Cream Cheese | I Can Cook That

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts

Have you ever had a recipe just not work out the way it’s supposed to? It happens to me all the time. I usually tend to mess up a recipe so badly that I don’t even post it on here. But every now and then, my odd mistake ends up not being so bad, and is, dare is say it, quite delicious. This is one of those times, so I decided to share it. This recipe is adapted from verybestbaking.com.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup (~15) crushed gingersnap cookies

2 tablespoons butter, melted

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 tablespoons dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. (I tried both paper and foil cupcake liners. Use foil, the paper ones got stuck and I couldn’t get the tarts out!)

Crumble the gingersnaps. Place them in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin until finely crushed.

Combine the cookie crumbs and butter in a small bowl.

Evenly distribute into each muffin tin (about 1 tablespoon per muffin tin) and press into the bottom to create a crust. Bake the muffin cups for 5 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, spices, and vanilla extract until blended.

This is where things went south. My cream cheese was not having this whole “blended” thing. I think it still might have been too cold so it kind of chunked off into the mixture. Blargh.

Add eggs and beat well.

Nope, still chunky.

Pour the mixture into the muffin cups, filling about 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, remove, and allow to cool in a pan on a wire rack.

Refrigerate the tarts for 10 minutes. You can prepare the chocolate drizzle at this point. Add the chocolate chips to a heavy duty ziploc bag. Microwave on high in 10 second intervals, taking the bag out and kneading to see if the chips have melted. (I think mine took 3 10 second intervals).

Cut a super tiny corner from the bag.

Squeeze over the tarts to drizzle with chocolatey goodness.

So. They probably aren’t as pretty as they were supposed to be. And I was pretty bummed about the chunks of cream cheese. Sigh.

But one bite, and I was over it. They were delicious! It kind of ended up being like a mini pumpkin pie with bursts of cheesecake. So you can judge how funny they look all day, but I’ll just keep on snacking on my funny looking tarts. 🙂

Almond Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

I have been looking for dried lavender for the longest time. I understand that a lavender treat is probably more appropriate for a spring day, but I just came across dried lavender this week at the Head Nut in Reading Terminal and couldn’t wait another 6 months! I adapted this recipe from a Taste of Home recipe. The icing comes from a Martha Stewart recipe. Together, it makes this yummy recipe for Almond Lavender Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 cups sugar, divided
1 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
20-25 drops each of blue and red food dye
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup honey
Additional dried lavender flowers, optional

Strawberry Banana Stuffed French Toast

It’s spring! And spring means (among other things) that strawberries are back in season. So what better way to use them than for a delicious weekend brunch? This Strawberry Banana Stuffed French Toast uses strawberries three ways: fresh, in a strawberry sauce, and for an extra touch of strawberry goodness, in a strawberry jam. And because I love bananas, I threw in a couple slices of that as well. I found the strawberry sauce recipe here and my French toast recipe is based off of this post.

Ingredients:

4 challah rolls

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (unsweeted)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/4 cup sliced strawberries, divided

3 tablespoons honey

the juice and zest of one lemon

4 ounces low fat cream cheese

1 tablespoon strawberry jam

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 banana, sliced

1 tablespoon butter

Begin by slicing the challah rolls in half. In a large bowl, add the eggs, almond milk and 2 tablespoons sugar.

Add the roll halves and mix to coat.

Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

one hour later

Add 1 cup sliced strawberries, 3 tablespoons honey, and the lemon juice and zest to a bowl and mix to combine.

Allow to stand for 1 hour. (I actually ended up leaving both for over an hour. Whoops.)

one hour later

Combine the cream cheese, vanilla extract and strawberry jam.

Slice the rest of your strawberries and your banana.

Heat a saute pan over medium high heat and add 1 teaspoon butter. Add 1 set of challah rolls to the saute pan and cook for three minutes.

Flip and cook for three more minutes.

While waiting for the side to cook, add 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture to one piece of roll.

Add slices of strawberry and banana.

When the bread is done cooking, assemble the pieces of bread. Add one to two tablespoons of the strawberry sauce and a few more slices of banana.

Repeat with remaining rolls. How good does that look?

The challah rolls were crispy while the cream cheese mixture was nice and creamy.

The strawberry sauce was tangy, just enough to complement the sweetness of the rest of the French toast.

And as usual, I am a big fan of the already portioned serving. It gives me a better chance of not being a piggy. 🙂

I loved this! I wish I could eat this every spring day. Except I think people would begin to judge me…

Creamy Spring Pasta

I was talking to my mom on the phone earlier this week and she mentioned she was making a creamy pasta with peas (her favorite) for dinner. Naturally, I had some taste bud jealousy and decided that I needed to have that as well this week. Cooking Light’s most recent issue had this Creamy Spring Pasta which sounded fantastic so I was able to!

Ingredients:

3 quarts water
2 ounces French bread baguette, torn into pieces
1 tablespoon butter
3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1 batch of asparagus, cut diagonally into two inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas and carrots mixture
6 ounces fresh spinach fettuccine
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
3 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup packed)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the torn bread to a food processor (I just used my Magic Bullet) and process until it becomes coarse crumbs.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add one minced garlic clove to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add the breadcrumbs and cook for 3 minutes, sitting frequently. Remove from pan and set aside. Wipe the pan down so that you can use it again.

Your pot should now be boiling. Add the asparagus and peas and carrots to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon to remove from the water (you need the water to cook the pasta). Add the vegetables to a colander and rinse with cold water.

Add the olive oil to the saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic cloves and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. While the onion and garlic are cooking, add the flour to a small bowl and gradually whisk in the chicken broth. Add this to the saute pan. Also stir in the milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 1 minute.

Add the pasta to the boiling water. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain and reserve.

Remove the milk mixture from heat. Add the Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, salt and pepper, stirring until the cheeses melt.

Add the pasta and reserved vegetables and toss to coat.

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and tarragon and serve.

Doesn’t it just look like spring?

The sauce does a really great impression of a cream sauce. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to tell the difference between this sauce and one made with heavy cream.

I wish I had added some of the tarragon to the sauce as well to get more of that flavor, but it was still nice as little bites of tarragon flavor.

Asparagus this time of year is just perfect. It was still crisp and bright so it stood out through the cream sauce.

And the toasted bread crumbs were awesome. An extra crunch to top off the dish!

Bunny Carrot Cake

Every Easter, we have this adorable little bunny cake that shows up for dessert. I honestly don’t know what bakery we get it from, but it always makes me smile. So I thought I’d try to recreate it. Obviously, a bunny would be filled with carrots, so I decided to make a Bunny Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting, covered in coconut.

I used a recipe from David Lebovitz for the cake and frosting, and used Betty Crocker‘s instructions on how to make it into a bunny.

Ingredients:

Carrot Cake:

¾ cup butter, melted and browned
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups loosely packed grated carrots (about 5 carrots)
1/2 cup golden raisins

Frosting:

2 (8oz packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Additional ingredients:

1 bag of coconut flakes
green food dye
jelly beans

Tools needed (paid links):

grater
electric mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer)
10-inch round cake pan
5 in round cake pan

Continue reading Bunny Carrot Cake

Artichoke, Spinach, and Feta Stuffed Shells

I have been making a bunch of freezer-friendly meals lately. You never know when you will come home and just be too exhausted to cook, and frozen meals can really save the night. This one also happens to be vegetarian. I found this recipe in an old Cooking Light. I absolutely love artichokes and spinach so I knew I’d like this!

Ingredients:

(makes 5 servings. serving size 4 shells)

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup chopped pepperoncini peppers (they come in a jar)
1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded provolone/mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup (4 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (9-ounce) can artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 garlic cloves, minced
20 cooked jumbo shell pasta (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta)
Cooking spray

Cook the shell pasta according to directions on the box. Drain and set aside on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil so they don’t stick together. Take a 13×9 cooking dish and spray it with cooking spray.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add the oregano, pepperoncini peppers, crushed tomatoes, and tomato sauce to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup provolone/mozzarella (I used “pizza” cheese) and the feta, cream cheese, black pepper, artichokes, spinach, and garlic.

To make it easier to fill the shells, add the mixture to a ziplock bag. Close the bag, and snip off one of the bottom corners.

Pipe the mixture into the shells. (Note: some of the artichokes might get stuck a bit while doing this so be careful you don’t end up with more mixture than you want coming out!) Add the stuffed shells to a 13×9 baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Spoon the tomato mixture over the shells.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese melts.

You can freeze them after stuffing the shells, freezing the tomato mixture separately and doing the last few steps later. I personally prefer frozen meals that can just be popped into the microwave or oven and the only additional step is that I have to consume the meal.

This is really an awesome recipe. I usually only have plain stuffed shells with tomato sauce and cheese so I liked the addition of the spinach and artichokes. The peppers added a little bit of pizazz to the dish without making them really spicy. (You can leave them out if you don’t want a little heat).

I did, however, crave a little bit of extra sauce (I love love sauce), so I’d suggest adding another can of puree to the mix. Past that, a good solid recipe!

Irish Potato Candy

I am Irish, on my father’s side. So, more appropriately, I’m Irish American (among other things). Even more specifically, I am Irish Philadelphian. (Yes, I may have made that phrase up. But there are a bunch of us so I think the phrase should exist.)

Now I’m sure you were very interested in what my heritage is, but there is a reason I’m telling you this. Philadelphia has this… candy? dessert? … we will go with “treat”… called an Irish Potato Candy.

Irish Potato Candy is a mixture of cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut rolled into a little ball and coated in cinnamon. So it ends up looking kind of like a potato, hence the name.

I’m under the impression Irish Potato Candy is essentially a Philadelphia-only thing. Friends from New York and D.C. both look at me like I’m crazy when I bring these up. But they are delicious and an integral part of every St. Patrick’s Day for me, so I needed to share them!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups sweetened coconut, lightly packed
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Tomato Basil Soup

Grilled Cheese and tomato soup is the perfect combination of comfort foods. Rainy, snowy, or just plain crummy days are instantly better after a warm bowl with cheesy bread for dipping. Cooking Light had a quick recipe for Tomato Basil soup in their March issue that sounded so easy I had to try it. (It helped that I had most of the ingredients on hand as well!) The soup is served with toasted bread topped with melted Asiago cheese.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I just used the whole bag shown in the photo)
2 (14.5-ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (half a container)
2 cups 1% low-fat milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 (1/2-inch-thick) slices French bread
Cooking spray
1 garlic clove, halved
1 ounce shredded Asiago cheese

Preheat your broiler to high. In a large pot, add the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Add the cans of tomatoes and chopped basil.

Stir and bring to a boil.

Add the cream cheese.

Stir until melted.

If you do not have an immersion blender, pour the mixture into a normal blender and remove the plastic center from the top. Place a paper towel over the opening and blend until smooth. Be very careful not to burn yourself, the liquid is really hot! Pour back into pot over medium high heat.

I received an immersion blender for Christmas so I was so excited to use it for this recipe. This is my first try with it and it was awesome! So much simpler than pouring into a blender and pouring back into the pot. If using an immersion blender, blend until desired consistency (I wanted a few chunky pieces left in mine).

Stir in milk and season with salt and pepper.

Cook for 2 minutes over medium high heat.

To make the bread, arrange bread on a cookie sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Broil for 1 minute.

Remove from the oven and rub garlic over the bread pieces. Turn bread over, top with cheese and broil for an additional minute.

Serve with the soup.

The soup managed to taste light and creamy at the same time, very impressive!

The basil flavor shown through which was a really nice enhancement to a normal tomato soup.

I loved the crispy bread topped with cheese. This would be a great appetizer at a party (using the tomato soup as a warm “dip” for the toast).

The entire meal ended up taking about 30-40 minutes so it is definitely an option for a weeknight.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

There are some people who are in your life that just make your days a little bit better. I’m talking about the people you see for maybe just one minute a day: a person at a coffee shop, someone you pass in the hall, or in my case, one of the guys who works at my SEPTA station. I always look forward to a smile and a wave from him. So I was pretty bummed when he told me he was moving to another station. Sigh.

I wanted to find a way to thank him for making my day a little bit better, and I honestly don’t know any other way to thank someone besides with food (this is something I may need to work on…) So I decided to make him cupcakes! And who doesn’t like chocolate peanut butter cupcakes?

I found this recipe on Food Network and thought it was perfect. It even incorporated coffee into the recipe (one of my favorite tricks) to heighten the chocolately flavor. I decided to try to make my own peanut butter icing though, to make it more my own.

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Icing:

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1 package (8 oz) low fat cream cheese

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup (or 1/2 a container) of smooth peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the butter, granulated and brown sugars to a large bowl and beat on high for 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla, mixing well each time.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee.

In a third bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda.

Add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately to the large bowl, mixing with a hand mixer in between the addition of each mixture, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. (I poured half of the buttermilk mixture in, beat the mixture on medium, adding half the flour mixture, and beating on medium. I then repeated this until just combined).

Add the mixture to a cupcake pan lined with paper liners. The recipe randomly made 18 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans.

To make the icing, combine all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl using a hand mixer.

Add the frosting to the cupcakes once completely cooled.

If desired, top with crushed peanuts.

Was there even a chance that these would be so-so?

Peanut butter and chocolate are two of the most fantastic, decadent paired ingredients.

I hope he likes them!

Strawberries with Chocolate Cream

Valentines Day has come early to I Can Cook That! Ok, not really. I made them for a party recently, but they would be perfect for a Valentines Day dessert, or with your coffee in the morning! I found this recipe on Taste of Home. After reading the reviews, a few people suggested adding some powdered sugar to sweeten up the chocolate cream. I love anything sweet, so I took their suggestion!

Ingredients:

1-1/2 ounces dark chocolate, grated, divided

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup whipped topping

2 containers of fresh strawberries, halved

I used dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s. They come in 1.75 oz little bars so I used two of those 1.75 oz bars. Take the first bar and melt over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

In a small bowl, add the cream cheese, vanilla, powdered sugar and whipped topping. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth.

Add the melted chocolate and beat until combined. Add the mixture to a plastic zip lock bag.

Cut off the lower corner and pipe onto the strawberries, with the cut side up.

Using a grater, grate the remaining chocolate over the strawberries.

These are really simple, and really tasty too!

I think the addition of the powdered sugar was a good idea. Fresh strawberries can be a bit tart, so it was nice to add some extra sweetness within the chocolate cream.

The cream cheese adds a nice smoothness to the chocolate cream. They are so pretty too, aren’t they?

You can make these ahead of time and then pop them in the refrigerator until needed.

Lemon Scented Blueberry Cupcakes

My work is hosting a bake sale this week, so I am using it as the perfect opportunity to try out these cupcakes from Cooking Light that caught my eye a while back. How fantastic do Lemon Scented Blueberry Cupcakes sound?

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups (about 6 3/4 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
10 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

Frosting:
1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Fresh blueberries (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place paper cupcake liners into the muffin cups. Melt 1/4 cup butter over medium low heat. Zest the lemon.

Add 1 1/2 cups flour plus 1 tablespoon to a medium sized bowl. (I suggest springing for cake flour if you can find it, if not all purpose flour works just fine). Add the granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir to combine.

Add melted butter and egg to a large bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine.

Add buttermilk, milk, and 1 teaspoon lemon rind to butter mixture (I used zest from 1 lemon), stirring with a whisk to combine.

Add the flour mixture to the buttermilk mixture, stirring until just combined.

In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour.

Add the blueberries to the batter, stirring until just combined.

Spoon batter into the muffin cups. I use an ice cream scoop to get evenly portioned cupcakes.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove and allow to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Prepare the frosting while the cupcakes are cooling. Add cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon lemon rind, vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until just blended.

Gradually add powdered sugar mixing until just combined. Stir in lemon juice.

Add the frosting to a ziplock bag. Cut off one of the bottom corners.

Squeeze the icing on top of the cooled cupcakes. Top with blueberries and lemon zest if desired.

I absolutely loved these cupcakes. The lemon zest added great flavor to the sweet blueberry cupcake.

I am having a bit of a problem with the idea of giving these away. I want to keep them all for myself! But that is terribly selfish of me so I guess I should share their deliciousness.

Remember to refrigerate the cupcakes, the icing is part cream cheese.

Yum

Lemon-Scented Blueberry Cupcakes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups (about 6 3/4 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
10 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

Frosting:

1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Fresh blueberries (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place paper cupcake liners into the muffin cups. Melt 1/4 cup butter over medium low heat. Zest the lemon.
Add 1 1/2 cups flour plus 1 tablespoon to a medium sized bowl. (I suggest springing for cake flour if you can find it, if not all purpose flour works just fine). Add the granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir to combine.
Add melted butter and egg to a large bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine.
Add buttermilk, milk, and 1 teaspoon lemon rind to butter mixture (I used zest from 1 lemon), stirring with a whisk to combine.
Add the flour mixture to the buttermilk mixture, stirring until just combined.
In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour.
Add the blueberries to the batter, stirring until just combined.
Spoon batter into the muffin cups. I use an ice cream scoop to get evenly portioned cupcakes.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove and allow to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Prepare the frosting while the cupcakes are cooling. Add cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon lemon rind, vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until just blended.
Gradually add powdered sugar mixing until just combined. Stir in lemon juice.
Add the frosting to a ziplock bag. Cut off one of the bottom corners.
Squeeze the icing on top of the cooled cupcakes. Top with blueberries and lemon zest if desired.

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Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

I am so excited that pumpkin season is back, and to share this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting! I eat/drink pumpkin flavored things all year, but September through December are when I can truly indulge in my pumpkin obsession.

To kick off the season in style, I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes.

The cupcake recipe is adapted slightly from Annie’s Eats recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes and the icing is an adaptation of a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting from Kraft.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
2 Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice K-Cups (about 3 tablespoons?)
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 8 oz. package of Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 16 oz package of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Continue reading Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes