Pumpkin Muffins are an Autumn Necessity

I love every season for about 5 minutes before I start finding things to hate.  It's like this, I LOVE Autumn: cooler air, changing leaves, Halloween, my son's birthday, Thanksgiving, fires, boots, s'mores, hot tea, fall crops, and pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING.  On the other hand, Autumn means: cold, wet weather and fall allergy season.  So on the cold, wet days that I spend sneezing and wheezing, I try to whip up something warm and tasty and yes, usually pumpkin flavored.  We spent a little time the other day making jack-o-lanterns.  I ended up with about 3 lbs of cooked, pureed pumpkin to make stuff with.  So today I decided to make Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins.  I found a few recipes to use for inspiration and then gave them a little tweaking (you all know that I cannot leave a recipe alone, even on the first try).  So for your palate's pleasure, here is my version of Autumnal happiness:

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Yield: 24
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
4 medium eggs

2 cups pumpkin, cooked and pureed (or 1 can of pure pumpkin)
1 1/4 cups oil

8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup of confectioner's sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cream cheese and confectioner's sugar in set in the refrigerator while you're making the muffin mix.  Mix melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and add chopped pecans.  In a large mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients and stir until mixed.  Add eggs, oil, and pumpkin and mix until combined.  Put liners in a muffin tin and fill them 3/4 full with muffin mix.  Using a teaspoon, add a small dollop of cream cheese mixture onto the center of each.  Top with a small handful of pecans.  Cook for 20-25 minutes.  (Mine took 23 minutes)

Cakes...

Well, I didn't blog for 3 months... but I did accomplish other things in the interim.  I did a lot of baking.  And, I took a cake decorating class.  Since I already knew how to whip up delicious cakes and frostings, I thought I should try my hand at decorating my confections.  It turns out that I can now make my cakes either beautiful or delicious.  I learned that I DO NOT like typical decorative 'buttercream' frosting.  It's a combination of horrible for you processed shortenings, powdered sugar, and artificial flavorings.  In Erica language: GROSS.  So basically I can now make a cake that looks pretty and will hold up to warm temperatures, but tastes like every other store bought cake. OR, I can bake a cake that tastes heavenly, is made with real ingredients, looks pretty, and melts above room temperature.  With that said, here are some pictures of delicious cakes and decorated cakes.

Dark Chocolate Cake with an Orange Curd Center & Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting, topped with Dark Chocolate dipped Candied Orange Peels - and yes every bit of this is from scratch and might seriously be the most decedent wonderful thing I have ever tasted.

Detail of candied orange peels - not exactly pretty, but oh my they are delicious!

Homemade Strawberry Shortcakes with a Honey Scented Whipped Cream

Pre-class Cake Balls

1st try at making 'buttercream' roses

My 2nd shot at 'buttercream' florals was definitely more attractive

I was happy with the look of this cake.

Flower Basket Cake in all it's glory

Blackberry, Lemon, Ricotta Muffins - Post-class and maybe not as perfect looking as frosted cakes, but I might be in love with this recipe.

White Roses Single Layer Wedding Cake - Serves 18