Oh no! I'm not really prepared for this one! I should have checked last night to see what recipe to post, but I didn't think to look at today's prompt until just now. I guess I'll have to come back and edit the post to include the recipe I choose. I wonder what I will pick. Lemon cupcakes with pink lemonade frosting? Yum! My Mamaw's Italian Chicken? Delish! Pumpkin Cheesecake? Fab! (And MM's favorite.) The suspense of what I will post is going to kill me. Can't wait to dig through the recipe drawer and see what I come up with.
In the meantime, here's a
previous post with a recipe that we still love to have all year long, but especially during the fall and winter.
Life is going nicely right now. I went with Denise to water aerobics at the city pool after work and had a blast! We're going back tonight and I can't wait to get in the water. The only issue is that it's a rather cool day, so I'm hoping it warms up a bit before we go. MM is all for it, especially after I got home in such a great mood yesterday evening, so we're just going to have to work together to get the chores and stuff done so that I can go every Tues., Wed., and Thurs. I'll do moderate to intense workouts on Mon. and Sat. and possibly Sun. depending on the weekend chores, so that will be a full week of exercise and that's awesome!
Well, I should get back to doing what I do. I'll come back later and post that recipe. I hope it's a good one!
And here at last, the recipe I finally settled on. It's a fall favorite!!Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese FrostingFor the Cupcakes:
4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two batches of buttermilk, and beating until just combined. Add pumpkin; beat until just combined.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating this halfway through, until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes, then turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers.
4. To finish, use an offset spatula or pastry bag fitted with a decorated tip to top the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
(I only use enough, about 3 cups to get the texture right because MM doesn't like it too sweet)3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container; before using, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again.
Now, I cannot stress enough how much better my baking has become since I started letting all ingredients come to room temperature. Seriously. I know this is a very fall-feeling recipe, but it's because I've been craving pumpkin and MM is as well. (Honestly, if I baked something with pumpkin once a week, he'd be pleased as punch.) I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of cooler temperatures and the weekend baking the fall/winter bring!
