Spice Cake Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Fall is here! Although, in Massachusetts you wouldn't know it with temperatures reaching in to the sixties over the past few days, mid-November has never felt so good.

Although the thermometer is putting my mind in Labor-Day mode, the calendar is telling me it's time to buckle down and embrace some fall flavors.

Spice cake embodies the season's flavors at their best.  Hearty, sensual, comforting ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar come together and put your taste buds in a daze. The cinnamon cream cheese frosting will intensify your daze to the point of a utopian, autumnal coma.


Spice Cake Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cakes:
1/2 C. butter
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 C. flour
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 C. butter
3 3/4 C. confectionery sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using an electric  mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add in eggs one at a time & mix well. Add vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients (flour, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda & salt) in a separate bowl.  Slowly add half the dry ingredients to the batter. Mix well. Add in sour cream. Mix well. Add in the rest of the dry mix to the batter. Mix well.

Line two cupcake trays (standard size) with paper liners). Fill each cup only about 1/2 way. This batter grows a lot when baking! Bake for 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Beat cream cheese & butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add confectionery sugar a 1/2 cup at a time until mixed well. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until frosting is fluffy. Frost cakes with a piping bag or offset spatula

For an extra touch - make decorative "leaves" by rolling out soft caramel candies and cutting them out with a small leaf cookie cutter. Use the blade of a knife to add details to the leaves.

Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Sugar-y Banana Muffins

When I got home today, there were two sad overly-ripe bananas staring at me from the otherwise empty fruit basket on my counter. I had gone away for the weekend, and abandoned this leftover fruit unknowingly. But although I had neglected them over the past few days, I made sure these bananas were used to their fullest potential - I allowed them to be reincarnated in delectable-muffin form. And because I was craving something extra sweet, I added a little sugar & spice to the mix.

The result was an incredibly moist, ooey, gooey muffin with multitudes of layers & flavors.

Perfect for a quick grab & go breakfast - or in my case, a mid-night snack to satiate my sweet tooth as I watch Sunday night guilty-pleasure reruns on E!

Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Sugar-y Banana Muffins

2 C. Flour
1/4 C. Sugar
1 tbsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 C. Milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/3 C. Vegetable Oil
3/4 C. Mashed Banana (about 2 medium ripe bananas)

Topping:
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
1 tbsp. Cinnamon

Yields 12 Muffins

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder & salt into a medium bowl; make a divot in the center of the dry ingredients.

Mash bananas. Mix milk, egg, oil, vanilla and bananas together. Pour mixture into dry ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are evenly combined.

Put 12 liners in a cupcake or muffin baking tin. Spoon batter into tins 1/4 of the way full. Mix cinnamon & brown sugar together in a bowl. Spoon a little of the cinnamon sugar mix into each muffin cup. Pour the rest of the batter evenly into the muffin cups. Top each muffin with the rest of the cinnamon sugar mix.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Best when warm - Microwave for ten seconds if enjoying the cupcakes a few hours after baking.

Enjoy the ooey-gooey!