Spice Cupcakes with Maple Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

My blog.  It is definitely not at the top of the totem pole right now, obviously.

I have been busy:  four weddings in three weeks, my church's annual women's retreat, and then another wedding.  What is the deal with October?  I love all we are doing, but I really wish we could spread a little love onto September.  It was just plain awful!

As I mentioned in my last post, I went to New York last weekend, and it was wonderful. I didn't write about it last week, as I felt like a girl who met a really hot boy for the first time and was completely and irrationally gaga over him.  Because I was (irrationally gaga over my time there).  And I sounded pretty ridiculous in my brain.  For a lover of film, travelling to New York for the first time is like finally meeting a pen pal who you know so well and yet have never met face to face.  I was sad that it was a wee bit chilly the day of our outing into the city.  I had the perfect outfit planned which was in turn covered up with a bulky sweater. Would anyone would notice me?  Of course not. I just sensed that the eyes of one of the most fashionable cities in the world would look down on me from the heights of impossibly colossal buildings and spew my South Carolina swagger straight out.

Those Yankees can sniff out a drawl faster than you can say... well, something stereotypically southern.  And how I hate to stand out when I travel!

My two hours in the city were however trumped by my 2.5 days at West Point, preparing for the wedding of one of the most generous and kind girls in the world.  I will say more about it another time, when I can show you in pictures.

I have been back to my normal life for over a week now, baking and again knitting misshapen hats, doing a lot of hair and makeup, and loving on a family I left for 4 days and 3 whole nights.  Wow.

So as it has been awhile since I have tempted you with sweet treats, here is what has been smelling up my kitchen recently...

Spice Cupcakes with Maple Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting.

And they were heavenly.  And in the words of a young woman who ate one, "they taste like October."

And I would have to agree.

Spice Cake

So here you go.  A recipe:

Spice Cake with Maple Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
2 cups cake flour
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 t baking soda
1.5 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves
2 Tbsp. ground ginger
3/4 t kosher salt
3/4 c sour cream
1 stick of butter, completely softened
1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350.  Prepare 2 cupcake tins with liners.
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients (including sugars).  Add the sour cream and butter and beat on medium until they are fully incorporated. Add the eggs together and beat on medium until they are incorporated, and beat another 20 seconds or so.

Spoon batter into cups until they are somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes.  Pull out of tins immediately and cool on a rack.

Maple Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
2 sticks butter softened, but still cool
1 block name-brand cream cheese, softened but still cool
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 t pure maple flavoring (or 1 T real maple syrup)
1 t vanilla extract or paste
3.5 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar on medium high for 3 minutes.  Scrape down the sides.  Add the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated, and then beat on medium high for another 2 minutes.  Add the extracts and mix until incorporated.

I sometimes add a bit of good ol' pancake syrup to this, as few Americans know how real maple tastes.  Just be sure you use a syrup made without high fructose corn syrup:)

Fall is here, despite our 88 degree weather.  Wedding stress aside, make some of these and bring some comforting warmth to your high-strung self.

Rachel Bee

A recipe...

A few days ago I posted a recipe for Sweet Potato Lamingtons with Maple Goat Cheese Frosting.  You remember; these...

They were delicious, but as I mentioned before: they are tedious.  Annoying, even.

Beasts, if you will.

Here is the recipe, but I believe you might need a tutorial on how to construct these bad boys.

Sweet Potato Cake

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c + 2 tbsp. white sugar
1/2 c + 2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sweet potato puree (contents of about 1 roasted sweet potato)
1 t vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
1/4 baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 c buttermilk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare a 13x9 pan by putting down parchment paper in the bottom of the pan.  Make sure you let some hang over the sides as you will need to use it as handles to pull the cake out later.

Cream together the sugars and butter for 5-7 minutes, until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until completely incorporated.  Stir in puree and vanilla extract.


In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.  Beginning and ending with the flour mixture, add to  sweet potato mixture alternating with the buttermilk in 3 additions.  Scrape down the bowl after each addition.  Pour into the prepared pan, and bake for @ 25 minutes, but check at 20.  


When cake is done, let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then use a knife to scrape away any cake baked into the edges of the pan, and pull the entire cake out of the pan by its "handles."  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

When the cake is cool, take a look at it.  See how the edges slope down slightly?  Take a serrated knife and gently cut off those edges.  I believe I had to cut about an inch to an inch and a half off of each side.

For your remaining slap: if the long side of the cake is directly in front of you, using a ruler, measure 4 equal pieces, at around 2.5 inches wide.  Cut, gently.  Cutting the other way, you will only be able to cut 2 rows equal to 2.5".  Cut.

Now you should have 8 equal squares.  Wrap them up, and throw them in the freezer for at least an hour.

Frosting:  Take a square and set in front of you.  Take a few tablespoons of frosting and spread evenly on top.  Place a second square of cake on the top.  Check to see that the cakes are perfectly flush together.  If they are not, cut down the sides of cake until they are.  Don't get too crazy here, as you are looking or uniform little cubes.  Then, taking some frosting onto a small, offset spatula, run DOWN the sides of the cake, spreading a thin "crumb coat" down the sides of the cake, until all sides are covered.  Scrape the sides of your spatula off between applications, as the...well, just do it.

Place completed square in the freezer to set, and repeat with other cakes.

Pulling one cake out at a time, frost thinly again, careful to keep uniformity, but knowing that they are to be covered with the topping of your choice (don't be too anal).  Coat with toasted pecans, or whatever strikes your fancy (white chocolate is good as well).

Tadah.  Take a picture, show a friend- knock on a neighbor's door- you worked really hard on these.

Eat.

Maple Goat Cheese Frosting

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 package goat cheese, room temperature
2.5 cups powdered sugar, SIFTED
2-3 tablespoons whole milk
1 t vanilla
1 t all natural maple flavoring

Beat the goat cheese until slightly smooth.  Add butter, and blend together until no longer lumpy (this can take a minute).  Add the powdered sugar and stir until incorporated.  Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve a spreadable consistency.  Stir in extracts.  Makes enough frosting to coat and fill a 6" cake, or 4 lamingtons.

And there you have it.  See why a tutorial is in order?  See why you dip or pour frosting over traditional lamingtons?

Yikes.  Off to make some cookies.  I have an exciting cake to make this weekend (yes, it involves said "cookies").

Wiggling in my seat over the potential of this cake.  A delicious, textural explosion.

Have an extra beautiful day.

Rachel Bee