Pumpkin Pie in a Cupcake (no fancy title, it rocks!)

Every time you bake a pumpkin pie in a cupcake a kitten gets its wings. Seriously. And the angelic meows will serenade you as you enjoy your first delicious bite and your 30th secret bite, because no one can turn down a miniature pumpkin pie in a delectable vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting dusted with unicorn dust - I mean cinnamon.

Start by making the miniature pumpkin pies which are just like full-size pies except you need refrigerated, rolled pie dough and a round cutting device. A cookie cutter, a biscuit cutter or a glass cup with a thin edge will all work nicely. Expertly manipulate the tiny pie crust round into a tiny muffin tin. There will be folds, it won't look the best but that's okay! It almost doesn't matter what these look like - people will love you!

Mix the pie filling according to the directions on the side of the can. Why mess with grandma's recipe is what I always say. This canned gloop above is much tastier than straight up canned pumpkin which I always forget when I dip a big spoon into a can of plain pumpkin. Blech!

The two-pack of pie crusts only made 12 tiny pies (and some of those were mashed together scraps) so I poured the rest of the pumpkin filling in  large, glass casserole dish and called it pumpkin custard.

The pies don't take as long as a full-size one so keep your eye on them. The crust needs to be firm so it doesn't get soggy in the cupcake. The same goes for the filling - it should be fully cooked and set.

Butter for the cupcakes, butter for the frosting. You'd better stock up. We made these cupcakes vanilla but any cupcake recipe should work. I personally think a carrot cake with pumpkin pie inside would be great and meet your daily need for vegetables. You can mix this while the pies are cooking or after they come out of the oven since the pies should cool down and you don't want them to burn while you're busy eating cake batter.

Fill the regular-size cupcake tins about 1/3 full or just enough so that you have a layer of batter under the tiny pie and enough room to cover said pie with more batter. Gently! Gently place the pies in the batter, making sure not to squish the batter out from under the pie too much. Then cover the pie with more cupcake batter until it just covers the top of the pie.

These cupcakes were a little too big! Definitely some muffin top going on here. Bake according to your cupcake recipe or until the top is slightly golden. I find that as soon as I can smell the cupcakes (or brownies) baking they're done. No muffin cups needed, just a good non-stick pan and some cooking spray for good measure. Tilt the cupcakes on their side as soon as possible to stop the cooking process and start the cool down.

More glorious butter shots...here's half the ingredients for cream cheese frosting. After the frosting is all mixed scoop it into a zip-top plastic bag. Taste test it. Double check for flavor quality. Close up the top of the bag and snip a tiny hole in the corner to create a angel kitten frosting machine.

Taste testing in action. Nom nom nom.

Adapted from Bake It in a Cake (they seem to have taken down the recipe, and I didn't write it down!) A good vanilla cupcake recipe can be found all over the interwebs. Here's one from Magnolia - Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcake. The same goes for cream cheese frosting - this one is The Best Cream Cheese Frosting from Slash foods and it looks just like what we made.

1-2-3-4 Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe can be found on the back of the Swans Down Cake Flour box. In fact, as I look at the box I realize this cake and frosting recipe is probably the one featured on the box front. Our cake does not look as pretty, but it tastes just as good; because butter and sugar have never failed to make a cake rock.*

Before you begin, you might want some kitchen items we did not have: flour sifter, icing spatula, cake stand and cover, hand or stand mixer, blah blah blah. Don't worry about it. Your cake might look nicer and it might take less effort, but without these tools you will build arm strength and learn patience. That's priceless. Did I mention the cake still tastes great?

I think buttering and flouring your pans works more effectively when baking cakes than using the spray and I'm not a spray hater in general. The bonus is getting flour all over the counters. Yay! If you have a mixer use it now! A nice alternative for butter creaming is a fork and a potato masher. Creamed butter and sugar is hard to resist sampling. I dare you to try and resist.

Mix thoroughly after each egg. (Don't eat after adding eggs but before cooking!)

A flour sifter is appropriate, but a metal colander works in a pinch. I've learned that baking is not at all like cooking, it's very strict and science-y. If you don't pay close attention you will be punished (don't pay attention to me, do read and follow the recipe though).

Always add dry to wet when baking. Or add wet to wet. Here we do both. Alternate adding the flour mix and the milk mix to the delicious butter mix.

We split the mix into three pans like the box recommended, but The Art of Baking web site has time suggestions if you want to try cupcakes or two larger pans.

Overall, the cake is buttery, moist and yummy. There was not enough frosting to cover the whole cake, but that's probably because we were not successful with the milk/flour roux the Swans box had in their cream cheese frosting recipe. Meh, what can you do?

Recipe Time: 1-2-3-4 Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting
(adapted from the Swans Down Cake Flour box and The Art of Baking web site)
serves 12

1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 cups sifted Swans Down Cake Flour
3 tsps baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup skim milk
1 and ½ tsp vanilla

1. Cream butter. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
   
3. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. 
4. Add flour mixture alternately with milk and flavorings, beating after each addition until smooth. 
5. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch layer pans, using about 2-1/3 cups batter in each pan. 
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes. 
7. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and finish cooling on racks.

Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Combine all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Blend well.
3. Spread on cooled cake.

*The red stuff in the first photo is pureed frozen strawberries with a wee bit of confectioners' sugar. A good frosting alternative or addition.