 2-3 minutes to stiffen up just a tad. You can find Chinese 5-spice at most specialty stores. This is a spice used in most Asian cooking for sweet and savory dishes! It consist of cinnamon, ground star anise, fennel,ginger,cloves, white pepper, and licorice root. The over all taste and smell is that of black licorice. I personally don't care for black licorice but since I've used such a small amount, it doesn't over power the taste and complements the cinnamon and pumpkin quite nicely. It also gives some depth to the buttercream.
Well it's all ready to be assembled, dressed and photographed for your viewing pleasure! Don't you wish you had "Wonka Vision" then you could just grab these tasty little morsels right out of your screen like in the movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", minus the little bratty boy of course! First, the orange marmalade filling gets placed in a pastry bag and I cut about 1/2 inch off the tip of the bag. No metal tip needed for this since you are piping a fruit filling, but make sure it is big enough so that you can squeeze the fruit chunks through. I've filled my cakes with marmalade enough for a nice orange bite, and now time for buttercream! For a little bit of nutty crunch, I've crushed some fresh hazelnuts and sprinkled them on top! This is optional of course and topped it off with a little bit more orange zest to carry the orange flavor all the way through! Wheww! Seems like a lot of work but definitely worth it! Now to kick back, relax, enjoy my masterpiece with a nice cup of coffee, and try my best to keep my boyfriend from gobbling them all up while I'm not looking!
"As the colorful turning of the leaves commence,so comes the transition into fall. The lush red-oranges and rich golden browns cover the once bright green leaves, like a finely crafted wool coat. The heavy humid air of summer lifts and turns light,brisk, and breezy. And a giddy& easy-going feeling wafts through the breeze, kissing you ever so lightly on the cheek, letting you know that fall is here."-K.M.H.
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