Left-over Halloween Candy Cupcakes

I have to admit, I got very excited around Halloween because our new place is in the 'burbs.

We literally live right around the corner of an elementary school- every morning I leave for work I see kids walking to school or waiting for the bus, when I get home in the evening they're just wrapping up their afternoons outside and playground equipment can be seen in almost every backyard..so of course I assumed we'd get to see all sorts of adorable witches and ghouls wandering our street.

But sadly, this was not the case...

You can understand my disappointment when our neighbor informed us that we probably wouldn't be getting many trick-or-treaters...they just don't walk down our street, she said.

But of course, I still had to buy that big bag of candy just in case.

We had a whopping 6 kids come to the door.. 3 of which were our neighbors.

So if you're like us and you still have plenty of Halloween candy leftover, then these are the cupcakes for you. I realize that most people are gearing up for Turkey Day, but who said you can't have cupcakes for Thanksgiving??

Left-over Halloween Candy Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Oven: 350 Bake time: 20 minutes

3/4 cup oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS baking powder
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with liners.
Add sugar to large bowl, and while mixer is on slowly add oil until well combined- this will allow the oil to distribute evenly in the sugar and keep your cupackes from getting too greasy.
Add eggs, one at time, beating after each addition.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, salt and baking powder.
Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour, and mix until well combined.
Stir in vanilla.
Transfer half the batter into a separate bowl and stir in cocoa powder until smooth and combined.
Alternate adding spoonfuls of chocolate batter and vanilla batter in cupcake liners until 2/3 way full (I used 2 spoonfuls of each).
Pop in oven and bake until lightly golden and tops spring back to touch.
Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Best Chocolate Frosting
1 stick of butter, melted
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup whole milk

Melt butter in microwave. Stir in cocoa powder until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk beating on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add more milk if necessary.

Assembly
Crush/roughly chop a few of your favorite left-over candy bars- I went with Butterfinger, Reeses, Baby Ruth and Kit Kat.
Using a small spatula, frost your cupcakes with chocolate frosting (don't worry about it looking pretty).
Press freshly frosted cupcake into crushed candy bar, lightly rolling so all sides of frosting are now covered.

Kit Kat

Butterfinger

Reeses Peanut Butter Cup

Baby Ruth

Happy Baking!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their friends and family!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Whipped Cream

We had a potluck at work the other day with all the other organizations in our building.

I love potlucks.

There's no doubt about it... I over eat...and I hate myself for pretty much the rest of the afternoon, but you have to try a little bit of everything right?? It just wouldn't be fair to leave a dip or side unattended and god forbid one of the desserts doesn't get as much love as the next!

The week prior to this particular potluck one of the ladies from another office came over and requested I make cupcakes..she loves my cupcakes (I hope you would too if you got to try one) so much in fact that she ate 5 mini versions of these at lunch!

I went back and forth about what kind of cupcake to make for the occasion, but since it was a Fall Potluck I figured I couldn't go wrong with anything pumpkin (and we all know by now that I love pumpkin).

While imagining this recipe in my head I had high hopes for a Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream, much to my dismay however, I failed miserably. For whatever reason my frosting kept separating and while it tasted delightful, it was hideous and un-frostable.

At about 10pm and two horrible attempts later, I gave up and went with Maple Whipped Cream, delightful in its own right.

I made little ones to bring to the potluck and wanted to make a batch of regular sized cupcakes as well to hold us over at the office until lunchtime, only to find out mid bake sesh that I ran out of liners. So I resorted to making my own out of parchment paper. Between the failures at frosting and lack of supplies I didn't get to bed till MUCH later than I wanted, but at least everything tasted good!

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Oven: 350 Bake time: 20-25 minutes
24 regular cupcakes or lots of little ones or 2 8-inch cakes

2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup veggie oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 can (or 2 cups) pureed pumpkin  (not pumpkin pie)
4 eggs
2 cups AP flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan or lightly grease and flour cake pans.
In a large bowl, add sugar and with mixer on slowly add oil* you want to slowly add the oil so that the sugar has time to absorb it and avoid super oily cupcakes
Add vanilla and pumpkin mixing until combined.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, incorporating after each addition.
In a small bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix until combined.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes, checking with toothpick and adjusting time if necessary.
Transfer to cooling rack- if cupcakes almost immediately remove from pan, if cake allow to cool in pan for at least 20 minutes before removing from pan to completely cool.

Maple Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 TBS pure maple syrup

In a large mixing bowl, beat/whip cream until it begins to thicken.
Slowly add powdered sugar, cinnamon and maple syrup.
Continue to beat/whip until stiff peaks form.

Last year I used this same recipe to make a Witches Brew Cake for a little Halloween get together with my girlfriends.. what do you think??

Happy Baking!

I'm still on the lookout...Anyone out there have a good recipe for Brown Sugar Buttercream??

"Off with her head!" Queen of Hearts Cake

This week I'm back on the east coast (for work), basking in the cool weather that Rhode Island always promises to bring. I knew I wouldn't be able to go to RI without taking some extra time to see my loves in Newport though, so I left early Saturday morning to spend one awesome night with my friends- catching up, laughing too hard, eating way to much delicious food and dancing the night away.

One of our fave restaurants Salvation Cafe.. 

My friend Liss takes the greatest pics.

But before I could leave to enjoy this good quality friend time, I had to finish the project that I had started earlier in the week.

This cake went to the same couple that requested the Strawberry Cake.. only this time the decorations were a little more elaborate and took a little more time. The couple was hosting a Halloween/Birthday party and they wanted a cake that represented Jenny's character: The Queen of Hearts.

The cake was my Favorite White Cake filled with layers of Chocolate Ganache and Strawberry Filling. 

"Off with her Head!"

Happy Baking!

"Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger"...Brownies

One of the best parts of Halloween?

The candy. 

Hands down.

Costumes are cool and all, but it's the abundance of candy that really makes me giddy.  Isle after isle filled with bags of candy... its like sweet tooth heaven!

We don't even get trick or treaters, but I still buy at least 2 large bags of candy "just in case."

For whatever reason, Butterfingers call to me around this time of year. I know, I know they're available all year long...but there's just something about that crisp-ity crunch-ity peanut buttery candy that just speaks to me every October.

We had a barbecue at work this week and I, of course, was tasked to bring dessert.  I wanted to make brownies and then I remembered the Butterfinger Cocoa Mix that I saved from Mountain Man's cabinets when we were moving him out here.  After a quick trip to the grocery for some extra Butterfingers I went to whipping up a batch of the best brownies I've ever made.

The brownie base is Jen's (from Beantown Baker) 'go to' brownie recipe. The texture and flavor of these brownies are fantastic.. I now know why she returns to this recipe every time.

Best Brownie Recipe

from Beantown Baker originally from King Arthur's Flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder* optional
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips* optional

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 11x13 baking pan.

In small sauce pan, melt butter. Remove from heat and add sugar. Return to heat and stir for about 2 minutes before removing again (this is what gives the brownies their shine).

Transfer butter mixture to a large bowl. Mix in cocoa, salt, baking powder, cocoa mix* and vanilla.

Whisk in eggs one at a time until smooth.

Slowly add flour and mix until just combined.

Fold in Butterfinger bits.

Pour into greased pan and transfer to oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool before serving. 

If possible cool overnight. (this is something I just learned, but it actually made a big difference!)

Butterfinger variety

swap 2 cups of chocolate chips for 2 cups chopped Butterfingers (possibly 3 cups)

2 packages of Butterfinger Cocoa Mix 

I brought a majority of the brownies to the office, but I wanted to keep a few at home for a photo shoot after work. While munching on these at the end of the barbecue, I was a little disappointed with the lack of Butterfinger flavor.. the brownies were delicious, but I was really hoping for more of a peanut butter pop.

And then I read about making your own Butterfinger candy and I couldn't believe my eyes. 

Candy corn + peanut butter = Butterfinger filling

You're probably thinking the same thing I did... what?! no way!? how does that even work?

Don't worry. I'm still trying to figure this out...but trust me, it works.

So after their original photo shoot, we did a little wardrobe change. While dinner was in the oven, I tried this homemade version of Butterfinger filling with the intention of spreading a layer on top of the brownies and then covering them with a final layer of milk chocolate.

I am still trying to wrap my head around how candy corn and peanut butter make this filling, but it was a wonderful addition to an already fabulous brownie.

Seriously, four brownies just weren't enough...next time I'm going to slather the entire batch with this Butterfinger topping.

Oh and in case you were wondering...

Butterfinger Filling

equal parts candy corn and peanut butter (1:1)

Melt candy corn in microwave. Stopping to stir every 20 seconds until completely melted.

Stir in peanut butter and mix until smooth. 

Happy Baking!