Pumpkin Spice Crunch Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Filling -- A Mouthful of a Story!

Some of us are bakers and some of us are cooks. Few of us are really good at both. (Although I know quite a few who are!) And then there are some -- like me -- who refuse to admit that it doesn't make any sense that a good cook can't be a good baker -- so I continue to bake, mistake after mistake, failure after failure.

And once in a blue moon a mistake blooms into a roaring success! Case in point: these cupcakes.

It's a long story; I'll (try to) keep it short.  Since cheesecake is one dessert I can bake successfully time after time, I planned to make one for my sister-in-law's birthday party. A maple walnut cheesecake, to be precise. (It was scrumptious.)

But even cutting it into 16 pieces wouldn't be enough for the expected crowd, so I planned to make cupcakes, too. Not ordinary cupcakes, mind you. The "creative" baker in me was going to experiment. In cooking, that's not something I'm unaccustomed to doing. Baking? Another story.

I had some canned pumpkin pie filling lurking in the pantry. (A mistake purchase; meant to grab plain ol' pumpkin. Got the "filling" instead in a blind reach.) Found a cake recipe that called for using pumpkin pie filling. So far, so good. But to make it special, to put my imprint on it, I decided to fill the cupcakes with cream cheese, a method I'd used several times making these pumpkin cream cheese muffins.

I made a couple other additions, subtractions, deletions to the original recipe, and popped these babies in the oven.

Testing for doneness was a little tricky for me, because of the creamy filling and the crunchy topping. So I trusted my own experience with my oven and took them out two minutes early. I let them cool just a bit. Still warm,  I tore one apart to test. "Hmmm," I say to self, "still too gooey. Either they're not done, or just still warm."

Although panic had not yet set in -- the gathering was still a few  hours away -- I was stymied for Plan B. Just then, the phone rang. It was my friend Susie suggesting that she bake something extra for the birthday. Was she psychic? Had she eavesdropped on my near-panic? What a godsend! Hallelujahs all over the place! Bless you, Susie! I did not tell her my tale of baking woe and simply said, "Great idea!"

Later that evening, everyone was delighted with both my cheesecake and Susie's spice cake. The next day, my daughter was visiting and casually asked about the cupcakes she spied.

"Oh, those, " I said, "I'm afraid they 're a mistake. I tried to get creative and it they didn't turn out so swell. Wanna try one?"

Amy pronounced them delicious and I had to try myself then. They were delicious! They just needed a little cooling, time to set up.

So a basic cooking lesson I learned long ago was reinforced. Never make something brand new for a special occasion. If you do, have a good friend as a back-up.

Pumpkin Spice Crunch Cupcakes 
with Cream Cheese Filling
adapted from verybestbaking.com
makes 24 cupcakes

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1 package spice cake mix, divided
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cup pumpkin pie filling
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
4 tablespoons butter, softened

About two hours before baking, mix the cream cheese and sugar well. waxed paper, form a log about 12 inches long. Using the waxed paper to help, roll the log into a tube. Wrap again with foil, and pop in the freezer for at least two hours until firm.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin pans by lining with paper cups, or using non-stick spray.

Combine 3 cups only of the cake mix (saving the rest for the topping), eggs pumpkin pie mix and the spices in a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until moistened. t\Then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.place about one tablespoon of batter into prepared muffin pans. Take the chilled cream cheese log from the freezer and cut into 24 slices. Place one slice in each cup. Then pour the rest of the batter evenly among the muffin
pans.

Combine the reserved cake mix, coconut and nuts in small bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender and sprinkle over batter.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely on wire rack.

Pumpkin Cheesecake and Compromise

“It should either be a pumpkin pie or a cheesecake.  Just not together!

That was Mr. Rosemary’s response when I told him what I was making for his sister’s birthday.
 

“You made this before, didn’t you?” he asked.

I nodded demurely.

“And I didn’t like it then, did I?”

“Well,” said I.  “You didn’t rave about it.  But you ate it,” I quietly reasoned.  And, after all, it wasn’t his birthday.  (I didn’t say that last part out loud.)

“Hmmph.” he said. I took that as a concession and proceeded on my merry way in the kitchen.

 

The next day as he saw me unmolding the cheesecake from its springform confines, he wanted to know if I was happy with the way it turned out.
 

I wasn’t sure how to answer because I didn’t know yet. I daringly mixed up two different recipes, because I liked pieces of each.    The cheesecake looked good, but you (or at least, I, unconfident baker that I am) never know until you cut into a cake, even a cheesecake.  I feared it was going to be a bit dry.  Over baking (or is it under baking?) is my biggest baking sin.

So, just for insurance, I was ready with my secret weapon – a jar of caramel ice cream topping in the pantry.  I’d drizzle that on top of the cake in a spider web fashion and it would look moist and pretty and  the eye would fool the discerning tasters.

.

I needn’t have worried.  It wasn’t dry. It was very good.  Very, very good.  So, next time, I’ll make my own caramel sauce.

As for Mr. Rosemary’s verdict?  Since there were two cakes for the crowd that celebrated Liz’s birthday, he opted for the chocolate-mint cake.  When he heard other people comment on my cheesecake, though, he said, “Okay, I’ll try a piece.”

“Hmmm,” he said, as his face crinkled in that way I know means he likes it.  “This is really good.” --  like he didn’t believe everyone else until he tasted it himself. 

I’d call that a win, wouldn’t you?

Blending two recipes – plus winging it a little – works sometimes.  And sometimes it doesn’t,  I got lucky and have me a keeper.

My marriage of the recipes was a compromise, just like any marriage.  One called for an 8-inch pan; I only have a 10-inch springform pan.  One said bake longer at 350.  The other said to bake at 325 lower but keep in the turned off oven.  One asked for 3 eggs, one for 4. I wrote down what I did as I was doing it so, here it is . . . . . 

 Pumpkin Cheesecake

An adaptation based on combining recipes from Joy of Baking and Peter Christian’s Recipes

Serves 10-16 people, depending on how fat you cut your slices!

Crust: 

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

½ cup crushed ginger snap cookies (about 10)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

5 tablespoons melted butter

For Filling:

! ½ pounds cream cheese (3 8-ounce bricks), softened

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cloves

1/ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon ginger

4 eggs, room temperature

¼ cup melted and cooled butter

For Topping:

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup white sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare graham cracker crust and pat into a 10 inch springform pan.  Bake in oven 8 to 10 minutes.  Cool while getting the filling ready.

In mixing bowl cream well and mix on high speed the cream cheese brown sugar maple syrup and vanilla on high speed.  Then add and mix well the pumpkin, flour and spices, scraping often and incorporating all lumps. 

Then add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.

Finally add the butter.  Spread filling in pan.  Place an empty cake pan half filled with water on the bottom rack of oven.  (This helps add moisture to the baking process.)

Bake for 40 minutes.  Meanwhile make topping by blending the sour cream, vanilla and sugar.   Remove cake from oven and spread with the sour cream mixture.  Return to oven and turn the oven off.  Leave cake there with door closed for another 40 minutes.  Remove from oven to rack and cool.  When cooled completely, refrigerate overnight or at least 4 to 6 hours.

A Good Recipe Travels Far: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Just like it’s great to have breakfast for dinner once in a while -- or leftover pizza for breakfast -- muffins, especially jazzed-up versions like these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, can be a great dessert. Of course, since they’re “muffins” you’re welcome to have them for breakfast, too.

I learned about these muffins from Elly Says Opa!, who learned them from Annie’s Eats. Who knows where it will go next? Ain’t blogging grand! Elly made a few tweaks from Annie’s recipe, then I changed the topping. Not that the original crumb topping wasn’t good. It’s delectable. But I really was planning these for a dessert, so I made a glaze instead.

Apparently, these are a knock-off of a Starbuck’s muffin. I couldn’t fact-check that one, because the closest Starbuck’s is more than a few miles from here (not that we don’t have some great coffee houses!). But I can tell you they’re scrumptious! If you like pumpkin. (I do.) And warm cinnamony and clovey spices. (I do.) And cream cheese. (I do, I do, I do!)

These aren’t a spontaneous undertaking because you need two hours ahead of baking to cool your sweetened cream cheese logs in the freezer before baking – but it’s worth it.

I first made these for a Christmas brunch and we scarfed them up along with our Naked Fruit Salad, ham and broccoli quiche and mimosas. The muffins were so good I bet we could have just eaten more of them and skipped the quiche – but not the mimosas.

The next time I made them was for a friend’s birthday. Our friend Susie was baking her husband Dick’s favorite cake for his birthday but since there was going to be a crowd, we thought maybe some extra something might be good. So I volunteered to make these. It’s not like me to volunteer to bake, I’m that intimidated by baking. But I was so sure of these babies, I didn’t hesitate a minute – and even got so brave as to change the topping!

Elly added a little vanilla to the cream cheese filling, and changed the spice combination some. Annie’s Eats recipe included pumpkin pie spice, but Elly chose to increase the cinnamon and nutmeg and add ground ginger. She also used canola oil instead of vegetable oil. Since I had a bunch of pumpkin pie spice that won’t get used for anything but this, I followed the first recipe more closely.

Since they were supposed to be a dessert, I thought I’d frost them, but since there was already cream cheese in the middle, a real icing might be too much, so I made a glaze by blending softened cream cheese with confectioner's sugar and thinning it with apple butter and spreading it on the warm muffins.

So here’s my amalgamation of two recipes.  I wonder what the next change will be?

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
from Elly Says Opa!  and from Annie’s Eats
makes 24  muffins
For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon  ground cloves
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the glaze:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup apple butter

To make the filling, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract until combined. Shape the mixture into a log (about 1.5″ in diameter), with the aid of plastic wrap, and wrap the log tightly. Reinforce with tin foil or place in a plastic freezer bag and freeze for 2 hours or longer, until firm.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. While the muffins bake, make the glaze by blending the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and apple butter until smooth.  Whn muffins are done, transfer to a wire rack. Spread apple butter glaze on muffin tops while still warm. Let cool completely before serving.

Cleaning Out the Pantry = Pumpkin-Sausage Lasagna

It may be too early for things pumpkin, but a casual inventory of my pantry reminded me that I had too many cans of pumpkin leftover from last year (as well as way too many bags of dried beans of all colors, two cans of Queen Anne cherries – what had I planned to make with those? – and lots of chocolate) so I was on a mission to use them now. Mind you, I’d still have enough pumpkin for a pie or a pumpkin cheesecake this fall.

My mother-in-law came through again with inspiration, due to the fact that the Rachael Ray show she had on TV that morning I visited featured Pumpkin-Sausage Lasagna. (My mother-in-law actually flips back and forth between Ellen DeGeneres and Rachael – doesn’t want to miss either, although usually Ellen wins more of her attention.)

So I returned home, found the recipe on the internet, and went to work. Although it will never replace traditional lasagna, with tomato sauce, sausage, ricotta and mozzarella (my husband’s favorite) or white lasagna, with spinach, chicken, and provolone (my favorite) it was a nice savory change of pace. There should be lasagna cook-offs, just like chili cook offs.

Now the original recipe called for starting with fresh butternut squash or pumpkin, but since that wasn’t my mission, I used my cans. I was also lucky that my fresh sage grew quite well this year so this wasn’t totally a pantry meal. (Although really one of my favorite things to do is rummage between the fridge and the pantry and come up with something great. Nine times out of 10 it’s great. We won’t talk about Number 10.)

So here’s my version. In addition to the can versus fresh, I also used hot sausage instead of sweet. Still a bit rich. Would skim milk in the white sauce be enough to slim it down?

Sausage and Pumpkin Lasagna
Adapted from Rachael Ray

2 -151/2 oz. cans pumpkin
Salt & pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
3 cups chicken stock
2 T honey
2 pounds hot Italian sausage
4 T butter
3 T flour
1 qt whole milk
10-12 fresh sage leaves, very thinly sliced

2 boxes no-boil lasagna sheets

2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
¼ c flat leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, place the two cans of opened pumpkin and add a few grates of nutmeg, the chicken stock and the honey.

Heat a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat and brown the sausage crumbling into small bits.

While the sausage cooks, in a medium pot, heat the butter and milk, stir in the flour then the milk. Season with salt & pepper a little more freshly grated nutmeg and the sage. Cook until thick, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 7-8 minutes.

To assemble:

In the bottom of a 9x13 casserole, dot some of the pumpkin mixture, and then add a layer of pasta. Top with 1/3 of the cooked sausage and cover lightly with 1/3 of the pumpkin. Cover with another layer of pasta, 1/3 of the white sauce and ½ cup Parmesan. Repeat with 2 more layers, ending each with the white sauce and using all the remaining cheese for the top layer. Sprinkle the parsley on top and bake lasagna for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook about 15 minutes more to brown the top.

Serves 6 to 8.