Speculoos Whiskey-Ginger Truffles featuring Templeton Rye

It's been 9 {almost 10} long months of soberness for this gal.  Now that the bun is out of the oven, a whole new world of cocktails and spirit-infused goodies are back on my radar. {That is, with some careful planning between feedings.} Just in time for the holidays, too! Good timing.

When it comes to cocktails, whiskey is my liquor of choice. This often comes as a shock to people because it seems that somewhere along the line the idea of being a whiskey drinker was solely reserved for big, burly men. I'm here to tell you that petite women can be fans, too!

So, I was quite excited when I received an email asking if I was interested in playing around with Templeton Rye Whiskey in a truffle recipe. Um, whiskey AND chocolate?! Yes, please! However, it was while I was still pregnant, so I set the bottle aside and started dreaming up ideas to try out after the little tot arrived.

Fast forward to last week, I finally popped open the bottle of Templeton Rye and went to town with creating boozy confections. The goal: to create a truffle that was perfect for gift giving and spreading holiday cheer. For that, I knew I'd need some flavors that bring to mind images of cozy winter sweaters, crackling fireplaces and twinkling Christmas trees.

Along with the bottle of whiskey, I also received some Simply Organic from Frontier Coop ground ginger and vanilla extract. Both actually fit right in with my truffle idea.

The flavors of floral vanilla and spicy ginger were a fantastic complement to the butterscotch and toffee notes of the whiskey. To give the truffles a little extra zing, I coated them in a fine dusting of cocoa powder and pulverized Speculoos cookies. {I haven't been able to get them off my mind ever since I used them in the crumble topping for this pie.}

These truffles taste like the holidays to me; full of spice and warmth, and of course, concealing a boozy kick.

What flavors would you infuse into your homemade truffles? Cheers to homemade holiday goodies!

Disclosure: I was provided with whiskey, spices and a whisk to use for the creation of this recipe, as well as compensation for purchasing the ingredients. As always, all opinions seen here are my own!

Speculoos Whiskey-Ginger Truffles featuring Templeton Rye

For truffles: 
Scant 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 {3.5 oz} chocolate bar {I used Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa}, roughly chopped
1/8 teaspoon Simply Organic ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon Simply Organic vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Templeton Rye Whiskey

For coating:
About 1/3 cup crushed Speculoos cookies
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder


1. Place chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. In a small microwavable measuring cup, pour just under 1/4 cup heavy cream and heat for about 1 minute on high or until just starting to come to a bubble. Pour hot cream over chocolate.

3. Add ginger, vanilla and whiskey and stir together until the chocolate is completely smooth and melted.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours until firm, or overnight.

5. When the mixture has firmed up, scoop by the heaping teaspoonful and roll into a ball. {This is much easier with cold hands!}

6. Place each ball in the bowl of crushed cookie and cocoa mixture; roll around to coat. Continue with remaining ganache.

Keep refrigerated. Bring to room temperature about an hour before serving.

Very Vanilla "Twinkie" Bundt Cake

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So I woke up this morning all, "Let me make something healthy to share today!" and then ended up with this:

True story.

How that happened I'll never know. Well, that's not true. I do know. I baked something with coconut flour, tasted it and decided it wasn't worth sharing and making you go out and spend money on the ingredients. And then while I sat down to drink my morning cup of decaf {Yippee, right? Good grief, some of this pregnancy stuff is for the birds, y'all.}, I started flipping through one of my {many, many} cookbooks. Today, it happened to be Pure Vanilla, because I like a little food porn with my breakfast.

And then I flipped to the page titled, "Twinkie Bundt Cake." And my heart skipped a beat. See ya, coconut flour.

Whatever, I had all the good intentions of wearing my nutritional halo today. But it's a Friday, so let's loosen up a bit, 'kay?

Bundt cake. What does it remind you of?

If you said My Big Fat Greek Wedding, then we should be best friends. If not, then I hope you at least had a good answer like visiting your granny or your sweet elderly neighbor, Mabel, growing up. 

Bundt cakes are the ultimate sharing food, aren't they? I mean, most bundt recipes are pretty basic, but they always turn out so good and so pretty. {Unless you don't grease your pan well, and end up with bundt crumbs. So don't do that.}

This bundt cake is the queen of all bundt cakes. Because just beyond its plain and innocent exterior, it harbors a naughty little secret: A tunnel of creamy, marshmallowy filling. Go ahead and say it, it's basically a Twinkie.

Ain't nothin' wrong with that.

Imagine the surprise when your guests cut into it! I mean, pure wonderment, right?

Ok, maybe I'm just a little excited about it. But it's really good, I promise. Better than anything I could have made with coconut flour today. Balance out the calories and share it with a bunch of folks you love!

Happy weekend. xo

Very Vanilla "Twinkie" Bundt Cake
Hardly adapted from Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever

3 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste {optional}
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs + 4 egg yolks
1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 325. Prepare a bundt pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray or brushing with melted butter. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer {or a large bowl}, beat together butter, vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste until smooth. Slowly pour in sugar until well combined and fluffy.

4. Add vegetable oil and beat until incorporated. One by one, add eggs and egg yolks, beating well after each addition.

5. Carefully add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet mixture, then 1/3 of the buttermilk, alternating until all of the flour and buttermilk is added. Mix until just smooth and incorporated.

6. Pour or spoon batter into prepared bundt pan evenly. Smooth out the top. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a skewer or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 45 minutes to an hour before attempting to remove from pan. There have been many a bundt cake casualty from impatient bakers trying to flip over a still-warm bundt.

For Marshmallow Filling

1 stick butter, softened
1 7.5 ounce container of marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste if you like the little specks like I do. :)

Beat all ingredients together until well mixed. Transfer to a piping bag with a round tip, or a zip top plastic bag with one corner snipped.

For Assembly

This cake isn't hard to assemble, but it is messy. Do yourself a favor and do this over a sheet pan so you don't have cake crumbs all over your kitchen. The idea is to create 6 or 7 deep holes in the bottom of the cake. I find that the easiest way is to use an apple corer. Be careful not to poke all the way through the cake.

Once the holes are made, use the best kitchen tools you've got: Your hands! Burrow your fingers into the holes and create a tunnel from hole to hole. Do this carefully so you don't split the cake. {Like I might have.} Carefully flip the cake over to clear the holes. Flip back over again and get ready to fill.

Using the marshmallow filling {you haven't eaten it all yet, have you?}, stick the piping bag into each hole and squirt the filling in until you get some resistance. Don't overdo it because, again, you can bust the cake open. We don't want that. Make sure that the filling is getting into the main tunnel and not just each hole.

When you've used up all the filling, flip the cake over {carefully!!!} onto your serving dish. Sprinkle the whole bundt with powdered sugar before serving. Then sit back and watch your guests ooh and ahh over your surprise Twinkie cake!

Cardamom-Vanilla Pear Applesauce

You know how I know I'm a food nerd? Because I nearly let out a little squeal of joy when I found a great deal on vanilla beans at Costco.

I love vanilla beans... like whoa. But I'm super-stingy with them because they're usually a bit on the pricey side. You've gotta be pretty special for me to consider giving up a precious vanilla bean.

Thanks to my cheap find, I've been using them a lot more without experiencing separation anxiety and pangs of loss.

I've mentioned before that I have real problems {duh} with letting food go to waste. So, when I woke up on Saturday morning and discovered that I had some very sad looking pears withering away, I was determined to salvage them. Wasted fruit? Not on my watch.

As is usually the drill with apples that get past their point of desirability, I thought I'd make some quick and easy "applesauce"... pearsauce. Whatever. Except instead of keeping it fairly plain, I added in a sprinkle of ground cardamom {the newest addition to my spice rack along with smoked paprika, and my latest obsession} and a cherished vanilla bean.

The result was this very luxurious peary applesauce. Thanks to the special ingredients, this isn't your average applesauce. The brown sugar gives it an almost caramel-like flavor and the warm cinnamon and cardamom add a hint of spice that takes it to the next level.

Totally worthy of a vanilla bean, if you ask me.

Save the squishy fruit! Make applesauce.

Cardamom-Vanilla Pear Applesauce

2 Bosc pears, peeled, cored & chopped
2 green Anjou Pears, peeled, cored & chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored & chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar {or less if you prefer your applesauce to be less sweet}
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 vanilla bean, split & beans scraped, pod reserved*
1 cinnamon stick {or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon}**
Pinch of salt

1. Place all ingredients {including the scraped vanilla bean pod} in a heavy-bottomed pot oven medium-high heat. Cover and bring to a bubble.

2. Reduce heat slightly and allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes stirring every so often until fruit is tender and juices have been released.

3. Uncover and increase heat to medium-high. Cook uncovered, stirring often for about 15-20 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by about half. Be sure that the mixture does not scorch at the bottom as the sugar will burn if the heat is too high and you don't stir it.

4. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the vanilla bean & the cinnamon stick.

5. Carefully pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and process to desired consistency {my husband likes smooth applesauce, but if you prefer it with more texture, pulse instead.} As always, practice caution when blending hot/warm liquids!

Serve warm if desired or transfer into storage containers with an airtight lid and keep refrigerated.

*If you don't have vanilla beans, or refuse to give one up for this, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract after removing from heat before you blend it.

**You may use ground cinnamon instead if you prefer, but the result will be a stronger cinnamon flavor.

Peek-a-BOO Halloween Pound Cake

There is such a thing as getting overly-confident in the kitchen.

Even for a person who has probably baked thousands of cookies in her lifetime. 

See, I was recently asked to make some cookies for an event. 150 of them. After completing the task of baking 300 cookies for something else, I thought, "PSHH, 150?? I got this."

Clearly, I was suffering from a case of "rolling pin muscles." And I am not ashamed to admit such things if it means that it will save you from committing the same mistakes.

With too many things going on at once, my focus has not been what it usually is. I have an embarrassingly long list of emails I've yet to return. I've hardly had time to see/talk to/acknowledge my dear friends. I have said, "Yes, let's do that soon!" to too many people knowing full well that I would have to sacrifice something like sleep or going to work in order to accomplish that. 

So, my mental "deadline" for starting my cookie project sort of got pushed to the bottom of the list, and mid-week I found myself scrambling to get the process underway. 

After I got home from work last Wednesday, I thought I'd crank out a quick 75 cookies. {I say "quick", but these happen to be cut-out cookies. I've yet to discover a way to make this a "quick" undertaking.}

I was so proud of myself for having left the butter out a few hours before so that it would be softened by the time I got home; thrilled to discover that I had the exact amount of eggs I needed. I should know by now that it's usually the times when I feel way in control and over-prepared that the "dough hits the fan", so to speak.

So, yeah. I mixed. I rolled. I cookie-cut. I even "stamped" each cookie to impart a pumpkin design on them. Times three. {It was a big batch.}

Once I baked them off, I noticed that the color and texture didn't look quite right. That prompted me to sample one cookie for quality control. 

And, OH MY GOSH, I totally forgot to add the sugar. 

Two cups worth, not just a little sprinkle, leaving me with a gigantic batch of pumpkin spice biscuit/hockey pucks. They are not salvageable. Believe me, nothing bugs me more than wasting food, and I tried to think of every possible use. {Our pup is gluten-free & the cookies contained spices that are not good for dogs, otherwise I would have had a lifetime supply of doggy biscuits.}

So there I was, starting from scratch with one day to spare before the event. And still needing to create labels and package them. UGHHHH.

In the end, all was well. It almost always is. But I have no desire to see this type of cookie again for a very, very long time, no matter how simple they are.

On the other hand, this Peek-a-BOO Pound Cake... it's one of those things that looks complicated but is actually quite a cinch. Granted, there are several steps to getting it to turn out correctly, but the recipe part is pretty basic.

What looks like a regular pound cake...

... reveals a fun surprise upon slicing.

This version is obviously for Halloween, but you can easily swap out the middle shape for any occasion. You can also use any sturdy pound cake or regular cake recipe, invert the colors, etc. There are tons of combinations!

{For a picture tutorial from SheKnows, click here.}

I'm confident that you can pull this off. Just don't forget to add the sugar.

Peek-a-Boo Halloween Pound Cake
Inspired by SheKnows

You will need:

Your favorite pound cake recipes.
{I used Martha Stewart's Classic Pound Cake and Chocolate Pound Cake Recipes, halved. You can use whatever flavors you'd like or use the same flavor for both parts and simply tint the batter to differentiate between the two. It's up to you!}

For Icing {Optional}

4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extractA
Approximately 4 tablespoons milk or half and half
Decorative Sprinkles

Procedure:

1. Bake pound cake number 1 using desired recipe in a well greased loaf pan. {This pound cake will serve as the interior "cut out" shape, so plan accordingly with flavor or color.}

2. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

3. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. {The longer the better. It will be much easier to work with if it's cold and "solid".}

4. Using a serrated knife, slice into approximately 1 inch thick pieces.

5. Place each slice flat on a cutting board. With your desired cookie cutter, cut out shapes. {I found it easier to go in the order the slices were originally cut so that they fit back together perfectly. Set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the batter for the second pound cake*.

6. Preheat oven to the temperature indicated for your pound cake recipe. Liberally grease a loaf pan that is the same size as the one you used for the first pound cake using butter or non-stick cooking spray.

7. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the batter into the bottom of the pan and smooth with an offset spatula.

8. Place cut out shapes back in the pan {in the same order is easiest}, giving them a light push into the batter. Spread remaining batter over top of the pieces making sure none of the pieces are exposed.

9. Line a small baking sheet with foil {just in case}, and place loaf pan on baking sheet. Bake for amount 10 minutes less than the amount of time indicated for your pound cake recipe. Check for doneness with a toothpick or skewer {should come out with only a few crumbs}.

10. Remove from oven and let cool for about 20 minutes before removing from loaf pan. Once cooled, carefully remove from pan and cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.

{Ice/glaze if desired}

A Few Notes:

*Cold pound cake is MUCH easier to slice. Once it starts coming to room temperature, it is more likely to crumble.

*Use a cookie cutter that doesn't have too many delicate details. I lost a few ghost hands because they were easy to break off.

*Note that you will probably not need all the batter for the second pound cake as some of the space will already be taken by the pound cake pieces. I halved the Chocolate Pound Cake recipe I used and it was the perfect amount. If you wind up with extra, you can bake a few mini pound cake rounds in a cupcake tin to use up the rest of the batter, if desired.

*Pound cake should be cooled completely before slicing... unless you want a crumbly mess. I know it's hard to resist, but trust me on this one! Slice warm at your own risk!

*Using a serrated knife helps you get clean slices.

*You will have quite a bit of pound cake scraps remaining. These are perfect for snacking, cake balls, trifles, crumbling over ice cream... go nuts!

Ok, that's all... now get baking! :)

Vanilla-Cayenne Candied Walnuts

The past few weeks have been a cooking blur! Between celebrations, events, and preparing for Food Blog Forum {Which is this weekend! Squeee!!!} it's been one recipe after another. I might as well just set up a cot in the kitchen.

Some food highlights I haven't had time to share:

1. My Kentucky Derby party was a success. Truth be told, I still spent far more time in front of the oven than I hoped to despite having made almost everything ahead of time. In the end it was all worth it to see my guests holding frosty juleps, full plates, and happy faces!

I created a Mint Julep Bar where everyone could DTOJ. {Design Their Own Julep} By far, the most popular flavor was the Peach-Basil.

   

The foods I heard the most about were the Beer Mac & Cheese and the Chicken & Waffle Bites with Peach-Horseradish Maple Syrup. {Sadly, I failed to get good pictures of pretty much everything.}

But what was most raved about were the Maple Cupcakes with Candied Bacon. In fact, a few days later I started seeing a friend go candied bacon-crazy on one of her Pinterest boards... I think I may have started something!

Maple Cupcakes with Candied Bacon & some with Candied Pecans

And {after a few Juleps!} people started to have a lot of fun taking pics in front of the "photo booth" backdrop I painted just for the event.



There was fun for the whole family, too! Look at these precious girls in their Derby hats, and fur baby Parker joining in the festivities. Pure adorableness!

P.S. Do I not have the cutest friends ever??

2. Brunch Week went off without a hitch thanks to the hard work and organizational skills of Christine from Cook the Story and Terri from Love & Confections. I have never seen so many amazing recipes in one place!

My Brunch Week recipes: Pineapple-Basil Tea,
Caramelized Onion & Bacon Croque Monsieur, Dark Chocolate-Orange & Walnut Banana Bread

Our sponsors really outdid themselves with the prizes they donated for the giveaway and I'm still enjoying some of the goodies that they sent to us for participating! {See today's recipe!}

3. For Mother's Day, I hosted a little luncheon at my place. We went with Italian, and I made a tasty salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette, Chicken Sausage Lasagna, Garlic Bread, and Rosemary-Bacon Focaccia.

My mama opening her gift.

My Mom bought a cake from a local spot that is known for Cuban pastries and other assorted sweets. The cake is called "Chaja", and it was the first time I'd ever tried it. It's an Uruguayan sponge cake layered with peach filling & dulce de leche, with a creamy frosting and topped with crumbled baked meringues. Though I'm not much of a peach person, I was surprised at how much I liked it.

4. These. I made them for a private event and decided to add the toppers last minute. So glad I did!

5. All of this celebration-related eating has been blissfully wonderful, but the guilt caught up to me today and I decided to eat a salad for lunch. Except it topped it off with these ridiculously addictive Vanilla-Cayenne Candied Walnuts and basically turned my "healthy" salad into a dessert.

Leave it to me.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And the road to perpetual stretch pants- wearing? Paved with salads-turned-desserts, I'm pretty sure.

I had some leftover California Walnuts that had been sent to me before Brunch Week, and I don't know why I thought to change up my normal candied walnut routine, but I'm sure glad I did.

Sweet vanilla & brown sugar, spicy cayenne pepper, and crunchy walnuts form an addictive substance  when combined. That mild heat from the cayenne wakes up your taste buds and keeps you reaching for "just one more". You know exactly what I mean.

Snack on these alone, add them to granola, top your "healthy" salad with them... I doubt you'll have any trouble coming up with ways to use them up.

Vanilla-Cayenne Candied Walnuts

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon {more or less depending on your spice tolerance} cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts

Special equipment: Parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, silicone spatula

1. Combine brown sugar and water in a small non-stick pan and set over medium-high heat. Stir once {using a silicone spatula is helpful since the mixture becomes very sticky}, and bring to a simmer.

2. Sprinkle with cayenne and stir. Allow to boil for 4-5 minutes until the bubbles slow down a bit and the mixture looks more syrupy and less watery.

3. Add vanilla extract and walnuts. Stir, tossing to coat all of the walnuts.

4. Continue to cook for 1-2 more minutes until most of the mixture is stuck to the walnuts and not to the pan.

5. Spread walnuts out onto parchment or a silicone baking mat to cool, separating the large pieces so that they don't fuse together. Cool until "dry", about 6-8 minutes.

Snack away!

*I'm sure there is a more technical way of doing this using temperatures and candy thermometers, but that's not my style. I've made these multiple times using this method & they always turn out great. Just a warning to those of you who are more "exact"! :)

Vanilla-Rosemary Lemonade

I'm getting to do something this coming weekend that I've been wanting to do for years: Host a Kentucky Derby party.

Why have I always had a fascination for this grand Southern tradition, you ask?

I couldn't even begin to tell you.

It's actually sort of ironic since I have an unnatural apprehension when it comes to horses. {I know, weird. I'm also not a fan of birds.}

I've certainly never had a great experience with Derby, either.

One year, Steve and I decided to watch the race. Though we're not really horse race kind of folks, we figured we had nothing to lose... it is known as "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports", after all.  We could handle two minutes of an event we had no real interest in.

As it turns out, the horse I decided to root for, Eight Belles {the first filly to win a trio of important races... girl power!}, collapsed and was put down within minutes of coming in second at the Derby. I was horrified! {And I vowed never to root for any other horse lest I jinx them into an untimely death.}

And yet, every year around this time, I find myself yearning to don a big, ridiculous hat and sip a Mint Julep out of a silver cup.

Call me crazy.

Anyway, this year I'm giving in to my Derby desires.

I'm going all out -- adorable Derby evites from Paperless Post, a request for guests to come in Derby-appropriate attire, a hat contest, and a full Southern menu! {As well as few other surprises I can't share in case any of the guests are reading this!}

I'd like to say I'll be sharing all of the fabulous dishes I'll be making with you, but the truth is, party planning -- though one of my very favorite things to do -- overwhelms me, and I don't want to pressure myself by promising to share recipes and not being able to deliver. {Though, if I am able to stick to my timeline this week and all goes as planned, I will most definitely document any recipes you shouldn't live without.}

If you want to take a peek at how things are coming along this week, I'll be sharing snippets on my Instagram and Facebook accounts, so feel free to join me pre-meltdown... I mean, pre-party. ;)

Meanwhile, I'm sharing a recipe for Vanilla-Rosemary Lemonade...a gorgeous beverage for any party and a good alternative to juleps for those who don't care for bourbon. {Unlike me.}

Lemonade already conjures images in my mind of lazy afternoons, porch swings, and beautiful plantation homes, so it just made sense to make this drink for an occasion that's steeped in Southern tradition. Plus, with most of your spring herb gardens in full bloom {Totally jealous. I'm a natural plant killer.}, you'll need some recipes that use up all of that rosemary.

Grab a glass and place your bets... this here's a guaranteed winner.

Vanilla-Rosemary Lemonade

from Southern Living

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 cups water
3 cups fresh lemon juice {18-20 lemons} OR 7.5 ounces thawed frozen lemon juice

Garnish: Lemon Slices, Rosemary Sprigs

1. Combine sugar, vanilla bean, rosemary and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat slightly and let simmer for 5-7 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and let steep until slightly cooled, 10-15 minutes, pressing on the solids from time to time.

3. In a large pitcher, pour lemon juice and syrup mixture, straining with a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids. Mix well.

4. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until cold.

5. Stir and serve over ice.

Garnish with lemon and rosemary sprigs if desired.

Makes 6 cups.

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.