Chai Tea Cupcakes

It's been a little while since I tried out a new cupcake recipe, so last week I decided I wanted to use an unexpectedly quiet evening to experiment a bit.  I came across this recipe from Bakingdom, and decided that Chai Tea Cupcakes sounded perfect.

The first time I made them, I halved the recipe and used pastry flour instead of cake flour (that's all I could find) but otherwise followed it exactly.  The batter was very soupy but I went along with it anyways.  The cupcake were very moist and delicious, but they didn't rise very well.  So this time when I made them (a half recipe again) I added an extra 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour and an extra 1/4 teaspoon baking powder to the dry ingredients.  This definitely did the trick- they came out with beautiful peaks and still had the delicious flavor and moistness of the other batch!

Bon Appétit,

Margaret

Fall Carrot Cupcake

Today was the first day it has felt like fall; colder weather and a crisp breeze called for a few layers.  So naturally, I decided to bake a cupcake suited to the changing seasons.  Since I had received carrots in my farm share this week, I decided to go with carrot cupcakes.

I used a recipe that called for some cinnamon and nutmeg, but since I didn't have nutmeg I just added a bit extra cinnamon, and it worked perfectly.  These are probably my new favorite fall cupcake, the carrots are wonderfully framed with some walnuts and spices, and the cream cheese icing is just perfect on top.

Happy (almost) Fall!
Margaret

Carrot Cupcakes

Adapted from Gourmet March 1995

Makes 14-16 Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup firmly backed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cup carrots (about 4), peeled and shredded

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped fine, toasted lightly, and cooled

Pretheat oven to 350°.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In another bowl mix oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Stir in walnuts and carrots.  Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter, and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Icing

6 tablespoons butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at  a time until desired sweetness.  Add vanilla and mix well.

Scrumptious Scones

Now, don't get me wrong, I love baking desserts and cupcakes, but often the baked goods that I appreciate the most are my breakfast pastries.  It is always wonderful to start the day with a delicious, home-baked scone or muffin.

In the past couple weeks I have made a couple different kinds of scones and muffins.  First, I made dried cherry and lemon scones, using the delicious dried cherries from Cherry Republic in Charlevoix.  The recipe is exactly the same as my blueberry scone recipe, except I used chopped dried cherries instead of dried blueberries.

Those were soon gone, so today I decided on a batch of cinnamon scones.  Again, I used the same recipe mentioned before, but to make them stand out as cinnamon scones I used brown sugar (instead of regular white sugar), 4 tsp of ground cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg.

They definitely have a good, strong cinnamon flavor to them, and will make a perfect breakfast for the next few days!

Happy Baking!

Margaret