Toffee Apple Cupcakes

With Halloween done and dusted my attention has turned towards Bonfire Night and of course the cakes that I want to make to celebrate. For this little project, I could have gone down the decoration route with firework inspired icing, but what I really wanted was to make some really tasty seasonal cakes. Toffee apples are synonymous with the 5th November and I just happen to love the flavour combination so my theme was set.
The cake I made is a dark brown sugar victoria sponge with grated bramley apple stirred through. I added some cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter also. The frosting is a buttercream with toffee sauce beaten through it, I reduced the amount of icing sugar to avoid sugar overload (well kind of). The bramleys work so well, you need that sharpness to offset the sweetness of the icing. To finish the cakes I made some little sugarpaste apples, I think a wafer thin apple crisp would look lovely too!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange & Cinnamon Cooked Frosting

Autumn has really set in. The weather has grown colder, the evenings darker and the trees are turning to gorgeous russet and amber colours.
I love autumn, the weather and food really suit me. Meals get heartier and more comforting and are enjoyed all cosied up in the warm.
As I'm feeling autumnal I decided to bake something to reflect my mood. Pumpkins are a big favourite of mine and every year I try new ways of cooking with them. To me, they scream autumn at full volume, how could they not with  Jack o' lanterns being such a huge part of the halloween celebrations.
For this recipe I also tried a cooked frosting for the first time. I'm so pleased with the result, the mildly spiced cupcakes, moist but light go beautifully with the ultra light and whippy frosting (a must for anyone who doesn't like oversweet frosting).
I created this cake recipe by adapting various other recipes.
From this mixture I made 12 cupcakes and a small slab cake which I left uniced to have warm with cream or icecream.
Happy autumn blogland! xxx

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 cups caster sugar
2/3 cup dark brown soft sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
12oz pumpkin puree
2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
good grating fresh nutmeg

Method
 
Preheat the oven to 160oc.
 
Put the eggs, sugars, oil and pumpkin puree into a food processor and blitz until all mixed and well combined.
 
Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl.
 
Pour the pumpkin mixture from the processor bowl into a large mixing bowl. Sift the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Whisk the mixture in gently until smooth and combined (don't over mix).
 
Spoon the mixture into your cake cases and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. The cakes should be golden, spring back to the touch and a cake tester should come out clean.
 
Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
 

Cooked frosting Ingredients
 
5 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup caster sugar

Optional
grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. It took me around 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn it. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. You can place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools if you are in a hurry. Stir in vanilla. This mixture must be completely cooled in order for the frosting to work.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture, orange zest and cinnamon (if using) and beat until it all combines and resembles whipped cream. Make sure you scrape down the sides every so often so that it all gets incorporated and whipped. If it's not looking like whipped cream, keep on whipping. This frosting is great for piping. Best served the same day.

Source: The Pioneer Woman