Willow Bird Baking Challenge #4: Autumn Cupcakes

Let's talk a little bit about great ideas, shall we?

I have them all the time. Ideas, like bolts of lightning, that seem to come out of nowhere and light up your brain with unlimited potential for success.

One of my most recent great ideas for the blog was starting my Tailgate Thursday series. When it came to mind as the end of the summer wound down, I could barely contain my excitement.

Fast forward to the beginning of football season, around the time of my second post. My enthusiasm for the project was still going strong. But oh, how I had underestimated the amount of time it would take to put together a cohesive post... every week... for TWELVE weeks. {P.S. We are now on week 8... but I skipped a week. So really I have 5 more schools to go.}

What am I saying exactly?

Well, I still love my idea. You seem to like my idea. Everyone seems to be fond of the idea.

But ever since I started working on my idea it seems that I Just.Can't.Catch.Up.

Wednesdays have become a mad panic of last minute grocery shopping, cooking, photography, editing, and writing {not to mention occasional cursing & tooth gnashing}. Thursdays now arrive at alarming speed. Fall snuck up on me while I was busy fact checking information about college towns and mascots.

And so... as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have just not been on top of Fall baking around here. I still have full cans of pumpkin puree sitting in my pantry. And my collection of warm spices stare back at me with this pitiful look saying, "What have we done wrong?"

{Ok, maybe they don't actually say anything, but if they could talk, that's what they would say.}

But today, I'm making up for lost time, because this cupcake creation is basically autumn in cupcake form.

A tender Vanilla Bean Cupcake, filled with a gooey Caramel-Pear Butter center {I told you I'd put that stuff to good use!}, topped with a seductive swirl of Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Frosting.

I'm waiting for Bath & Body Works to call me any day now and ask permission to use this combo as one of their autumn candle scents. {Have your people call my people, B&BW.} ;)



I still have tons of stuff to do for Tailgate Thursday, but you can thank Julie from Willow Bird Baking for her autumn cupcake challenge this week for this creation... because she nudged me into the kitchen and unknowingly caused me to liberate my sad, sad Fall spices. {You can also thank my friend and reader, Trina, for the inspiration because she wanted me to make a Pear & Caramel Cupcake... LAST YEAR... and that popped into my head when this challenge arose and materialized in the form of this cupcake.}

 Anyway, enough chatter. If you're still waiting for Fall to arrive in your kitchen, this is definitely a good place to start... and there's no doubting that it's a VERY good idea.


Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Caramel-Pear Butter Filling
and Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Frosting
Cake adapted from The Cupcake Project, Caramel-Pear Butter from Epicurious

For Cake:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tins with liners. Set aside.

2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine granulated sugar and vanilla bean seeds until well blended. {No major vanilla bean clumps.}

3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to vanilla sugar. Mix until well blended.

4. Beat in softened butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, canola oil, and vanilla. Pour liquid into flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Pour milk in slowly, mixing until just combined. {The batter will be liquidy. That's how it should be!}

6. Fill each liner a little over halfway full. Bake for 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Remove from oven. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.

For Filling:

1/2 cup Caramel-Pear Butter

For Frosting:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
About 3 cups confectioners' sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

1. Beat butter, sugar and cinnamon together until smooth and sugar begins to blend in. {This may take a few minutes.}

2. Slowly add in confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time until well blended.

3. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. {Some of the brown sugar crystals might still be visible. It's ok.} :)

Assembly:

1. With a sharp paring knife {or an apple corer... it's my favorite tool for this task!}, cut a well in the middle of each cooled cupcake. {Save the cake for snacking. :) }

2. Fill a piping bag or zip top storage bag with the tip snipped with about 1/2 cup of filling. Fill each cupcake to top of well.

3. Fill a separate piping bag with frosting and desired decorative tip. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes.

4. If desired, sprinkle lightly with extra cinnamon and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Caramel-Pear Butter

Oh my gosh, guys. The end of October is almost here, which is just crazy because I have posted exactly ONE Fall-like recipe this entire month.

That's just not ok.

:::Raising right hand::: Starting today, I vow that I will focus on posting more pumpkiny, squashy, cinnamony, spicy things.

There. Now let's get to it.

I'm easing into all this Fall goodness with something sweet, and fruity, and fabulous.

Caramel-Pear Butter

What is it? Well, a bit of a fib, for starters.

Because it contains neither caramel nor butter. {Who names these things?}

It's the same type of "Butter" as Apple Butter; a sweet, thick spread that goes well with all kinds of goodies. And as for the Caramel, I think the brown sugar in the recipe lends some of that rich, sugary flavor that makes caramel so delicious.

The truth is, once you spread this on a muffin, smear it on a biscuit, or frost a cupcake with it, you won't really care what it's called.

I'd call it, "Fall in a Jar". That's what it tastes like to me.

If you don't think this recipe is important today, make sure you keep an eye out for what I use it in this week... you'll love it. And I wouldn't lie about that. ;)

Caramel-Pear Butter
Adapted from Epicurious

2 1/2 pounds {about 4-5 good sized} Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, & chopped into about 1/2 inch cubes
3 tablespoons apple juice or apple cider
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
A pinch of salt

1. In a medium pot, toss together apple juice or cider, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, and chopped pears. {Lemon juice keeps pears from browning, so you should toss them in as soon as they are cut.}

2. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the pears begin to release their own juices, about 15-20 minutes.

3. Turn down heat to medium-low and continue to cook until the pears are very tender, about 20 more minutes

4. Scoop softened pears into a blender and blend until almost smooth. {Be careful blending anything hot - it tends to make liquids explode from the blender! You may want to let it cool slightly before beginning to process. You can leave it a bit chunky if you prefer that consistency instead.}

5. Return pear puree to pot and stir in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, brown sugar, nutmeg, and salt.

6. Simmer on medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture has thickened to desired consistency, about 1 hour. {Remember, it will thicken quite a bit more once it is cooled.}

7. Pour into a jar and allow to cool before sealing.

Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups of Caramel-Pear Butter.