Seriously, she's the best person on the planet. There's no one kinder or more generous (or better at crossword puzzles) than she is. Except for maybe Mother Teresa or Jesus himself...
As I'm always looking for excuses to bake, a birthday celebration is a great reason. We're all getting together for some Chinese food and desserts. I spent hours trying to decide what kind of cupcakes to make. Gram loves carrot cake, lemon meringue pie, coconut cream pie, and she's liked everything I've had her try, so it was a tough choice. I was going to make a pumpkin coconut cream cupcake, but not everyone likes coconut, so I didn't want a bunch of uneaten cupcakes leftover. Granted, all leftovers go to work with me, but still...
In the spirit of fall, and in the spirit of using one of the 8 cans of pumpkin in my pantry, I decided on a pumpkin cake. I wanted to do a white chocolate frosting, so I went with that as well. Then, the last decision I needed to make was an accent flavor - caramel, butterscotch or dulce de leche. I had just done some caramel stuff lately, so that was out. And though it's easy, I didn't want to have to make some dulce de leche, so I went with some butterscotch.
The flavor is great. These are definitely for the sweet tooths out there. The butterscotch seeped into the super moist cake, so I put some extra frosting in the middle too so there's wasn't a giant hole in the cupcake. I made my own white chocolate cream cheese frosting, and everything paired up nicely. The frosting has a bit of a sugary texture from the white chocolate, so I only tested one bite. I'm just not much of a sugar person, go figure! But, these are superb! I used the cake recipe I've used for these Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes that I got from Taste of Home. The butterscotch is store bought and the frosting recipe is mine.
Pumpkin Butterscotch White Chocolate Cupcakes
for the cake:
3/4 cup butter, softened
2-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup buttermilk *
Butterscotch ice cream topping for the filling
for the frosting:
1 (8oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
4.5 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. heavy cream
6 oz. white chocolate (use good baking chocolate, not chips or candy melts!)
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add the pumpkin and mix until fully combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and ginger.
4. Add the dry mix, alternating with the buttermilk, to the stand mixer, starting and ending with the dry mix. Mix until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes.
6. Let cupcakes cool. Cut out a small piece from the center of each cupcake and fill with butterscotch.
7. To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla.
8. Mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add the white chocolate slowly and mix to combine.
9. Add the cream, 1 tablespoon at a time. If you find the frosting too thick, add more cream. If you find it too thin, add more sugar.
10. Frost cupcakes and serve!
* If you don't have buttermilk, you can make your own, like I did. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a glass measuring cup. Fill with milk until the 1 cup line. Let sit for 5 minutes, then use as much as needed.
Everyone that tried one loved them! They're definitely a recipe worth repeating!
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| I make a mess when frosting |
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| Butterscotch craters |
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| Super moist and super sweet! |
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