Ode to Fall Cupcakes

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Fall here in the south has been really beautiful this year. Some years we don't get much in the way of fall color but this fall has been perfect. The early cold snap has lit the trees with glorious colors. I love walking in our neighborhood to the sound of acorns crunching underfoot and all the lawns covered in a patchwork of fallen leaves. It's so pretty. I wish that the color would hang around longer, but it's nearly gone.
So here's my ode to fall in the form of a cupcake! The cupcakes are pumpkin with pecans and dried cranberries. Then I frosted them with a rich chocolate frosting and topped with some sugared cranberries.

Pumpkin Pecan Cranberry Cupcakes

source : Shelly Kaldunski adapted

makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 lg eggs at room temp.
1/2 cup, pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Line standard 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners

In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, and eggs. Add the flour mixture and whisk to combine completely. Stir in the pecans and cranberries.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 22-24 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool about 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely before frosting.


CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Sift the cocoa powder together with the powdered sugar. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.




This is my submission to this month's Iron Cupcake Earth Challenge: Cranberries. Click here to see all the great prizes up for grabs! There's some really cool stuff this month!

Ironcupcake Challenge: Chili Pepper

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I recently stumbled across a new baking event. It involved cupcakes so I was immediately interested. It's based on the Iron Chef premise. Every month your given an ingredient that you have to use in a cupcake. Then you submit your cupcake recipe with a picture. All the cupcakes are posted and everyone is asked to vote for their favorite cupcake. The winner gets all kinds of cool cupcake related prizes. Fun!
So the ingredient this month is chili peppers. You can use any kind of chili pepper, fresh or dried, in your cupcake.
Chocolate and chili combos have become popular as of late, but this was my first attempt at using chili's in a cupcake. I came across this great recipe for a chocolate chili zucchini cake. I decided to turn it into cupcakes. The smokiness of the ancho chili powder and the chocolate taste amazing together. The zucchini makes for a really moist cupcake. I think next time I make these cupcakes, I'll put in even more chili powder. The ancho chili is mildly spicy in this cupcake but the smoky flavor is amazing with the chocolate.
For the frosting I infused chocolate with ancho chili to make a whipped ganache frosting. Just for fun I made a chili from white chocolate to decorate the top of the cupcake.
This was a really fun challenge. I've seen some of the cupcakes that some of the other Ironcupcake baker's have come up with for this challenge. WOW. This is a creative group! Check out all the submissions and vote here! (for me of course!!)

Chocolate Ancho Chili Zucchini Cupcakes
Sweet Heat: spicy desserts(adapted)
Makes 24 cupcakes

2½ cups sifted flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

½ cup vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon Ancho powder (or more to taste)

½ cup buttermilk

2 cups grated zucchini

6 ounces chocolate chips



Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter, vegetable oil, and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Next, add the vanilla and Ancho chile. Mix in the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate. Bake for 25-30 minutes.


Chili Infused Whipped Ganache Frosting
1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 small dried ancho chili

Measure out the heavy cream in a glass microwave safe cup measure. Put in the dried chili and microwave on high for about 1 minute or until the cream comes to a boil. Remove from microwave and allow the chili to steep in the hot cream for several minutes. Remove the chili from the cream and reheat the cream for a few seconds(20-30) in the microwave. Just enough to make sure it's hot enough to melt the cream. Place the chocolate in a mixing bowl and pour over the hot infused cream. Let sit for several minutes allowing the chocolate to melt. Whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until cool. Whip chocolate in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk. Whip until the chocolate holds soft peaks.

I topped my cupcakes with a little chocolate sprinkles and some chopped dried ancho chili for a bit of extra flavor.
The chili pepper decoration is made from white chocolate.
Here's what the winner of this challenge gets:
A copy of Hello, Cupcake (I really want that:) A complete line of HEAD  CHEFS from Fiesta Products. Fully “fun”ctional silicone handle kitchen tools with awesome bendable arms and legs! Spoon, Pastry Brush, Spatula, Whisk and Measuring Cup. Adorable! A great apron from Jessie Steele, the Cupcake Courier, the cookbook from Taste of Home and featured prize from ETSY artist Jessie “Cakespy”  Oleson Love love love her stuff!!
Those are some awesome prizes! Vote for me. please:)Voting begins August 31th.