According to POM Wonderful, November is Pomegranate month. Did you know that? I DIDN’T! And the only reason I know about it is purely a cowinky dink!

One of my Sunday vices is going to Costco for family size portions of peanut butter, diet coke, toilet paper and bottled water. I always make a list b/c if I don’t I’ll leave the store with whatever the demo ladies are handing out. To be honest, the list does nothing. I still spend $200 and leave with 10x the things on my list. *smacks head* But I can’t resist a deal! I think that’s how they get ya. You see that toilet paper is like $5 for 20 rolls and if you quickly do the math in your head… Well that’s just a lot of clean bums ya know? I can just imagine Costco’s CEO probably sitting in his pimped out penthouse office somewhere laughing at me.

Right now Costco is decked out for the holidays. There are Christmas lights, wrapping paper, ribbons and toys lining the aisles. Last Sunday I restrained myself and quickly walk passed all the holiday deals but then I saw this >>

… and before I realized what happened. I watched myself buy it. It was like an out of body experience. There was something about those pomegranate arils. They were calling out to me. “Buy us. You know you want to buy us. Pomegranate cupcakes…” I know! I know! I’m such a sucker! But like I said above. It’s pomegranate month. You call it impulse buy. I call it fate.

Yeah that’s my story.

POM Velvet Cupcakes w POM Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe from POM Wonderful

Makes about 30 cupcakes (I got 45 cupcakes!)

For POM Velvet Cupcakes
2-1/2 cups POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
16 oz (2 cups) granulated sugar
14 oz (1-1/2 cups + 4 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large eggs
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
15 oz (3 cups+5 tbsp) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 oz (5 tbsp) cocoa powder
3/4 oz (1 tbsp+1 tsp) baking soda
pinch salt
1/4 cup heavy cream

For POM Cream Cheese Frosting
1-1/2 cups POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
4 oz (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
14oz (3-1/2 cups) powdered sugar (I used about 4 cups)

1 cup arils from 1-2 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates, garnish

NOTES: Original recipe was given in metric system and I tried to convert into US system (in parenthesis) as close as possible. If you have a kitchen scale, I recommend going that route to be more true to the recipe though.

INSTRUCTIONS

To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pan with liners.

In a small saucepan, reduce the pomegranate juice, over medium-low heat, down to 3 oz (about 1/3 cup).

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a stand mixer, fitted with a flat beater, cream sugar and soft butter on medium-high speed, until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, reduce speed to low and add the eggs in one at a time. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, pomegranate juice reduction, white vinegar and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the wet ingredients in 2 additions, ending with the dry ingredients. Finish off with the heavy cream, beat just until combined.

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

To make frosting—
Reduce the pomegranate juice, over low heat, down to about 1/2 cup. Let cool.

In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, cream butter on medium-high speed for 1 minute, add the cream cheese and continue to mix for 2 more minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar and the pomegranate juice reduction, mix until the sugar is fully combined.

Using a Wilton 1M star tip (or your favorite star tip) pipe the frosting on each cupcake. Garnish with pomegranate arils.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He liked the red velvet inspired favor with a hint of pomegranate. But he says that he can’t replace the original red velvet cupcake.

Wifey rating: A (for taste) / B (for recipe)
Taste: I love pomegranate so the chocolate and pomegranate flavor was awesome together.
Recipe: I wasn’t impressed with the cream cheese frosting recipe. I’m not talking about the taste. The frosting was GOOOOOOD. But the first time I made it (following the recipe), it was runny and soft. I hate when that happens esp with frosting! The second time I made it I cut the pomegranate reduction and increased the powder sugar to thicken it up. When I make it again I might cut the pom reduction even more or up the cream cheese. I’d rather not add more powder sugar b/c it was a little too sweet and I only added 1/2 cup more.

Now I know that most people love Halloween for the scary movies, trick-or-treating and/or excuse to dress like a skanky nurse wear a costume but one of the things that I love about Halloween are all the post-Halloween candy sales. HA! And for better or worse, you better believe, I stock up!

This year I was introduced to caramel candy corn and even though my waistline isn’t appreciating it, I am addicted. Damn you Erin! *shaking fists violently* Since I went a tad overboard with hoarding all the caramel candy corn I could find come November 1st, I decided to brainstorm ways to use it up.

And what better way than to add some booze!

PS- Only 9 more days until Cupcake Hero::November is due! What are you waiting for? Break out the Skippy and bake! Also thanks for all comments and emails regarding Cupcake Hero::October’s tie. You’ve all helped me come up with a solution that I hope will make all parties happy. Stay tuned.

Recipe adapted from Cupcakes by Martha Stewart and Yum Sugar

Makes about 24 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For chocolate cupcakes
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder (I used E. Guittard unsweetened red dutch process cocoa)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup warm water (I used 1/2 cup instead)

For candy corn vodka swiss meringue buttercream*
5 large egg whites
1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
2-3 tsp of candy corn vodka, to taste (see recipe below)

* SMBC recipe makes a good amount. You could probably 1/2 the recipe if you use it sparingly for each cupcake but I’m a frosting whore so I like having more vs less.

For candy corn infused vodka
1/3 cup candy corn
1 cup vodka (I used Absolut vodka)

INSTRUCTIONS

To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare cupcake pan with liners.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking power and salt. Reduce speed to low and add eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract and water.

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

To make candy corn vodka—
Combine candy corn and vodka in an airtight container for at least 3 hours, then strain. Discard any candy corn chunks.

To make buttercream—
Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.

Transfer bowl to mixer stand fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Don’t worry if the buttercream appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add candy corn vodka, and beat just until combined.

Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the low to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes.

To assemble cupcakes—
Using a Wilton 1M (or favorite star tip), pipe buttercream on each cupcake. Top with a caramel candy corn.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A/A-
He’s not a fan of alcoholic laced desserts. Too many alcohol induced hangover memories from his wilder days. But he said even though he could taste the vodka in the buttercream, the caramel taste was a stronger complement that he actually enjoyed.

Wife rating: A/A+
If you like vodka, you’ll love caramel candy corn vodka. If you like frosting and booze (like me!), you’ll LOVE caramel candy corn vodka swiss meringue buttercream. Add in a Martha chocolate cupcake and it’s almost the perfect food. Amen.

Other rating: (will update later)

Please forgive me fellow cupcake-ers.

I know I’m a bit ♪tardy for the party♪♫ with this post. <– Omg *smacks forehead* too much Real Housewives of Atlanta reruns! Talk about train wreck with big hair. I just can’t look away…

Wow. So where do I begin? This month’s Cupcake Hero was interesting nonetheless. I’ve been debating for the last 4 days about how to announce the winner. I hit a little snag. Let’s just say it’s a little more than tricky. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

Since I hadn’t announced a winner yet can you imagine my surprise when Occasional Sugar and Cupcakes Take The Cake (posts have since been edited) announced the winner for me? It seems I wasn’t the only one anxious for a winner, eh? Thankfully Jamieanne was a gracious “winner” and immediately contacted both parties to set them straight about the throw down with Samantha. And Occasional Sugar sent me an apologetic email and distraught tweet explaining what happened. No harm done! Am I upset? Of course not. Why would I be? This is the way I look at it. I know that Occasional Sugar and Cupcakes Take The Cake’s misquote wasn’t malicious and any press is good press. (Lindsey Lohan might not agree with me right now though.) In my blogging world, as long as you don’t steal my content without credit, anything is amendable. That’s my blog-osophy. But thanks to all concerned parties for the emails. It’s actually quite cute. You all are such drama queens. HA!

So about that Cupcake Hero snag.

What are the odds of a tie?

Because that’s what happened.

This is what I figured out. Both pumpkin “cake” recipes were the same Martha Stewart recipe so the cake scores balanced out for every taste tester. The only difference was the filling/frosting and apparently half my peeps liked the vanilla cream filling (which was AH-MAZING by the way!) and the other half liked the dulce de leche (which was FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC in my opinion!)

Now the question is. Who is the winner?

My husband suggested a red velvet cupcake off. But I think he has ulterior motives. *wink*

I will take all suggestions into consideration via email or comments.

Deadline November 6th @ 11:59pm EST.

Bring it.

And the winner is… Lucky Number 7!

Congratulations StephChows! Come on down and collect your prize. Oh wait. Price is Right doesn’t necessarily work in the blog world, eh? Ok fine. Even though it’s less dramatic, please email me your address and I’ll get your prize out to you ASAP. Had I been smarter I would have done this giveaway earlier so you could get the prize before Halloween. Doh! Homer moment. Oh well. At least you’ll have this cupcake costume cuteness for next year right?

Thanks to all that entered and shared their favorite candy with me. I didn’t run a statistical analysis or anything but from reading all the comments, it seems like candy corn and reese cups were the favorites. I concur sir.

PS- Reading all your comments had absolutely nothing to do with the gargantuan amounts of candy I bought yesterday. It’s for the trick-or-treaters. Um. Yeah. That’s right. *wiping chocolate from face*

Happy Hallows Eve, readers.

Be safe. Eat your weight in candy. Hit the gym in guilt November 1st.

At least that’s my plan. *wink*

I’m nervous, anxious and giddy all at the same time lately. Buying your first home is a wide range of emotions. I have a feeling that anyone that has done it before can attest to the same. You know what I need? I need something to calm me down.

I know.

A giveaway!

Giveaways always make me happy.

Let’s make it a quickie. No! Not that kind. You dirty dirty reader. This will be a ONE DAY giveaway. Less than 24 hours. So there’s no time to put it in your bookmarks and say you’ll come back to leave a comment later. Just do it. Make Nike proud.

Special thanks to [insert unnamed beneficiary here] for donating this awesome w00t tshirt.

Cupcake Costume Party tshirt size L

Rules:
(1) US and International entries welcome.
(2) Please make sure you have a valid email address so I can contact you if you win.

To enter leave a comment:
What is your favorite Halloween candy?
- Me? I’m a candy corn girl. And this year I’ve discovered the epic greatness of caramel candy corn. I blame Erin of Erin’s Food Files and Twitter.

Want an extra entry?
- Twitter (@ihcuppycakes) about my giveaway and leave me a separate comment with the link. Click “x time ago” under your tweet for the direct link. (+1 entry)
- Bake any IHC recipe and leave me a separate comment with your blog post link. Past recipes work too! (+1 entry)

* If I don’t see a separate entry, I will not count it. Them’s the breaks.

Deadline: Wednesday October 28th @ 11:59pm PST

Winners will be chosen by Mr. Random Generator.

If you are having doubts about entering let me just tell you that the tshirt is darn cute. My favorite is the “ghost”. It’s just an empty cupcake liner. Get it? I can’t tell you how long I laughed about that. Wait for it. You’ll start cackling too.

Wowie! Another month of incredible entries!

Congratulations to Samantha of Sweet Remedy Bakeshop coming out on top! Can I just tell you that this baker knows how to sell herself (Wait that didn’t sound right.) appeal to the masses for votes? She’s obviously got a connection on a Jeep Forum b/c I can’t tell you how many hits my blog got on voting day from Jeep lovers. Way to get non-cupcake peeps involved!

To say I agonized over my baker’s choice this month would be an understatement. There was more than 1 cupcake that I wanted to bake. I even contemplated baking 3-4 this round but limited time, funds and people to pawn off cupcakes to (Why do people insist on dieting during October, November, December trifecta? That’s just asking for failure IMO.) prevented me from doing that. Yes, yes I know *I* could have eaten the cupcakes but…um… I’m on a diet.

Wanna know how I broke the tie? That good ol “eenie meanie miney mo” strategy. Hey don’t knock “eenie meanie”! That’s how I picked my husband… and that seems to be working… for now. HA! I kid. I kid. I love to kid my husband. *looking innocent*

Let the throw down begin.

Pumpkin & Vanilla Cream Cupcakes by Samantha of Sweet Remedy Bake Shop


Dulce De Leche Pumpkin Cupcakes by Jamieanne of The Sweetest Kitchen

Stay tuned. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. Stay tuned.

Can you all believe it’s almost November?

November is one of my favorite months. You’ve got Fall, Thanksgiving, turkey, pumpkin pie, family, friends, paid non-work days and no gift buying responsibilities. What more could you ask for in a month right? There are so many fun food ideas in November that it was hard to choose just 1 ingredient for Cupcake Hero. So how did I choose?

I wussed out and let my husband choose. HA!

But I knew it was a mistake as soon as I saw him going over the November food holidays list. It didn’t take him long before he said excitedly, “I didn’t know that November was National Peanut Butter Lover’s month?” I proceeded to smack my head. “What about cranberries or something more Thanksgiving related, hun?” But after my husband saw peanut butter on the list, there was no going back.

“To me, peanut butter is the breakfast of champions!” ~Greg Louganis

The thing about peanut butter. I like it. But I wouldn’t say I’m a “lover”. My husband? He’s a lover. But I’ll make it a little easier on all the peanut butter like-ers out there. You aren’t limited to just peanut butter. You can use sunflower butter, cashew butter, almond butter. Any nut butter. As long as I can find it in the store, you can use it. (EDIT TO ADD: Nutella is excluded.)

And now I’ll leave you with a little song to get you in the peanut butter groove.

Deadline: November 15th @ 11:59pm EST

Cupcake Hero FAQ ~> HERE. If you still can’t find answer to your question, email me.

PS- You’ve got until 11:59pm EST tonight to get those last minute votes in. I don’t care what you have to do! Beg, bribe and/or barter for votes if you have to. T-minus 16 hours and counting…

I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date.

(SIDE NOTE: I am SO excited for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland coming to a theater near you.)

Sorry fellow Cupcake Hero-ers. I’m a day late getting the roundup on the ol blog. I had all intentions of getting it done yesterday. I even tweeted about it. See! I’m not a slacker… ok maybe a little. But that’s not why I didn’t finish on time. Do you have a time for a little story? Gather round readers.

Once upon a time. A happy little CB, with no care in the world, settled into her Ikea Solsta Olarp computer chair for a little blogging time for Cupcake Hero. Her fingers swiftly moved along the keyboard adding word after word, punctuation after punctuation to the blank computer screen in front of her. Suddenly without warning the screen went black. CB screamed. Two hours later when the power came back on, she rushed back to the computer only to find that the post she spent hours working on had only 1/2 saved. Disgusted she cursed at the power company and decided it would be best to walk away and finish another day.
The End.

Now I know that any bloggers out there that have experienced the same blog post loss will feel my pain. I almost felt like wearing black the whole rest of the day to mourn. But California’s weather is in the 90s right now so I just settled for my black swim suit and went to the beach instead. Tehee.

Thank you to all our cup-testants who participated in Cupcake Hero::October! Sorry for the confusion this month with the pumpkin shortage. Since I changed my mind multiple times during the month I decided to accept all entries regardless if you didn’t get the memo about decorating them Halloween-y.

Without further ado. LET’S ROCK THE VOTE! — > Poll on the side menu bar. Voting ends October 21st @ 11:59pm EST. But you won’t win on votes alone. That will be decided in my kitchen. May the best cupcakes throw down!

Hint for next month’s ingredient: What do Reeses pieces, Jif and Skippy all have in common?

PS- Please, Please, Please don’t forget to email me your entry *AND* add 1-2 pics to our flickr group. I had a couple pictures in the flickr group that I didn’t get an email so I had no idea who you were, recipe, name of cupcake etc. Unfortunately I decided to leave them out of the roundup since I had no information.

Creepy Pumpkin Bug and Mummy-Cakes by Xiaolu of 6 Bittersweets
Soft, incredibly moist pumpkin cake speckled with chopped up M&Ms – crowned with a good amount of classic cream cheese frosting and booootiful M&M critters!

Pumpkin Whoopie Cupcake by Ritsumei of Baby Steps
It’s a pumpkin whoopie cupcake with dark ganache filling and cream cheese frosting.

Goolicious Cupcakes by Brittney of Brittalicious Delights (first entry)
Pumpkin pecan cupcakes filled with white chocolate mousse and topped with vanilla chocolate liquor butter cream icing. I gooled it out with a chocolate covered wafer with crushed pecans for dirt, molded nougat for zombie hand and tomb stone and chocolate rocks

Goolicious Cupcakes by Brittney of Brittalicious Delights (second entry)
Midnight mocha chocolate cake topped with pumpkin spiced butter cream icing and orange candy balls!

Dias de los Muertos Cupcakes by Courtney of C&C Cakery (first entry)
Cayenne and Pumpkin cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Butter Cream.

Pumpkin Smores Cupcakes by Courtney of C&C Cakery (second entry)
Graham Cracker and Chocolate Cake with Pumpkin Marshmallow on top

Cake O’Lantern by Christy of Christy633
Triple the pumpkin with this cupcake! A moist pumpkin spice cake topped with a pumpkin cream cheese filling…in a pumpkin! Okay…its an orange, but still cute :)

Pumpkin Ch-Eye Cupcakes by Andrea of Cupcake in Love
MMMmmmmm…. Pumpkin “Ch-Eye” Cupcakes with Condensed Milk Icing

Creepy Crawly Cupcakes by Stephanie of Cupcakes and Sundry
I made vanilla cupcakes and tinted half of the batter orange and the other half black. To make them scary I made legs out of Pocky, got some black icing and bought hundreds of eyes to make creepy crawly spiders.

Pumpkin Poundcake with Butter Pecan Glaze by Suzy of Cup-tin Creations
Even though Husband thought the cake was a little dry, coworker #1 and #2 shoved theirs in mouth and gave it a thumbs up! Best gal pal said the butter pecan double dunked glaze was perfection.

Ginger Cupcakes with Pumpkin Buttercream Frosting by Jenna of Daisy Cakez
These are ginger cupcakes with pumpkin buttercream frosting, chocolate spider webs for decoration. The pumpkin and ginger are very delicate together but are really balanced. I thought it would be more interesting to put the pumpkin in the frosting rather than the cupcake, and I’m glad I did.

Pumpkin Turtle Cupcakes by Amanda of Fake Ginger
Spicy pumpkin cake with whipped cream cheese frosting, caramel sauce, and candied pecans.

Peeptastic Pumpkin-Bottom Cupcakes by Dorothy of FuzzyKoala’s Caketastic Adventures
A twist on the perennial favorite, the black-bottom cupcake. Here, a gently spiced pumpkin cupcake takes the place of the traditional chocolate. The cheesecakey filling is kept light (both in texture and color) by using egg whites instead of whole eggs. The cupcake is topped with a cinnamon chip glaze, a Halloween Marshmallow PEEP and a puffy candy corn :)

Ghost Cupcake by Kate of Grin And Bake It
Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream Cupcake…Scary good!

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes by Janet of Go Walk The Dogs
Bingo! This one is a winner…pumpkin pie taste, creamy topping and a candy corn gummy to boot!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Cakes by Amanda of Is This Thing On?
Pumpkin & Vanilla Swirled Cake topped with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Buttercream

Pumpkin “Mummy” Cupcakes by Lindsay of Love And Olive Oil
Pumpkin chocolate chip cupcake cupcakes, topped with a buttery and delicious brown sugar meringue buttercream. Complete with candy eyeballs. Boo!

Halloween Cupcakes by Marianne of Marianne’s Sweet Delights
These sweet and spicy pumpkin cupcakes are topped with white and milk chocolate spider webs. They are definitely a treat rather than a trick!

Hocus Pocus Cupcakes by Mimi of Mimi’s Kitchen
Velvety pumpkin cupcake with a light caramel buttercream.

Simple Pumpkin Cupcakes by Sandi of Oh, Just Put A Cupcake In It
I like my pumpkin cupcakes plain and simple…pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and cream cheese frosting….yummy. Of course, normally I don’t have an eyeball staring at me when I eat a cupcake….but this is of course for Cupcake Hero!

Chocolate Pumpkin Bat Cupcakes by Michelle of One Ordinary Day
A delicious chocolate pumpkin cupcake with vanilla cream cheese frosting… all dressed up like a bat for Halloween.

Pumpkin Graveyard Cupcakes by Alicia of The Red Deer
Moist pumpkin spice cupcakes topped with sweet cinnamon butter cream, then finely crushed Oreo biscuits and spooky fondant skulls, bones and fingers.

Pumpkin Pistachio Monster Cupcakes by Sally of Sally’s Smorsels
Layers of pumpkin and pistachio dough covered in a cream cheese frosting combine to make a rich cupcake. This little guy is sure to be a hit at any party or event!

Chocolate Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes by Heather of Stepford Life
This chocolate cupcake is flavored with imperial pumpkin ale, and topped with a pumpkin pie spiced cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with tiny tombstones of course. Think a chocolate stout cupcake but BETTER.

Double Pumpkin Cupcake with White Chocolate Pumpkinseed frosting by Jessica of Summer Jean
I used fresh pumpkin and created a pumpkinseed butter from the seeds to replace butter and for the frosting. This makes them uber pumpkiny and very delicious. I just wanted to have as much pumpkin as I could put in a cupcake.

Pumpkin & Vanilla Cream Cupcakes by Samantha of Sweet Remedy Bake Shop (first entry)
These are Pumpkin & Vanilla Cream cupcakes with Pie Crust topped with Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing & fondant toppers all made by me.

Pumpkin & Vanilla Cream Cupcakes by Samantha of Sweet Remedy Bake Shop (second entry)
These are Pumpkin & Vanilla Cream cupcakes topped with Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing & cookie/fondant toppers all made by me. Cookie Bats, fondant bats & witch hats

Zombie Halloween Cupcakes by Jamieanne of The Sweetest Kitchen (first entry)
The cupcake is a chocolate pumpkin cake, filled with pumpkin buttercream and frosted with chocolate buttercream. Crushed Oreos provide the dirt-look, while an Oreo Fudgee makes a great-looking tombstone. The zombie hand cupcake toppers are from Bake It Pretty. And don’t you just love the Martha Stewart Halloween cupcake liners!

Dulce De Leche Pumpkin Cupcakes by Jamieanne of The Sweetest Kitchen (second entry)
These are some delicious Halloween cupcakes! The pumpkin cupcakes are filled with dulce de leche and frosted with dulche de leche buttercream. A chocolate spiderweb and a creepy spider (from Bake It Pretty) adorn the top of each cupcake. And don’t you just love the Martha Stewart Halloween cupcake liners!

Spooky Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes by Jodi of Tales of a Dark Haired Princess
Spooky Pumpkin Spice with vanilla frosting Spider web cupcakes.

Pumpkin Nutella Cupcakes by Emma of Tasty Snack Treats
These are my Pumpkin Nutella Cupcakes with a Nutella center and a Cream Cheese Nutella frosting. I tried to make witches hats with my frosting for the Halloween decoration part.

Chai Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes by Margaret of Tea and Scones (first entry)
I used Martha’s basic Pumpkin Patch Cup Cake and added Chai spice. These. Were. GOOD!!!

I Got My Eye On You Cupcakes by Margaret of Tea and Scones (second entry)
I’VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU!!! Bwahhahahah!!!

Bloodsucker Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes by Lindsey of TuTu Cupcakes
Cupcakes only The Slayer could destroy! Bloodsuckers Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes. Light flakey pie crust filled with the best Pumpkin Pie…It’s BLOODY good!

Ultimate Pumpkin Cupcakes by Anna of Very Small Anna
Sweet, soft spiced pumpkin cake with double chocolate ganache and a very special filling.

Yesterday was National Angel Food Cake Day so I baked up some angel food “cup”cakes to celebrate! Don’t you love holidays dedicated to random foods? I do! But of course I’m a self-proclaimed Miss Procrastinator and posted a day late. Oops. My bad. But I couldn’t help it! The cupcakes were calling me and my tummy wasn’t willing to wait an hour+ for me to wash the dishes, take the pictures, upload the pictures, write the blog post before I can eat the dang cupcake ya know?

That’s the thing about blogging. I don’t have a crew of 20 people behind the scenes helping me. All the components of my blog come from me, myself and I. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining but procrastination is bound to happen. C’est la vie.

But better late than never right?

So let me tell you about the cupcake that made me procrastinate.

I’ve never made angel food cake from scratch. I usually buy those cute little pre-made shortcakes in the 3-pack at the grocery store whenever I want a strawberry shortcake. But I got it into my head to bake an angel food cake from scratch and went off searching the googleverse for a tried and true recipe. When I found a recipe for Lemon Angel Food Cake from Maria of Two Peas and a Pod, I knew I’d have to try it. Even though my fellow blogger and friend, Maria didn’t make her angel food cupcakes with any frosting, my personal opinion is that it’s not a cupcake without frosting. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! (No disrespect, Maria!) So obviously the next step was figuring out frosting options.

I don’t know about you but when I think of lemon, I automatically think strawberry. Lemon and strawberry are like Batman and Robin, Bonnie and Clyde, Abbott and Costello… they just go together. Then all the sudden it hit me! Strawberry = pink. Pink = breast cancer awareness. Bada bing! 2for! I’d dedicate this cupcake to my friend Jen of Beantown Baker’s Power of Pink Challenge! You can read more information about it >> here. Support breast cancer awareness. Join the pink challenge fun today!

So there you have it. Cupcakes. It’s what’s for dinner (and breakfast and lunch)…

Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Recipe adapted from Cupcakes by Martha Stewart and Two Peas and a Pod

Print this recipe

Makes 12 cupcakes (I got 14 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS

For lemon angel food cupcakes
3/4 cup superfine sugar, divided*
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
5 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used lemon emulsion instead)
zest of one lemon (I used about 1 tbsp)

For strawberry swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC)
1-1/2 cups (8 ounces) fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled (I used 8 big strawberries)
4 large egg whites
1-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

* I used my coffee bean grinder and pulsed granulated sugar for about 10-15 seconds.

INSTRUCTIONS

To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift together cake flour and 1/4 cup superfine sugar. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, beat egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of superfine sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to soft peaks. Add in the vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in flour mixture in 2-3 additions. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full (almost to the top).

Bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown. The tops will spring back when lightly touched. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make strawberry SMBC—
Puree strawberries in a food processor and set aside.

Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until the mixture is warm to the touch and sugar is dissolved (the mixture should feel smooth when rubbed between your fingers.) In a stand mixer fitted with whisk, mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form about 10 minutes.

Switch to medium-low speed and add butter a few tablespoons at a time. Mix well after each addition. After all the butter has been added scrape down the bowl and switch to paddle attachment. (I’m a lazy baker and just continued with my whisk attachment instead of switching to paddle.)

Continue beating on low speed until buttercream becomes smooth. Don’t worry if the buttercream starts to look curdled. Just keep beating until it comes together. (It’s like magic!) Add strawberry puree and beat until combined.

To assemble cupcakes—
Using a Magic Tip 7ST (or favorite big star tip) pipe the buttercream in a rosette on each cupcake.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He raved about how light and fluffy the angel food cake was and really thought the creamy (not heavy) SMBC went well with the “cake”.

Wifey rating: A+
Ditto hubs. I love that there was a good strong lemon flavor from using the lemon emulsion (you could use a lemon extract too) and lemon zest that complimented the strawberry SMBC so well. I heart swiss meringue buttercream. Yum!

Other rating: A+
My little brother couldn’t get enough of this cupcake and asked if he could take 4 more back to his dorm to share. I wonder if he actually did “share” them though. HA!

Don’t shake your head at me.

I know what you’re thinking.

“It took you a week to count up the votes, CB, really?”

My answer? Yes, yes it did. I never said I was a math whiz and I do have a life outside cupcakes. *gasp* I know. Actually if you want the real scoop; There’s a lot of pretty exciting stuff happening at mi casa that took center stage above Cupcake Hero for a week. More deets here.

When I say this was a close call, trust me. This was a close call. By one vote. One stinking vote. Can you believe it? Obviously my taste testers loved both cupcakes but unfortunately “…only one can be the winner.” (It’s killing me that I can’t remember what show that’s from!!)

Congratulations Xiaolu! Please email me your address and I’ll ship off your prizes ASAP! My favorite comment from one of my taste tester’s was “Can I have another one?” HA! I think that tells you how awesome this cupcake was. Definitely deserving to be Cupcake Hero! If you would like the recipe to Xiaolu’s Caramelize Banana Creme Brulee Cupcake ~> Click here.

TIP: Heed Xiaolu’s advice about chilling the cupcake before brulee-ing the frosting. I froze the cupcake for an hour. If you don’t chill, it will melt and create a delicious swiss meringue buttercream hot mess all over your counter. This may or may not have happened to me. *wink* Don’t skip the caramelized banana either. The filling made this cupcake IMO.

Also wanted to say thanks to all the cup-testants for making Cupcake Hero’s comeback and great success. I hope we can continue that creative success into October. Do you have your baking caps on for Cupcake Hero::October? Deadline October 15th @ 11:59pm EST.

Be there or be quadrilateral. (Corny joke is an ode to my high school math teacher. You rock Mr. K!)