Pumpkin Muffins with Pecans

I have had a craving for pumpkin for days now so I decided to give in to it. I had a can of pure pumpkin in the cupboard and all the extra ingredients handy to whip up a dozen glorious little pumpkin muffins. These are topped with pecans and turbinado sugar for crunch but be forewarned, the pecans will weigh down the very light batter so they will not rise as much as you would expect. If you want a rounder top, just leave them plain before baking.

I found this source recipe on Healthy Food For Living and adjusted it slightly. I decided to leave out the cream cheese filling and just go with a straight-forward fluffy muffin. They are not too sweet and have so much depth of flavor given the cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg added to the batter. Superb with a cup of tea.

LET'S BEGIN

First off, have that key ingredient handy: Pumpkin - pure pumpkin, NOT pie filling

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup Sucanat or packed dark brown sugar (I split the difference and used 1/4 cup of each)
2 Tbsp unsulfured molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
turbinado or demerara sugar

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper cups.
IN A MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg).
IN A LARGE BOWL, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil, and eggs until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin, vanilla, and buttermilk.
ADD dry ingredients into wet and stir just until fully moistened.
SPOON batter into prepared muffin tin, filling to the top of the liner
SPRINKLE each filled muffin cup with a few pecans and sugar
BAKE muffins for 23-26 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean
LET MUFFINS COOL in the muffin tin for 5 minutes.
TRANSFER muffins to a wire rack and let cool completely.

This recipe also seen here:

Birthday Cake Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

My daughter asked me to make one, yes, ONE, cupcake for her friend at school as it was her birthday. I readily agreed being the loving and sweet mother I am.
And, I will admit, because I knew this would mean leftover cupcakes here for me, I mean "the family", to enjoy.

I wanted the cupcake batter to have a birthday cake feel to it. I remembered how my kids used to love Birthday Cake ice cream which was all the rage a few years ago. It had blue frosting swirled into the ice cream, some pink too if I recall correctly, and sprinkles thrown in for fun.

Instead of trying to swirl frosting into the cupcake somehow, I simply used my Wilton gel food dyes and streaked the batter with pink and teal coloring before filling up my muffin tins and baking away.

I then topped them with a strawberry cream cheese frosting and white sprinkles. I used my Wilton 2D piping tip to create the rose affect.

LET'S GET STARTED!


You will need your coloring gels handy
Pink and Teal
Grab several toothpicks as well; we will use them to
streak the color into the cupcake batter


and your 2D Piping Tip to make the Rosette topping


Now on with the show !

RECIPE: WHAT YOU NEED

WHITE CUPCAKES*

*Recipe Source: The Art and Soul of Baking

Standard muffin tin lined with paper liners.
Recipe makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulate white sugar
4 egg whites at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (7 ounces) cake flour. Weigh it out first then sift it !
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (3 ounces) sour cream at room temperature
Pink and Teal Gel Coloring
Toothpicks

FROSTING

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3 oz plain cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups powdered/icing sugar, sifted
2-3 drops Strawberry Extract Oil (not the regular extract, but the oil, as it has stronger flavor and more truer to the taste of real berries) A little goes a long way!
Pink Gel Coloring
Sprinkles

MAKE IT

CUPCAKES

IN LARGE BOWL, cream together butter and sugar, MED speed with electric mixer 4-5 minutes
IN SMALL BOWL, WHISK together egg whites and vanilla just until combined
ADD EGG MIXTURE, one tablespoon at a time, to butter mixture blending well after each addition.
SCRAPE down sides of bowl when required
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt
ADD 1/3 DRY INGREDIENTS to butter mixture, mix until combined
ADD 1/2 OF THE SOUR CREAM, to butter mixture, mix until combined
CONTINUE THIS PATTERN ending with flour.
ENSURE batter is well combined and no dry areas remain
WITH YOUR TOOTH PICK, scoop out some pink gel coloring and add it to your batter in different areas.
DO the same with the teal gel coloring
WITH YOUR TOOTHPICKS, swirl the coloring throughout the batter. You want mostly clear lines of color, do not over-blend or you will have on strange colored cupcake !
FILL muffin tins 3/4 way to the top

BAKE 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
ALLOW TO COOL COMPLETELY on a cooling rack





FROSTING:

IN LARGE BOWL, cream together butter and cream cheese, MED speed with electric mixer 4-5 minutes
ADD icing sugar and beat, MED speed, another 2-3 minutes
ADD strawberry extract blending until thoroughly combined
WITH A TOOTHPICK, add in a little pink gel food coloring. Blend and add more til you have the depth of color desired
PIPE frosting onto cooled cupcakes and finish off with sprinkles

For the birthday girl who is turning 16:
Her very own cupcake all tucked away in its little carrying case.

The yellow circle and #16 were made easily with candy melts.

Maple Mousse in Tuile Bowls

Time for the April Daring Baker's Challenge!

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

For the container I decided to try my hand at Tuile cookies. They were a challenge all on their own. I ended up ruining one entire batch because I had yet to figure out the right timing to take them off the cookie sheet and fold them over my little glass bowls to form an "edible container". To early and they fell apart; too late and they did the same thing. The dog enjoyed the failures. Ok, I confess, I did too.

Once I was successful in the Tuile department I had to decide how to liven them up a bit. So I took my handy-dandy foodie paintbrush and brushed the edges with corn syrup. Then I sprinkled small white candy balls over the sticky edges. Worked like a charm!

As far a the mousse goes, that was lovely to make. I was initially worried the hot syrup would "scramble" my eggs but nope, the tempering step worked perfectly.

Overall the final product was delightful and I will definitely make this again because
as you well know, I am a maple sugar addict !

Let's Get Started

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

FOR THE TUILES:
makes approx. 7-8 cookies
source recipe: The Art and Soul of Baking

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sifted cake flour
2 large egg whites
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Corn syrup and sprinkles for decorating

FOR THE MAPLE MOUSSE:
1 cup (240 ml/ 8 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)
4 large egg yolks
1 package (7g/1 tbsp.) unflavoured gelatine
1 1/2 cups (360 ml. g/12 fluid oz) whipping cream (35% fat content)

MAKE IT

TUILES:

IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together flour and sugar
ADD eggs and vanilla, whisk until combined
ADD melted butter; continue to whisk until batter is smooth
COVER bowl with cling wrap and let sit in fridge for 30 minutes
PREHEAT OVEN to 350F
LINE a cookie sheet with parchment paper

MAKE 3 COOKIES at a time
SCOOP 1 tablespoon of batter per cookie onto the parchment paper leaving at least 3 inches between cookies.
SPREAD into circle shape with icing spatula . My cookies were approx. 4"- 5" in diameter
HAVE 3 rounded small glass bowls handy which you can use to shape your baked cookies. Turn it over and spray it lightly with cooking spray
BAKE cookies 7-9 minutes until edges are golden brown
PLACE cookies on cooling rack and allow to cool 1 minute
WITH SPATULA, lift cookies off rack place each one for the upside down bowl.
PRESS cookies in slightly towards the bowl to form a bowl shape
ALLOW to cool 20 minutes
WHEN fully cooled, gently remove from glass bowls, turn right side up and coat edges with corn syrup. Use a food safe paint brush for this
SPRINKLE gooey edges with any sprinkles you like.



MAPLE MOUSSE:

BRING maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.
IN A LARGE BOWL, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).
ADD warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.
MEASURE 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.
WHISK the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
WHISK occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.
WHIP the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour.
REMOVE from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.
I piped my mousse into the cups and topped each one off with a sprinkling of maple sugar

WONDERFUL AS A FANCY DESSERT
TRY THESE AT YOUR NEXT DINNER PARTY!

It's Giveaway Time Again !!!

NO MORE SUBMISSIONS BEING ACCEPTED - CONTEST CLOSED MAY 13TH

It is time for another Lemon Drop Giveaway! I had such fun last time I couldn't wait to host my 2nd giveaway.

Please consider this my way of expressing my sincere thanks and deep appreciation to you all - my beautiful followers. You inspire me every day and Lemon Drop is a success because of YOU !

This giveaway has a Paula Deen theme; all items are from her Kitchen Collection. Each item has a matching design so I am giving away all items as one prize to the lucky winner.

The winner will receive the following PRIZES:

A Brand New Paula Deen Recipe Card Box

Matching Mug (this is made of hard plastic, not ceramic)



Recipe Cards to fill your new Recipe Card Box


And last but not least, adorable Paper Cupcake Liners!

Giveaway rules are exactly the same as my first giveaway
and are as follows:

GIVEAWAY TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Minimum requirements (1 chance to win):

• Be a follower of this blog and add a comment to this post stating you are a follower. To follow, simply scroll down on the right until you see the Follow button in the sidebar. Then join up!
  

Please do ensure that you meet the minimum requirement or I regret to say that your entry won't be counted.


Additional chances to win:

• Minimum requirements must still be met

• Publish a post on this giveaway in your own blog and link it back to this post (+2 more chances to win)

• Add a link at the side of your blog (sidebar) to my blog. Feel free to use any image from this post if you want to (+ 1 more chance to win)

• Provide a link to your blog in your comment and leave the post/link on your blog for 1 more week after the giveaway has closed for compilation purposes.

Important:

Contest closes 11 PM EST, May 13th , 2011. An online random selection tool (@ random.org) will be used to select the winner. Name of winner will be announced on Lemon Drop at 12:00 PM EST, May 20th, 2011 and a request will be issued to the winner to contact me privately. The winner has 24 hours after winner announcement to contact me and claim their prize.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL !

Raspberry Breakfast Buns

Easter morning had arrived and I began making cinnamon buns. Then I saw the 2 pints of raspberries hidden the in back of the fridge and had an idea ! Why not switch things up and make fresh raspberry breakfast buns instead? And to go a step further, why not top them off with a raspberry cream cheese icing? The results were wonderful!

These are buttery rolls that taste so fresh and light. Perfect for Easter morning!

Let's get started!

Here they are ready to rise 1/2 hr before baking

Baked and ready to be iced !

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

A bread maker with a dough setting
9X13" baking dish

DOUGH INGREDIENTS

1 large egg at room temperature
1 1/4 cups warm water (80F or 27C)
3 1/2 teaspoons oil (plain vegetable oil works best. I used Becel)
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups white bread flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (I use the type marked for bread maker use)

* melted butter (1/4 cup) and 2-3 tablespoons demerara or turbinado sugar - to be added after rolls have been cut and placed in baking pan

THE FILLING

2 pints fresh raspberries
1/2 cup white sugar or vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

THE ICING

1/2 cup cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sifted icing sugar
4 tablespoons raspberry syrup (set aside while making the filling)


MAKE IT

IN BREAD MAKER, combine all dough ingredients in the order specified (do not add melted butter and demerara/turbinado sugar at this stage) and set to Dough cycle.
This will knead the dough and the allow it to rise for the necessary time
WHILE DOUGH IS RISING, in a large bowl, mash raspberries and sugar.
NEARING the end of the first dough rising stage, remove 4 tablespoons of the raspberry juice which has now pooled at the bottom of the bowl and set aside.
REMOVE 3 more tablespoons of juice and in a small bowl whisk together juice and 1 tsp cornstarch. Add back to berries stirring well to combine
WHEN DOUGH HAS RISEN, flour work surface well and roll out dough into a large rectangle (12" x 16")
SPREAD berry mixture onto rolled dough leaving berry-free 1/4" edge on all sides
ROLL up dough tightly to form a long log and pinch edge together to form a seal
CUT DOUGH evenly into 9 rolls
PLACE in baking pan
BRUSH melted butter over the tops of the rolls.
ALLOW TO RISE 30 minutes, covered with a tea towel, in a warm spot

PREHEAT oven to 350F
WHEN ROLLS HAVE RISEN, sprinkle tops with turbinado or demerara sugar
BAKE 35 MINUTES
PLACE pan on cooling rack and allow to cool 15 MIN before icing

MAKE ICING:
COMBINE all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk on MED speed with electric mixer 2-3 minutes
SPREAD icing over rolls.

DIG IN !

THESE ARE STICKY - A FORK AND KNIFE WORK WELL

Maple Sugar Liège Waffles

I am having a lot of "first" baking experiences lately and this is one of them. I had read about Liège waffles for quite some time but finding pearl sugar here in Canada is like spotting Santa sliding down the chimney. It just doesn't happen. Then I found a recipe online that stated you could substitute with maple flakes and that I do have !

These are not a quick thing to make. There are 2 rising stages with the dough, each one lasting 1/2 hr. But never rush a good thing. These prove there is truth in that saying.

The consistency reminds me of a sweet roll. There are little tiny pockets of melted sugar within the bread-like finished product. The outer crust is crispy and sweet. I can safely say, I adore these. I had 1 1/2 to myself and was beyond stuffed yet seemed to continually catch myself tearing off a bit more here and there. I felt so "European" eating these and as if I was indulging in a guilty pleasure; no surprise given the amount of butter in these beauties. Serve them plain, dusted with icing sugar, drizzled with syrup or topped with a smear of good jam. Entirely up to you!

Now let's get started because you need to make these - NOW

RECIPE*:

* Source recipe which I have altered can be found here Eat My Cake Now

WHAT YOU NEED

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, heated to 100F
2 tablespoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
the scraping of one vanilla bean
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2/3 cup maple flakes


MAKE IT

IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together milk, yeast and sugar. Allow to sit 5-10 minutes
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together flour and salt
ADD eggs, vanilla extract and vanilla bean scrapings to milk mixture. Whisk until well combined
ADD wet mixture to flour mixture and stir until dough starts to hold together and no visible dry areas
COVER with a tea towel and let rest in a warm area for 1/2 hr
IN MEDIUM BOWL, with electric hand mixer, beat butter for 2-3 minutes until light and creamy.
STIR in maple sugar flakes
WITH your hands, knead the butter mixture into the dough mixture just until combined.
COVER again with tea towel and lest rest another 1/2 hr

PREHEAT your waffle maker
SCOOP 1 heaping tablespoon of dough into each waffle area
BAKE according to waffle maker instructions

ENJOY!

Featured Here: Sweet Tooth Friday

Featured Here: FOODIE FRIDAY !

Baked Donuts with Chocolate Glaze

My first attempt at making donuts. These are baked as I simply was not in the mood to start messing with hot oil.

Technically, baked donuts should result in reduced calories compared to the deep-fried version but in this case, the glaze makes up for the difference!

These are simple old-style donuts flavored with nutmeg and a dash of vanilla extract.
They bake up very quickly and have a lovely light and airy texture.

The glaze is a mixture of chocolate, butter and corn syrup. I drizzled the tops with yellow, white and pink melted candy coating and finished them with white ball sprinkles. I like how the drizzle hardens for a sweet crunch but stays adhered well to the gooey glaze underneath.

The kids have tried these baked delights and voted: YES !

LET'S BEGIN


I ordered this pan online and it arrived today. I couldn't wait to try it out
so I jumped right in and started baking! This particular pan is made by Wilton.

The batter makes 12 donuts so I simply baked up 6 at a time. They only have to cool 5 minutes in the pan and then you can put them on a cooling rack. They only need to bake for 7 minutes and are cooled down and ready for glazing in 15 minutes maximum.

These are a huge hit with our entire family and won't last long!

RECIPE*:
* Source donut batter and glaze recipe: Wilton

WHAT YOU NEED

Donuts

2 cups cake and pastry flour, sifted
3/4 cup fine granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Glaze

1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup ( I love Lyle's Golden Syrup)
2 - 3 teaspoons hot water

Drizzle

1/2 cup pink candy melts
1/2 cup white candy melts
1/2 cup yellow candy melts
sprinkles - feel free to choose whatever kind you like!

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 425F
SPRAY donut pan with cooking spray
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 5 dry ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, combine remaining donut ingredients and whisk until combined
ADD WET INGREDIENTS to dry ingredients and stir just until combined
SPOON batter into prepared pan. I found that 3 teaspoons per donut cup works well. Give the pan a little shake after filling the cups to even out the batter

BAKE 7-9 minutes or when donuts spring back to the touch. Mine were perfect at 7 minutes.
ALLOW to cool in pan 5 minutes then transfer donuts to cooling rack. Just flip the pan upside down over the cooling rack then turn the donuts right side up to cool completely

MAKE GLAZE

MICROWAVE all ingredients except water for 1 minute at 50% power stirring occasionally until melted. Add water until you have a consistency you like.

MAKE DRIZZLE

PLACE CANDY MELTS in individual bowls to keep colors separate. Melt according to package instructions. You can drizzle these by either using drizzle bottles, piping bags or just going back and forth over the donut with a spoon.

DECORATE DONUTS

LEAVING DONUTS ON COOLING RACK, place the rack over a cookie sheet lined with wax paper to ease the pain of clean-up.
SPREAD chocolate glaze over donuts
DRIZZLE colored candy melts in zig-zag fashion or cross-hatch (totally up to you)
FINISH off with sprinkles

NOTE: if you want a more "deep fried" taste dip them in melted butter when they are still warm then toss them in some cinnamon sugar. FANTASTIC !!

DIG IN!

Featured Here: Sweet Tooth Friday

Featured Here: FOODIE FRIDAY !