Pumpkin Pie a la Cupcake

Mini Pumpkin Pies are actually spiced pumpkin cupcakes with buttercream frosting on top.  I did sprinkle a little sanding sugar on top for a little sparkle.  Maybe should do that on my regular pumpkin pies too.  Hmmm. . .

The "pie top" and "whip cream" and "crust" are all the same frosting, just colored differently.

I used silver liners in an effort to mimic the pie pans.  But an a nice, bright orange liner would be beautiful too.

I made sure to fill them up minimally because I would have to have a level top and didn't want to waste too much of the cake.  I cut off any peak because I don't believe I have ever seen a pumpkin pie with a mound on it.

After I sliced off the top, I added about 1 T of simple syrup to each cupcake to make it moist.

I mixed my buttercream frosting with a copper-colored food paste.  I even added a little cocoa as suggested by the Hoosier Homemade Blog.  I'll be honest, the entire idea came from that website, with the exception of the sanding sugar sprinkles.

This is the crust frosting.  Just mixed it with a little cocoa.  

This picture is kind of weird.  Looks a little like mashed potatoes.  

 I used  a flat piping tip to do the "crust".  It has little ridges on the other side but I just kept it on the flat side.  Some crusts turned out better than others.  I sprinkled them with cinnamon because I was not at home and couldn't find any nutmeg at my MIL's house.  My niece said that the cinnamon flavor on the top was her favorite part of it so that was great.  But I also think the nutmeg would give a nicer finish since it's not so powdery.  Is there a way to fresh-grate cinnamon?  That would probably be the best! 

 My little nieces, Ellie and Katie, both helped pipe the crust on.  They're so cute!

Maci wasted no time in devouring her cupcake. 

Brain Food

If you want to be brain healthy and extra smart: I wouldn't recommend eating these! 

Rich chocolate cake with a Swiss meringue buttercream "brain".  

The cupcake sleeves were traced onto black scapbooking paper then I made signs and glued them on.  The crinkle cut at the top of the cupcake sleeve adds a fun touch.  

The frosting seemed like it had too many air holes.  I'm not sure why that happened.  

The recipe recommended that it be whipped for a long time to insure that the bubbles were out.  

I whipped it but still . . .

I  borrowed most of the names from Martha Stewart.  But I came up with a few as well.  

The lame ones are likely mine.  :)

 We had: Smart T Pants, Sir Thinks-a-Lot, Albert Mindstein, Intell E Gent, Ima Wiseman, Clever Clive, Mr. Know-it-All, Al Weighs Right, Whitt E. Banter, Mrs. Anne Sirs, Ms. Bright Brain, and Smart Alec, which I accidentally typed as SNart Alec.  Nice, right?

Brains were made by piping a D shape on one half of the brain then filing in the D with squiggly brain matter.  Repeat on the other side.

The frosting was tinted grey (like grey matter) but I think I could have made it even more grey; looks too white. 

Brains actually took some piping practice.  I had the wrong size piping tip and no luxury to go to the store to buy the right one; one kiddo sleeping and one all up in my business.  I could have used the good ol' fashioned ziploc but the holes I cut in the corner of the bag tend to have an edge to them; no good.  

Some of the brains were so poorly done that I scraped them off and tried again.  Eventually I got tired and called it "good enough."  

I've included a jpg image of the cupcake sleeve and the brain tags.  Save the image in your files then open it up on Word or whatever.  The brain tags should each be about 1.5 inches wide.  The sleeves should be stretched to 9.25 inches.  Print out the sleeve, trace it on cardstock or chipboard and use the more firm template as your stencil.  

Polka Dot in B&W

These cupcakes were decorated in a black and white theme but you should also know that the pictures are posted in black and white to add punch to the contrasting colors. 

I love the wrappers.  They gave the otherwise fun-looking cakes a fancier touch.  

I made a gluten-free chocolate cake and filled each cupcake with a dairy-free ganache.

I used Bob's Red Mill "Gluten Free All Purpose Flour" when the recipe called for flour.  

I chose this flour for the cupcakes because it creates a softer, more gooey cupcake.

 

 I usually fill my cupcakes with a piping bag and small tip but the squeeze bottle works great too.  

In fact, I may venture to say that it works better! 

The ganache shouldn't be hot when piping into the cupcake centers.  I made the ganache, waited only until it was room temp then filled the cakes.  A little bit oozed out of the middle so I let it cool and harden slightly before removing the little mounds of extra ganache off the top of the ones I frosted white.

Picture on the left is the original, picture on the right is in greyscale. 

Not much different; just enough to make it pop.