I'm Back!

Yes it's true, I am officially back in action! *insert fireworks and marching band*

After two hard weeks, I finally am beginning to feel like my old self again. Probably the fact that I am baking again also has a hand in that. I will say that since taking a break,  I have realized just how much I love my blog, baking, and in general, being around delicious baked goods. Not baking these past two weeks felt almost unnatural to me; my cupcake adventure has slowly made a home for itself within my life. I also want to say thank you to every one who supported me these two weeks. I'm not that I would be back to my zippy old self if it weren't for all of you. You know who you are, please pat yourselves on the back.


So now down to business. As I sit here in my dorm room, my suite mates are all grumbling about the predicted snow storm that may hit Worcester tomorrow night. I love snow, so I'm jumping up and down at the idea that it might snow. I mean, come on, how often does it snow in October? Had I known about the snow, I would have baked something this week with a winter theme in mind. Instead, I decided to bake a tribute to fall using that old fall favorite, pumpkin. And what better way to make pumpkin cupcakes then by taking a recipe from a classic, "Vegan Cupcake Take Over the World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Not only is this a suite favorite, we actually have TWO copies of the book sitting side by side on our cookbook shelf. Yes, we have a cookbook shelf; deal with it. In addition to the delicious recipes that can be found in this cookbook, I had the perfect can of pumpkin to use with it.

Starting last fall, my mom handed my a recipe for pumpkin pie that used organic pumpkin rather than the alternative. The results were beyond amazing. So when I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes, I didn't even have to think about the can of pumpkin I would use. Did I mention that there was chocolate chips involved with this recipe? Well, there are! Ironically, one would think that I would have a stash of left over chocolate chips lying around somewhere in my room from past baking endeavors. I don't. I kinda eat them all. Fortunately for me, there is a wonderful brand of products called Value Time that sells all sorts of things at reduced prices. Two bags of chocolate flavored chips= $2.00. What a bargain!

Originally I was going to try and make apple pumpkin cupcakes since I had gone apple picking for the first time this past Sunday. Well, I didn't want to waste any of the apples in case I screwed up so I decided to leave the apples out of it. I did, however, make an improved cookie recipe. Sure, they ended up tasting like muffin tops (how did I manage that?) but they were sooo good. Going back to cupcakes, I was fortunate enough to have been given an adorable packet of fall themed cupcake liners. I think they are the cutest thing ever! They also came with cute little flags with owls and cats on them. I didn't use them this time around, but will definitely next time.


 The recipe itself was really simple, which means that I still found a way to mess it up. Instead of only using 8 ounces of the pumpkin, I poured in all 15 ounces! Talk about a mistake. I tried to correct the mistake, but in the end, I just poured it all back into the bowl. What did I have to lose? At least I didn't pour too much cinnamon in. Now that would have been bad. I do not have a photo of it, but I also made cinnamon icing. Yea, I had to remelt the margarine in my Pyrex measuring cup after everything was combined, but I don't think it messed anything up.


Don't they look scrumptious! Ok, never using that word again. But you can't deny that they look good. This was a really easy recipe and in fact, this is the third recipe that I have baked from this cookbook. In past I have made their chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. I also discovered that tofu chocolate mousse is perhaps the best thing ever! Just ignore that there is tofu in it and you'll think that this was the real deal!

I'm getting ready for a Halloween dance at the moment so I'll post more later. But here's a fun little photo from apple picking that I think fits really well with todays post.


Until next time,

Jill

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Ingredients

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup oil

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin pan with cupcake liners

2. In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla. Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir together with a for -don't use a hand-held mixer, as it will make the batter gummy. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips

3. Fill liners two-thirds full. Bake for 22-24 minutes, Transfer ti a wire rack and let fully cool before icing

Cinnamon Icing

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons margarine, melted

1 tablespoon soy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place sugar and cinnamon a small bowl. Add the margarine, soy milk, and vanilla and stir with a fork until smooth. Keep at room temperature until ready to use. The mixture should look opaque and honey brown. It it's glistening a lot or looks too liquid, add a little extra confectioners' sugar.