Baking my way through the trials and triumphs of life!

There’s a lot of pumpkin on the menu month, but this one will go down in history. Cupcake Hero has a dual theme this month, “pumpkin – monster” cupcakes. I was seriously tempted to double dip and use my extra Martha’s pumpkin cupcakes from yesterday, and decorate them monster-like. I even went so far as to buy tootsie rolls, licorice and candy corn to decorate them. It’s been a busy week. On top of work, I’m in the midst of creating a dessert bar for a baby shower this weekend (trust me, I’m not complaining) - but if there was any week to cheat a little, this was this one.

But we all know cheaters never prosper (that’s the teacher in me talking). I had an idea about a week ago and couldn’t let it go. My girlfriend and I love the pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks and get giddy every year when they make their debut. Not too long ago, I came up with a recipe for caramel frappucinno cupcakes and they were amazing. I kept envisioning a pumpkin spice latte cupcake that was as good as its inspiration. Funny thing is, I love pretty much everything pumpkin – except pumpkin pie (and I wonder where my boy gets his quirkiness???). One of my favorite indulgences each fall is Dryer’s limited edition pumpkin ice cream…splurge if you’ve never tried it!!

The final product was a scary good latte-like cupcake. I started with a chocolate cake and included strong brewed coffee, cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg to achieve that pumpkin spice flavor. I topped that off with a layer of pumpkin ice cream. A ghost-like dollop piped on top with homeade whipped cream with two little eyes gave it some scare factor.

I did wonder if technically this was monster enough, but then thought back to the days when my son was younger and I had to do nightly bed and closet checks for Ursula the Sea Monster. 

Ghosts, monsters, evil sea creatures, they’re pretty much all in the same category in my house…Scary!  

Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream Cupcakes

½ gallon Dryer’s Limited Edition Pumpkin Ice Cream (directions below)

 Cinnamon Chocolate Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup strong brewed, hot coffee

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup baking cocoa

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

 In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In a saucepan, combine water, oil, butter and cocoa; bring to a boil over medium heat. pour over dry ingredients; mix well. Add eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and baking soda; mix well.* Fill cupcake liners ¼ full (not too much you want them to come out half full so there is enough room for the ice cream). Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. These don’t need to cool. The heat actually helps melt the ice cream a bit so you can smooth it out over the top. Freeze for several hours until firm.

 Whipped Cream Frosting

1 pint heavy whipping cream, well chilled

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

 Combine ingredients in a high speed mixer and beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form (approx. 7 minutes). Refrigerate for an hour until firm.

 Remove cupcakes from freezer. Fill a piping bag with whipped cream using 1M Wilton tip. Pipe a dollop of whipped cream on each cupcake and then freeze until ready to serve.**

 *If you want to make them ghost-like, I found the best way to do this was to place a large marshmallow on top of the cupcake and then pipe the whipped cream over and around it. For the black eyes, I used leftover black gum paste. No need for that. You could pipe the eyes or take bits of a chocolate chip.

 **If you want to cheat a little… you could use a chocolate boxed cake mix. Substitute half of the oil for strong brewed coffee, add a pinch of cinnamon and bake as directed above. The homemade whipped cream is simple, but cool whip would work just great too.