Today I tried making two more of Wendy Paul's cupcake recipes from "101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes." I like her recipes because they are simple and use ready made cake mixes. I am finding that some of the recipes fall a little flat, so its really important to only fill the cupcakes 3/4 full. I am also including my all time favorite Halloween kid food--Mummy Hot Dogs, from "Coming Home With Gooseberry Patch" cookbook. I will include a photo of the Mummy dogs tomorrow. Here are the recipes.
Tyler showing the cookbook's version of Mummy Dogs (I never took photos of mine, they got eaten too quickly!)
***Mummy Hot Dogs
Ingredients: 11-oz. tube refrigerated breadstick dough; 12 hot dogs; 1 egg; 1 T. water; Garnish: mustard.
Separate dough into strips. Wrap one strip of dough around each hot dog, leaving 1/2 inch uncovered for face. Arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet. Whisk together egg and water; brush over dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes, until golden. Dot mustard on hot dogs with toothpick to form eyes. Makes 12 servings.
Ginger Bread Cupcakes prior to frosting. Be sure not to overfill the cups or you'll have the same problem I did of sticking and falling cupcakes!
***Gingerbread Cookie Cupcakes
Ingredients: 1 box spice cake mix; 3 eggs; 1/3 cup molasses; 1/3 cup oil; 1/2 cup milk.
Mix together cake mix, eggs, molasses, oil, and milk. Pour into paper liners and fill 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
Frost with Cream Cheese frosting (I used Vanilla Buttercream because I had extra!)
***Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients: 8 oz. cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup butter, softened; 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar; 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and light. Stop mixer and add sugar and vanilla. Start mixer on low and gradually increase the speed until frosting is fluffy. Frost and refrigerate.
***Harvest Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients: 1 box spice cake mix; 1 cup pumpkin puree; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; 2 eggs; 1/2 cup milk; 1 cup chocolate chips; 1 cup butterscotch chips.
Mix together all ingredients. Pour batter into paper liners and fill 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes or until cakes are light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
Frost with Cream Cheese frosting (recipe above) or Vanilla Buttercream
***Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients: 8 T. (1 stick) butter, room temperature; 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted; 3-4 T. milk or cream; 2 tsp. vanilla extract.
Place butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Stop beating before adding sugar to avoid a large mess. Add sugar, 3 T. milk or cream, and vanilla extract. Beat frosting starting on low, increasing your speed until frosting is nice and creamy. Add up to 1 T. more milk or cream if frosting is too thick.
