Pumpkin Cupcakes

Better late than never right? It's still November, which means it is still pumpkin season. The last pumpkin recipe of the year, pumpkin cupcakes or cake.. whatever you prefer. This cake is so moist and flavorful.. just make it today before you get the christmas flavor craving. Here's what you'll need

Oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and of course, pumpkin. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar

Beat together until combined. Add vanilla and oil

Mix it all together; add in all your dry ingredients

Stir on low speed until just combined. Now its time for the pumpkin

Stir it in until well combined, but being careful not to overmix. Scoop batter into lined cupcake pans

Bake!

Pop those babies out of the pan and let cool completely. While cooling prepare the cream cheese frosting. Here's the step by step frosting recipe that we've made many times before

http://kysweettoothsisters.blogspot.com/2011/04/red-velvet-cupcakes.html

If you want to change it up a little, you can make cinnamon cream cheese frosting. The only difference is adding a little cinnamon when you add the powdered sugar. Simple as that. Frost and decorate with those little pumpkin candy corns.. which is optional, I just wanted an excuse to buy them :)

Store these in the fridge.. enjoy you're last pumpkin fix for a while and happy late Thanksgiving! 

Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup oil

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 heaping cup pumpkin

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar; beat together. Add vanilla and oil, mixing until well combined. Stir in the dry ingredients on low speed until just combined. Dump in the pumpkin and stir, being careful not to overmix. Scoop into mini lined cupcake pans. Bake at 350 degress for about 10-15 minutes. Cool in pans for a couple of minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. While cooling, preare the frosting.

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, almost room temp.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft

2 tsp. vanilla

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon, if using. Beat until well combined and there are no lumps. If using pecans, fold in. Frost cupcakes and enjoy! Keep stored in fridge.

... This recipe is split in half. If you want to make a cake, double the recipe and bake in 8 inch round cake pans for 25-30 minutes or a bundt pan for 40-50 minutes. 

Frosted Pumpkin Blondies

I am on a roll with the pumpkin stuff now. I had half of the can left from the bread so these were necessary to make so the pumpkin wouldn't go to waste. I love blondies and pumpkin, so I made these right when I saw the recipe. The outcome was positive. The pumpkin makes the texture some what bready, so they didn't have the chewy blondie texture I was expecting, but that wasn't a bad thing, just different. Then of course, I had to add frosting and I just happened to have some cream cheese icing already made up in the fridge. I highly recommend these, especially if you need some help getting in the fall spirit :) Here's what you'll need

Butter, brown sugar, vanilla, an egg, pumpkin, flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, cinnamon chips, white chocolate chips, and pecans. In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Add brown sugar and vanilla

 Mix well. Even after the brown sugar is mixed in, it will separate from the butter, but that is normal. Once you add more ingredients they will incorporate. Add the egg

Mix well. Stir in pumpkin

 Next, add all the remaining ingredients: flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, cinnamon chips, white chocolate chips, and pecans

Carefully fold into the batter until just combined. Scoop into a foil lined (I use the non-stick foil so I don't have to spray the foil, but regular foil will work fine as long as you grease it) 9x13 pan. Spread the batter out evenly

Once finished baking, remove from oven and let the bars cool completely

 Prepare the cream cheese frosting. I've made cream cheese frosting before so here is the link to the recipe: http://kysweettoothsisters.blogspot.com/2011/04/red-velvet-cupcakes.html. If you half the recipe, you should have the perfect amount of icing. Spread the finished frosting over the cooled pumpkin blondies. Cut and serve.. with a pumpkin spice latte :) 

Store in an air-tight container (in the fridge) up to about 3 days.

Pumpkin Blondies

(adapted from 'the girl who ate everything')

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1¼ cups brown sugar
1 large egg
1 T. vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup cinnamon chips
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until sugar dissolves. Beat in the egg until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. Add the remaining ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake about 30-35 minutes, or until the blondies no longer jiggle in the middle. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool. While cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting.

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 stick unsalted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy and smooth. (Usually, when I make frosting I make sure the butter and cream cheese are soft. This time when I made the frosting, I only let the cream cheese and butter sit about about 15-20 minutes. When I started making the frosting they were both still hard, but I just beat them together for a while with the mixer and believe it or not, cream cheese frosting has never turned out better for me.) Mix in the vanilla. Lastly, add the powdered sugar about a cup at a time, beating well after each addition and making sure there are no lumps. Spread over the cooled blondies. Peel foil away from blondies, cut into 24 squares and serve! Keep stored in fridge.

6 Layer Cake :)

There are no words for this cake. The first time I had it was when Ellen Griffin brought over a huge slice of it to our house. I'm so thankful for that day.. not being dramatic, just honest. It's her mom (Cindy Griffins) recipe and she was nice enough to share it with us :) This is definitely sweet tooth sisters go-to cake. It is devoured every time we make it, no matter how many people contribute to stuffing their faces. I have a friend who doesn't like chocolate, but loves this cake. I also have a friend who doesn't like cake, but guess what.. she loves this cake. Credit for the best cake ever goes to Cindy Griffin. Thanks so much! We know we can't make it as good as hers, but we try our hardest! I am confident you will fall in love with this cake. Here's what you need for the Swiss Torte Cake (6 layer cake, Cindy Griffin cake, best cake ever, chocolate cool whip cake) any of the above will work

Chocolate cake mix, instant chocolate pudding, eggs, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Combine all ingredients into one large mixing bowl, easy as pie! Actually, easier than pie

Stir on low speed until combined. Turn up the speed to about medium and beat for 30 seconds, or until there are no/few lumps in the batter. Finished batter

Pour batter evenly into 3 well greased cake pans

Bake to perfection

Carefully flip out of pans right away onto a wax paper lined cooling rack. Let the cakes cool to room temperature. While cooling, prepare the cool whip frosting. Here's what you'll need for the most amazing frosting ever

Cream cheese, sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla, cool whip, and hershey candy bars. In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and powdered sugar

Beat until creamy. Fold in thawed cool whip and chopped hershey bars

Here's the finished frosting

Don't even bother trying to resist this stuff. Now assemble the cake. Cut the cooled cake layers in half to make 2 layers

Carefully pick up half of the cut layer and place it on the serving plate you're using. Slap some frosting on top

Spread it around evenly and lay the other half of the layer on. Repeat until all 6 layers have been stacked

Use the remaining frosting to cover the tops and outside of the cake

Now slice, and surprise :)

Here's the beautiful birthday girl with her cake

And if you want, some people like oreos on their cake..

I love this little booger. Keep cake refrigerated! Personally I like this cake better when it sits overnight, I think it's more moist the second day.

Swiss Chocolate Cake 

(Mrs. Cindy Griffin)

1 box chocolate cake mix (milk chocolate, devils food, swiss chocolate)- any will work

1 small box instant chocolate pudding

3 eggs

1 Tbs. vanilla

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until combined, turn mixer up to medium speed and beat until there are no lumps in the batter. Pour into 3 8-inch round greased cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until cakes are no longer jiggly in the middle. Remove from the oven and let sit about 2 minutes. Carefully flip cakes out onto wax/parchment paper lined cooling racks. Prepare the frosting while the cakes are cooling.

cool whip frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, soft

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

16 oz. cool whip, soft

6 hershey bars, chopped

Beat together cream cheese, both sugars, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Fold in cool whip and chopped hershey bars. Now it's time to assemble your cake. Cut the cooled cake layers in half to make 2 layers. Carefully pick up half of the cut layer and place it on the serving plate you're using. Slap some frosting on top. Spread it around evenly and lay the other half of the layer on. Repeat until all 6 layers have been stacked. Use the remaining frosting to cover the tops and outside of the cake. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. I guarantee this cake will be a huge hit. Thanks again for the recipe, Cindy! 

Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake for National Cheesecake Day!

Cake and Cheesecake are my two favorite desserts.. and with dessert, I get both. It's like 2 in 1. Perfect. You can do any type of cheesecake or cake combination you like. For example, chocolate cake with peanut butter cheesecake. This is one of my most asked for desserts, it looks impressive, but it's actually pretty simple. Let's start out with the cheesecake layer. Here's what you'll need

A boat load of cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and sour cream. Place cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl

Beat on low speed until combined, then turn up to medium and beat until fluffy, about a minute. Add vanilla and sour cream

Mix until combined, then add eggs, one at a time

Beat well after each addition. Pour cheesecake batter into a greased springform pan

Bake and cool. Refrigerate about 2 hours. While the baked cheesecake is chilling, prepare the cake layer. I've already made this exact red velvet cake recipe in cupcakes so I didn't take pictures. Here's the link to the recipe http://kysweettoothsisters.blogspot.com/2011/04/red-velvet-cupcakes.html. 

The only thing you need to do differently is use 2 round cake pans (what ever size the springform pan is. For example, if you are using a 9-inch springform pan for the cheesecake, you should use 9-inch cake pans for the cake.) Once you have baked your cakes, flip them out of the pans onto wax paper lined cooling racks to cool completely. Now for the last step before assembling, prepare the cream cheese frosting. I've also made cream cheese frosting before so I didn't take step by step pictures of this process either. It shows how to make it in the same link above. Sorry if all of that was super confusing, I did the best I could.. 

So you now have all 3 parts of the dessert made and ready to go. It's time to assemble your red velvet cake cheesecake! Place one layer of the red velvet cake on the serving plate you are going to use. Cover with 1/4 of the cream cheese frosting

Set the cheesecake gently on top of the frosting. Be VERY careful, the cheesecake could split in half, not speaking from personal experience or anything... Now slab on a layer of frosting over the cheesecake. This is a little tricky because the cheesecake is slick

Now stack on the last cake layer and frost all the tops and sides of the cake cheesecake. If desired you can decorate it somehow. I chopped white bakers chocolate and covered the sides and tops in the chopped chocolate. Here's the inside of the Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake

Cut yourself a huge piece, eat the whole thing, and don't regret it :)

Store in refrigerator. 

Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake

Cheesecake:

3 (8 oz. pkgs) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

2 Tbs. vanilla

3 eggs

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar on low speed until combined. Once combined, beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in sour cream and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Once your cheesecake batter is finished, pour into a greased 9-inch round spring form pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn oven off and open door slightly. Remove cheesecake from oven and let cool completely. Prepare the other parts of the cheesecake cake while cooling.

Cake:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 Tbs. cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tbs. vinegar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 oz. red food coloring

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Stir together until combined. Pour into 2 9-inch round greased cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-28 minutes or until done the cake is set in the middle. Take out of the oven to cool. Flip cakes out of the pans onto a wax paper lined wire wrack. Cool completely. While cooling, prepare the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 stick unsalted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy and smooth. (Usually, when I make frosting I make sure the butter and cream cheese are soft. This time when I made the frosting, I only let the cream cheese and butter sit about about 15-20 minutes. When I started making the frosting they were both still hard, but I just beat them together for a while with the mixer and believe it or not, cream cheese frosting has never turned out better for me.) Mix in the vanilla. Lastly, add the powdered sugar about a cup at a time, beating well after each addition and making sure there are no lumps. Now put together the cake.

Assemble: 

Place one of the red velvet cake layers on the serving plate you choose to use. Scoop 1/4 of the frosting on that layer and spread out evenly. Gently set the cheesecake over the frosting. Carefully spread 1/4 of the frosting on the cheesecake (be careful, the frosting will be hard to spread over the cheesecake because it is slick. If you're having trouble, just be patient, it will spread out eventually. Now set the last cake layer over the frosted cheesecake. Use the rest of the frosting to cover the tops and sides of the cheesecake cake. Decorate if desired. Store in fridge, enjoy :)

Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Bean Cake

This is a perfect summer cake. It's fresh, sweet, fruity, but still rich and delicious. I just made a basic vanilla cake recipe, put strawberries in between the layers and frosted with real vanilla bean frosting. I adapted Billy's vanilla cupcake recipe for the cake. So here's what you'll need for the vanilla cake

Butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, sift together both flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder

Slice butter into tablespoons and add to the dry mixture

Mix until the butter is crumbly and covered with dry mixture. In a large pourable measuring cup, whisk together milk, vanilla, and eggs

Slowly pour into the first mixture

Beat until just combined, being careful not to over mix

Pour batter evenly into 2 round, greased 9-inch pans. Bake

When cakes are finished baking, pull out of the oven and let cool a couple of minutes. Here's the baked cake

Flip them out onto wax paper covered wire wracks. Let cool completely. While the cakes are cooling, prepare the vanilla bean buttercream. Here's what you need

Butter, vanilla beans (or vanilla bean paste), powdered sugar, and milk. If you are using vanilla beans, cut straight down the middle to open up the vanilla bean

Take a spoon and scrape out all of the paste you can

Drop paste into a mixing bowl with butter

Mix until vanilla bean paste turns into vanilla beans

add powdered sugar, a cup at a time

Beat well, add milk until your desired spreading consistency is reached

Set the frosting aside and sweeten the strawberries. Wash and slice strawberries, place in a small bowl and add sugar

Stir together; let sit about 5 minutes so the strawberries can soak up all the sugar. Now assemble the cake! Place one layer of the cake on a serving plate. Cover that layer with frosting

Spoon strawberries onto cake, leaving behind as much juice as possible

Place the other layer on top of the strawberries

Cover with vanilla bean frosting

If you want to get a little fancy, pipe frosting around the edges and place more sliced strawberries around the top

Slice er up..

preferably hefty slices

Fresh Strawberry Vanilla Bean Cake

(Adapted from Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes)

1 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325°. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Divide batter evenly among 2 9-inch round greased cake pans. Bake about 25-35 minutes, or until the center of the cake no longer jiggles. Remove from oven and let sit in pans about 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack covered with wax paper to cool completely. While cake layers are cooling; prepare frosting. 

Vanilla Bean Frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla bean paste

4 cups powdered sugar

1-2 Tbs. whole milk

Place butter and vanilla bean paste in mixing bowl. Beat together until the vanilla bean paste turns into little specks throughout. Mix in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. If needed, add milk, a tablespoon at a time. Mix throughly until frosting is light and fluffy. 

Strawberries:

10 strawberries, washed, capped, and sliced

3 Tbs. sugar

Place in a small bowl and stir until strawberries are fully coated with sugar. Let sit about 5 minutes to let the strawberries soak up the sugar. Assemble the cake.

Place one cooled cake layer on a serving plate. Spread about 1/4 of the frosting over that layer. Then scoop strawberries over the frosting, leaving behind as much of the juices as possible. Stack the second layer on over the strawberries. Use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. You can pipe frosting around the edges and top the cake with more strawberries for decoration, if desired. Enjoy :)