Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

There is no option, you MUST try these!!!  They are probably the most delicious cupcake I have ever made.  D sent me this recipe, and because I LOVE pumpkin, I had to make them.  Minus the serious burn I gave myself by grabbing the wire oven rack, stupid I know, it was pretty painless to make.  I copied the recipe for you to try!  Enjoy!!! 

{Ingredients}

For the pumpkin pies you’ll need

1 batch of your favorite pie crust dough (Don’t have a favorite? Use pre-made refrigerated dough, it will work well too.)
1 15 oz. can pumpkin pie filling, prepared according to the can’s directions (or you can make your pie filling from scratch, you overachiever, you—either way, you’ll need enough for one pie).

For the cupcakes you’ll need

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/3 c. whole milk
2 1/2 c. flour 

For the buttercream you’ll need:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. Hershey’s cinnamon chips (or any cinnamon chips you like)
splash of whole milk 

{Directions}

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees (F).

First, prepare the pumpkin pies. Mix up the pumpkin pie mix according to the can’s directions (or make your own-fancy!). Roll out the pie crust dough and cut it into small circles that are large enough to cover the bottom and sides of mini cupcake tins (I used the opening of a small juice glass as a cutter). 

Press the dough into the lightly greased mini cupcake tins, and then fill them with the pumpkin pie mix. (Don’t go all the way to the top, the filling will expand a little while baking.)

Bake the pies for about 7 minutes at 425 degrees (F), and then turn the oven down to 350 degrees (F) and bake them for another 10 minutes or so, until the crust is brown and the filling is completely set.

After taking them out of the oven, cool them on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then take them out of the pan and allow them to cool further while you mix up the batter.

For the cupcake batter, combine the butter and the cream cheese together on medium speed for about 90 seconds—you want the ingredients to be well incorporated. Then mix in the sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Then mix in the milk and the flour, alternating between the two ingredients. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, to make sure everything is getting well-mixed—beat again on med-high speed for about a minute. It should be smooth and creamy.

Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into regular-sized, paper-lined cupcake tins. Plop a cooled pumpkin pie into the center, and press gently into the batter. GENTLY. You don’t want it to touch to the bottom of the pan. 

Cover the pies with another heaping tablespoon of batter, so the top and sides are completely covered.

Bake at 350 degrees (F) for about 25 minutes, until the cake is set and the edges and tops of the cupcakes have turned golden brown.

Allow them to cool in the cupcake tray for atleast 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack—they’ll be a little fragile at first. 

Once the cakes are cool, frost ‘em! 

To make the buttercream, melt down the cinnamon chips with a splash of whole milk. Pop ‘em in the microwave for about 45 seconds on high. Stir until all the chips are melted, and allow it to cool a bit while you whip up the rest of the frosting (you can put the bowl in the fridge, it’ll cool faster that way, and the milk will keep it from solidifying). 

Cream together the butter and cream cheese until they’re well incorporated. Then whip in the powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low, drizzle in the cooled cinnamon chip “ganache” (if it’s too hot it’ll melt the buttercream and ruin it—you don’t want that). Put in about half, then stop to taste it and decide if you’d like to add more. Some like it strong, others like it milder. 

If  you have any pie crust left over, roll it out and cut smaller discs and sprinkle them with a little bit of cinnamon and sugar. Bake ‘em for about 10 minutes at 350 and look at that, a cute and tasty cupcake topper!

You can also try candied pecans or a drizzle of caramel on top. Tasty!

I absolutely love them!!  Let me know what you think. I am sure I'll make them a ton this fall and I plan to make them for our housewarming party... Whenever that happens. :o)

Love B

The Great Amercian Beer Festival - Year 4

For the past 3 years Scotty, D and I have all ventured out to Denver, Colorado for the annual Great American Beer Fest.  For our 4th year together, we decided to expand our weekend horizans from the lovely downtown area.  We arrived on the evening of Thursday, September 16th and picked up our lovely rental car from the airport.  We had a whole row of cars to pick from and we went with a Kia Soul, that's right.  We figured it could handle our epic adventure.  I decided to document most of the time we spent there, so with out further explanation, I'll show you our time in Denver.

 This was our first beer in Denver.  We decided to go and try out a local restaurant that we saw on Man vs Food called Cherry Cricket.  The boys loved all the crazy different things that they could put on their burgers.  We spent most of our first night there, then checked in to our oh so fancy (not so much) Ramada Inn. 

 This was pre-GABF and we were playing around in the shops down town.  We thought the head gear was pretty appropriate.  

 Every year we have to decorate ourselves with foods (mainly pretzels) so we have something to munch on while trying all of the different beers.  I wasn't going to settle with the 'normal' pretzel necklace this year.  I was experienced and made sure to have a few different key food groups: Pretzels, Bag of Goldfish, and had to do FruitLoops.  Scotty decided on those, and they were the best decision.

 The boys and their gear.  Scotty full of FruitLoops and D decided to go for the Peanut M&Ms.  Oh, and did I mention that this was the first year we were smart about the line.  We got our tickets through Scotty's American Home Brewers Assocation.  That meant that instead of having to camp out 2 hours early, we could come later, got to wait inside and got released into the Fest earlier.  Basically that means that we got to go and get in our favorite beer lines first.  Some of the more popular ones run out of their new items quickly.

 Best idea EVER. 

 This is what the plastic glasses looked like this year.  They will pour you 1 oz which is up to the red line. 

 This is the first place we went - Dogfish Head. Yum. 

 This is actually the owner of Dogfish Head who poured me his favorite that he brought along called Bitches Brew.  It was delicious. 

 Funny sign one of the booths had up.  I laughed.

 I laughed at this sign too.  D made the best monkey. 

 Silly magnets.  This was a new vendor this year, and there are now a few of these magnets on our mini fridge.  They also had a chalk board where you could write what new magnets they should make. 

 One of my favorite parts of the GABF is the silent disco.  Whoever came up with this idea was genious!  We could spend hours in there. 

 D showing off his sweet dance moves.

   This was our friend Andrew, who I hit his glass down and broke it.  All in good fun, but I must say, I am the best at hitting the glasses out of peoples hands.

We actually stayed the majority of the time at GABF, and we even felt up for going out on the town afterwards.  We probably should have gotten some food, but over all it was a great 1 night at GABF!!

This was the start of the next day.  We decided to spend the day climbing the mountain!!!

 This was the good view of the mountains. 

 Scott captured my excitement out to the mountains!!

 This was a picture of a crazy house that sat above the trees right outside of Denver.  I had to share it. 

 Nothing but road and mountains ahead!

 Had to throw some of D's excitement in there as well.  

 The trees were just starting to turn colors, and the yellow leaves were absolutely breathtaking!  I love nature!

 They love nature and each other.  A little bit higher up the mountain.  

 Gorgeous. 

 About half way up Mt. Evan there is a lake that we stopped at.  I could have stayed there all day, it was so calming. 

 Scotty decided that he should test the water... Super cold. 

 A little higher up there was another stop.  I'm attempting to capture the beauty. 

 We are such goofs. 

 Love this picture.  He makes me laugh. 

 Again, so pretty. 

 That was the lake that we were at a few pictures ago. 

 Only the Kia could make this venture up the highest paved mountain in the country! 

 Yeah it was a little windy. 

 We are almost to the top of the tree line, but love all the yellow in a sea of green.

 We tried to take a few group pictures by setting up the camera.  Basically it took a few attempts and Scott trying not to kill himself climbing on the rock to make it on time. 

 This crazy animal that we saw super high up on the mountain and on the very edge of the road.  

 This was my attempt to show just how crazy these roads were.  There is no ledge, no railing or guard, just straight down.  No messing around while driving here. 

 This was taken on the side you just saw looking back. 

 Sadly, for some reason we could not go all the way up the mountain.  We had to stop at this lake and we could venture by foot, but not by car. 

 This is probably my favorite picture of the trip.  Again, we used the timed feature.  

 The boys had to go get their jackets from the car and I decided this was the perfect napping rock.  

 This was the view after we climbed a little bit up the back side of the lake. Super windy, but really pretty view. 

 We learned what our little bushy friend was called.

 After our adventure in Mt. Evans we drove to Dillon Co and went to the Damn Brewery.  We drove through the Dwight D Eisenhower tunnel on the way there. 

 Did we mention that there was also the Oktoberfest going on in another area of downtown Denver.  We had to partake one night.  I was so happy that I got a funnel cake and Scotty got a delicious turkey leg.  The best part of the night was sitting and watching all the drunks come from GABF.  I love drunk people.

The last day of our trip we spent down in Boulder, Co.  We went to the Avery Brewery and enjoyed a few beers there.  We then went downtown to find a Green/Firefighter/Hippie festival going on.  It was quite interesting.  The funniest part of the trip there was that we ate at a brewery and the options to pay were cash, check or mail in the check at a later date.  So funny.  Once back in Denver that night, we ended the evening at the Great Divide Brewery.  Such a fun trip.  Now we need to start planning year no. 5.  Who wants to join up for 2011?

Cheers, B.