Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes

Dear Fall,
Welcome to my life. You've been missed the last several months as I've suffered Alabama's heat and humidity. Please get legit quickly, and feel free to stay a while.
Hearts,

Jenny-Lyn

These are my favorite pumpkin cupcakes, and I think they'll be yours if you try them. Two key players: brown butter and cinnamon cream cheese icing. I discovered this recipe at Baked Perfection last fall, and it's served me well since then. When my friend Rachel and I planned a dinner for the singles group at our church this week, we figured pumpkin dessert would be a great finishing touch. We were right because there were only three of the seventy-five cupcakes left at the end of the night. Granted, these were two-bite size, but that's still some serious cupcake consumption! Several people at the dinner requested the recipe, so this post is for them... and for you. Because I like you.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes

chefjennylyn.com

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground gloves

1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tins with paper liners. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown, Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown-butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. (For two-bite size, bake 13-15 minutes.)

Yield: 15 standard cupcakes

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then cinnamon and vanilla; mix until smooth.

The flour mixture contains my favorite spices of the season, so it's an automatic win. Everything is measured using the Measuring Spoon Set and the Measuring Cup Set, and I've got a Pinch Bowl and the Cutting Board each doing its thing.

Brown butter is just butter that's cooked until it turns brown and smells nutty. The rich smell will send you into a state of bliss, but there's nothing like the flavor hit inside the cupcakes. Anyway, Rachel is using the 8-Qt. Casserole from the Executive Cookware Collection and the Mix 'n Scraper. What a pro!

Every time I mix a batter, I'm shocked by how disgusting it looks. That's why I included this picture - I want to shock you. One nice thing about this recipe, however, is that it doesn't require a mixer, just a Stainless Whisk, a Stainless Mixing Bowl, and a little T.L.C.

The cupcakes are divided into liners with the Medium Scoop, and they're going to bake up beautifully on a Cookie Sheet. From here, the kitchen will begin to smell amazing, and Rachel and I will have to offer one another accountability to keep from eating all the cupcakes before the evening's feast. That's what friends are for, after all.

Fall vegetables and half an old banana set the mood for baking. These guys are cooling to perfection on a Cooling Rack, but I have to admit one of them didn't make it to see the icing. No, he was eaten by two girls who just couldn't take the temptation any longer. That's all I'll say about that.

Rachel and I worked like fiends on our Sunday meal. It was a huge undertaking, but we said early on that when everything was finished and the kitchen was cleaned we would get one cupcake each. Five hours later, after what I can only describe as organized chaos, we loaded the car, got ready to transport the food, and sat down to enjoy our reward. I don't think I've ever savored anything like each of the four bites I squeezed out of my dessert, and I'm assuming the same for Rachel. At least, that's the impression I got when I glanced over to see her closed eyes and content face. The aching feet and tired backs stopped for a couple of minutes, and all was right with the world.

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E-mail me: chefjennylyn[at]gmail.com

Call me up: (205) 585-2464

Green Velvet Cupcakes

If you're looking for a St. Patrick's Day treat that's sure to blow minds, look no further. These little two-bite cupcakes are made with my great-grandma's red velvet recipe, and I promise you'll love them. My sweet friends Nathan and Julie are about to get married, and I'm doing their Pampered Chef shower tomorrow night... which happens to be St. Patrick's Day! I didn't want to go over the top with green everything, but I couldn't ignore this important holiday on which we celebrate... well, I'll Google it later. For now, I'll just get to the nitty-gritty.

Green Velvet Cupcakes
chefjennylyn.com

Cake
1 1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. vinegar
1 oz. green food coloring

Icing1 stick butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.Sift dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Mix oil, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Add all cake ingredients to oil/sugar/egg mixture, and beat well.

Scoop 2 tablespoons of batter in small muffin cups (3 tbsp. for large, 1 tbsp. for mini). Bake one pan at a time for 14-16 minutes.

For icing, beat butter and cream cheese together. Gradually add powdered sugar until mixture is smooth and creamy. Pipe on cooled cupcakes, and decorate.

Wow, there's a lot going on here! Let's just dive in: Sugar, oil, and buttermilk (gag) are in the Easy Read Measuring Cups, my favorite measuring tools of all-time! Then there's the little Easy Read Mini Measuring Cup beside those to give you some perspective. Vinegar is in an Adjustable Measuring Spoon, and Vanilla and baking soda are in the Measuring Spoon Set. I measured flour with the Measuring Cup Set, and the handy leveler tool is resting on those. My eggs are in a Prep Bowl, and everything is on top of the Large Cutting Board. Then I've got my Stainless Mixing Bowls ready to go with my mom's old sifter in the small one. No, this is not a Pampered Chef sifter (we don't have one), but it IS the greatest sifter I've ever used. I don't know its history, but I think it's been in the family a long, long time.

By the way, I know I hate buttermilk, but do not abuse my great-grandma's recipe by using anything but the real deal. None of that fat free junk!


A customer of mine in California - Dawn, this is your shout out! - told me she couldn't use anything but the Pampered Chef Madagascar Vanilla because it's the best. Unfortunately, I never got around to ordering any, so I remained a consultant who didn't know her own vanilla. Tragic, but true... Anyway, I was recently given a $250 shopping spree from the company (I know, right? Join my team, and you can get free stuff, too!), and I decided it was the perfect time to order my vanilla. It didn't matter that I had a brand new bottle of "Someone Else's Pure Vanilla Extract" in my cabinet - I had to try this! You'll notice that my recipe says 1 tsp., but I used a 1/2-tsp. Measuring Spoon. That's because this is double-strength and therefore goes twice as far. Yes, this 4-oz. bottle is really 8 beautiful, brown ounces of awesomeness. Dawn was right - just the smell when I opened this told me I would never go back. By the way, that's the Stainless Whisk in a Stainless Mixing Bowl.



Man, it's amazing what an entire bottle of green food coloring can do! My muffin cups are on the Cookie Sheet, and I did a second batch on the Large Bar Pan. If you don't have a Medium Scoop, please do me a favor and get one! This is the runniest cake batter I've ever worked with, and I think I would have had a huge mess without my scoop. The Mix 'n Scraper was a hero, making sure all the batter was off the sides of my bowl. That equals more cupcakes, people! More cupcakes!!!


When you make icing, be sure you take the "gradual" to heart with your powdered sugar. Otherwise, you end up with a huge mess and a lot of frustration. I just use the Measuring Cup Set to add a cup at a time, and I rarely walk away with a blanket of powdered sugar all over my front. Rarely is not equal to never, but it's better than always. Hey, check out my copy of the recipe! My aunt Barber (or Barbara) let me make a copy of her hand-written, oil-stained original, and I get excited every time I pull it out!

Now for the fun part! The Skinny Scraper is the perfect size for loading the Easy Accent Decorator full of icing. Then you can just screw on a tip, and you're good to go! This tool is fabulous, and it's great for kids when they want to help in the kitchen.

People who are good at decorating things can ignore this tip, but the rest of us should heed the warning: Patience. Center your tip, slowly press the button, and let the icing shape itself. There are all kinds of things you can do, but these are small cupcakes, and I didn't want to mess them up trying to be a hero. One good, big blob of pretty icing is always a safe bet.

Then you can decorate with whatever you want, but I prefer leftover Christmas sprinkles. I remember using these in December thinking they looked too St. Patrick's Dayish, and now look at me go! Just ignore the snowflakes that slipped by my eagle eye. I've got 24 cupcakes on the Large Rectangular Platter with Handles from the Simple Additions Collection, and my back-ups are in the Cool & Serve Square Tray. I LOVE this tray for transporting cupcakes because it's tall enough to leave the icing in-tact. I mean, you saw how difficult my technique was, so the last thing I want is some stupid lid messing it up! Lastly, I have my leftover icing in the Easy Accent Decorator with the handy cap stuck on for storage.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Enjoy being American and acting as though you have Irish roots even if you have no clue. Except me... I'm sure there's some back there somewhere.

Like the products you saw used?

Shop Online 24/7 at pamperedchef.biz/jennylyn

E-mail me: chefjennylyn[at]gmail.com

Call me up: (205) 585-2464