Orange Spice Cupcakes with Orange Coconut Cream Cheese Icing

Celebrating My Birthday Together
12/16/2010

I can tell you where the months went since the last recipe post. They were swallowed up by time. Time spent preparing for a working cruise in Hawaii. Time spent being with my mother as much as I possibly could, and then time spent flying my mother to her final resting place in Pennsylvania on July 15, 2011. Time spent with the most profound grieving I never could have imagined. Time spent in Hawaii working. I'm back now. My thoughts and sadness still gravitate to my mother daily and how I am missing my best friend. And I realize that life does go on, and each day there is perhaps a little less sadness and a little more peace of mind. So, here I am with the newest offering on the blog since this past April, something spicy, perky, sweet and perfect for the fall season.  My mother would have thought these cupcakes were gorgeous.

ORANGE SPICE CUPCAKES

2 1/2 cups of flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cardamom

1/4 tsp. salt

Stir these dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.  Now, as many of you know, I have a jar of cardamom that I've been trying to utilize and justify the cost ;-)  Yes, it was expensive, but amazingly I am nearly finished with the jar!!! (I've used the better part of it sprinkled into my coffee grounds before brewing, excellent.)  If you do not have cardamom and don't want to invest, then don't add it.  Replace it with cloves, or nothing at all.

1/2 cup softened butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. orange extract (buy it where you buy vanilla)

1 1/4 cups of milk

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla and orange extracts.  Stir in the flour mixture and the milk alternately into the butter/sugar mixture, stirring only well enough to combine, ending with the milk.  You don't have to use a mixer for this.  Divide the batter between approximately 16-18 paper-lined muffin tins, filling about three-quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or less in a preheated 350 degree oven or until a cake tester comes out clean, or when the cakes spring back when you touch them.  Makes around 1 1/2 dozen.

ORANGE COCONUT CREAM CHEESE ICING

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened (you can use light)

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups of powdered sugar, sifted to get the lumps out

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. orange extract

1/2 cup flaked coconut

1 Tbs. milk

Beat together the softened cream cheese and butter.  Stir in the salt and the extract.  Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, adding a drop or two of milk each time.  It's amazing how little milk you actually need to make an icing consistency.  Don't overdo it, or you'll be adding more powdered sugar to compensate for your soupy icing.  Stir the coconut in last.

If you like toasted coconut as a garnish, spread a nice handful on a piece of tin foil and stick it in your toaster oven on, what else... toast.  Watch it so it doesn't burn, and stir it every couple of minutes until it is a nice toasty color!

I brought these to my hair salon today and gave them to my awesome son, Evan, for beautiful hair color, and to Melrose, for the greatest cut.  They shared!  

Make these and let me know in the comment section how you loved them.

Chocolate Crusted Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Whew... that's a big name for this little pie.  But I couldn't just call it a pumpkin pie.  One member of my household called it a Hybrid Special. I thought that was pretty funny. But who would find my pie searching for Hybrid Special?  If you own my cookbook, you know that I feature this pie in the dessert section, except that in that recipe I use a regular pie crust and glaze the top of the cooled pie with a maple syrup concoction.  Sounds pretty good, right?  It is.  But not being able to leave well enough alone, I decided that these four things, chocolate, pumpkin, orange and cream cheese would taste pretty good together.  And they do.  Try this one of these days before the holidays and decide for yourself if offering a variation on a theme would be a good idea.  I offered a choice last Thanksgiving, and everyone loved both the traditional pie and the Hybrid!  Here's the recipe.

CHOCOLATE CRUSTED PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE PIE
1 chocolate pie crust (such as Oreo brand)
1 8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese, softened (I used the Neufchatel 1/3 less fat)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. freshly grated orange peel
1 egg

1 1/4 cups of canned pumpkin (don't stress over the little bit that's left in the can)
1 cup evaporated milk (use the rest for your coffee or cooking)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
Dash of salt
Whipped cream for garnish

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the pie crust on a cookie sheet and set aside.
• Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, orange peel and egg. Beat on low speed with a mixer until smooth. Spread onto the bottom only of the pie crust and even it out with the bottom of your spoon.
• Combine remaining pie ingredients and mix very well until nice and smooth. 
• Carefully pour this mixture over the cream cheese mixture. You might have a little bit left that just won't fit.
• Place pie in the oven on the cookie sheet to prevent a spill and bake for around 60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
• Remove pie from oven and cool on a rack completely.
• Chill and garnish with whipped cream. A few chocolate sprinkles on top of the whipped cream, or a couple of candy corn arranged nicely would look great!  Enjoy!!!

Note ~ you can substitute 1 3/4 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice for the individual spices above.

Brown Eyed Susans

When I put together my cookbook a year or so ago, I knew this recipe would have to be part of it. So old is this recipe, I can remember coming home from school and seeing a batch of these on the countertop. As busy as my mother was with four children, she somehow found the time.  If you own the book, you know that I featured this recipe in the dessert section by putting a picture of the original recipe from the back of a Parkay Margarine box. It was so stained and tattered, it tells a big tale, and a happy one too, of those little things that my mother did for us.  Today I went to visit her at her new "home" and brought her some of these cookies so she could decide which lucky resident would get one of them. I wonder if my mother realizes how this silly little recipe that has stuck with me for many years longer than I care to mention has had such an impact on me.  Try the recipe and see for yourself if you think this isn't one of the best shortbread cookies you've ever eaten.  Of course, Parkay Margarine is a thing of the past, so I've used butter here instead, and what's not to like about that?

BROWN EYED SUSANS

1 cup softened butter
3 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. pure almond extract
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt

Cream the butter. Add the sugar, almond extract, flour and salt.  Roll this mixture into small balls the size of a walnut. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. With your thumb or finger, make a deep indentation in the center of the dough. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven on the middle rack for about ten minutes until lightly browned on the bottoms. When cool, frost with:

1 cup of confectioners sugar
2 Tbs. cocoa
2 Tbs. hot water
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Sift together the sugar and the cocoa. Add the hot water and vanilla and beat well. Make sure the cookies are completely cooled, then top each cookie with a small amount of frosting. If the frosting becomes thick or hardened while waiting for the batches to cool, add a drop of water and mix it up again. Don't overdo it with the frosting, as you want to end up with a nice little round blob of frosting atop each cookie!

The original recipe called for a blanched almond half to be placed in the center of the frosting, but Mom never did it this way, and we thought they were awesome. I did, however, have sliced almonds on hand and thought the addition of a small thin slice of almond on top would make the perfect decoration for these delicious shortbread cookies.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth Brown Eyed Susans

Banana and Ginger Snap Cupcakes

You know what they say about bananas, don't you? Umm, I don't either. I do know that if you're patient but a few days after purchasing them practically green you will have beautifully overripe fruit just perfect for baking.  Plus I really wanted to try out my new decorating tool, and as you can see by the pictures I could use a little more practice. Though they weren't all perfect looking (but they weren't too shabby either for my first time), I promise you they taste awesome. I took almost, that's right, almost all of them to my mother's place today and gave them to the gals working there. They loved them! Using a tried and true banana cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart, I kicked it up a notch with the addition of ground ginger. Here's the simple recipe for these light, moist and delicious treats.

BANANA AND GINGER SNAP CUPCAKES

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 to 3 large ripe, thoroughly mashed bananas

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla

GINGER BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter, very soft

1 1/2 tsp. milk

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 cup crushed ginger snap cookies for the tops

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin pan with regular sized paper or foil liners. In a mixing bowl, stir together the first six ingredients, the flour through the ginger. In another bowl, stir together well the butter, bananas, eggs and vanilla. Add all at once to the flour mixture and stir well. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake liners, approximately one-quarter cup of batter per cupcake. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, maybe a minute or two longer, until a toothpick comes out clean and dry. Remove immediately from pans to a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, mix the sugar and butter together and add the milk, vanilla and ground ginger. You can always add more milk, so always start with less. Frost the cooled cupcakes simply or try your hand at decorating. Sprinkle the tops with the crushed ginger snap cookies. Enjoy!!!

I love comments. It makes me feel like I'm doing this for someone other than myself. If you stop by, and you have an extra second, say hi. Thanks!!!

Not too much, not too little....just perfect!

Carrot and Coconut Cupcakes with Marmalade Buttercream Icing

Why, you must think I've gone nuts making batches of mac and cheese and the like, for who? Just me? Seriously, I am NOT eating all of this stuff.  Like today, for instance, I wanted to bring something to my therapist who is helping me with my..... oh, you thought I was going to say my head, didn't you? She's an occupational therapist, a hand specialist, and she's helping me get the use back in my hand that had surgery in three different places.  I like to bring her things that show my appreciation. I'm bringing her cupcakes today!  Using ingredients I have on hand, I put together a basic cupcake recipe and added some of my favorite things to it, especially in the icing, orange marmalade....  Now, I got a little overly zealous dividing the mixture.  This recipe should really make a dozen cupcakes. But I had two things going against me.  Firstly, I had jumbo cupcake liners and secondly, I didn't want them to look skimpy so I added a little too much batter to each one.  I have more like 8 jumbo cupcakes instead of 10 to 12 regular cupcakes.  When you make them, buy regular sized cupcake liners and divide the batter accordingly.  Enjoy! And let me know if you try them, or if you'd like me to make them for you..... Ask me, I might!

CARROT AND COCONUT CUPCAKES 

WITH MARMALADE BUTTERCREAM ICING

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 cup coconut

1/3 cup raisins

1/4 cup oil (not olive oil)

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 cup flour

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• I chop the carrots first in my food processor. If you have one, do the chopping in it. It produces a very small chop, perfect for the cupcake. If you don't own a processor, then chop away. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the first seven ingredients, the sugar through the raisins.
• Using a hand mixer, beat in the oil and butter.
• Continuing to use the mixer, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Lastly, add the flour and beat with the mixer for another minute or two. (like you would a cake mix).
• Divide the mixture among at least 10 to twelve regular cupcake liners set in a muffin tin. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and dry. Remove from the muffin tin and cool on a rack completely before frosting.

MARMALADE BUTTERCREAM ICING

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup orange marmalade

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 to 2 tsp. milk

1/4 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts, optional

Very simply, cream the butter, marmalade and vanilla together. Sift the powdered sugar over the top and stir until starting to become incorporated. Add the milk a teaspoon at a time until the desired spreading consistency.  Wait until the cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting. If you like, sprinkle the tops of the frosted cupcakes with the chopped nuts.  Wow, enjoy!

Easiest & Best Fresh Blueberry Pie

Oh joy.... blueberries are back in season again. An opportunity to make this pie.  This recipe came from my mother, who I believe got it from our next door neighbor many moons ago. She was an expert pie baker, our neighbor. Once you make this, you will never look at another recipe for blueberry pie. I'm serious. Just to show you how serious I am, I'm offering a money back guarantee.  Wait a minute. I'm not selling you anything. How can I offer a money back guarantee?  Listen, July 4th is around the corner. Good excuse to make this. But don't wait until then. Make one now and see for yourself. The combination of fresh and cooked berries with the slightly tart taste of lemon.....all poured into a pre-baked and cooled deep dish pie crust, then topped with toasted coconut, and chilled!  I never met a frozen pie crust that I didn't like. Of course, if you're a purist then roll out your own crust from scratch.  Fifteen or twenty minutes from start to finish (except for the chilling time), the pie serves six generously or eight not so generously.

EASIEST AND BEST FRESH BLUEBERRY PIE

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup water

3 cups blueberries, divided

2 Tbs. butter

1 1/2 Tbs. lemon juice (about half a lemon)

1/3 cup coconut, toasted (optional)

Spread the coconut onto a sheet of foil and toast in a 350 degree oven, stirring occasionally, until browned and sweet smelling. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Mix the sugar, cornstarch, salt, water and 1 cup of the blueberries together in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the berries have "popped" and the mixture is thickened, bubbly and dark purple in color. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted, then stir in the lemon juice and then fold in the remaining two cups of berries.

Pour into a pre-baked, cooled pie crust, one that you've slaved over yourself, or a frozen deep dish pie crust.

Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the top of the pie. Chill until firm. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Cranberry, Pistachio and Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies

Red and green spotted cookies. I was thinking Christmas, festive, attractive, soft, delish. I came up with this mix for oatmeal cookies, and guess what? You guessed. I snuck in the cardamom again. Oh, they ARE really good.  Unfortunately I have posted this after the fact, that being in time to put these colorful cookies on a platter for the guests. But I recommend you try these anytime, right now, tomorrow maybe, and feel good knowing the oats are in there to help lower your cholesterol, and the pistachios are one of the fewest calorie nuts you can eat! 


3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light  or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the flour, cardamom, baking soda and salt and set aside. In another bowl, beat the butter and the sugars together. Stir in the vanilla and egg and mix well. Add the flour mixture all at once and stir to combine. Add the oats and mix again. Lastly, add the cranberries and pistachios which have been chopped, either by hand or in your food processor, leaving nice sized pieces of fruit and nut.


You can chill this mixture now until later, or start baking now.  


Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Drop cookie dough by the tablespoon, 12 on a sheet, and bake for ten minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Makes about 3 dozen. 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Could I eat just one of these cookies? I think not. That's why I made some of them with semi-sweet dark chocolate kisses.  I figured dark chocolate is good for you, right? So I feel half as guilty by having eaten one with dark chocolate and one with an unbelievably yummy Reese's miniature peanut butter cup. Oh, whoever came up with this idea, one thousand thank yous!!!  Now, I only changed the recipe up a bit, I can never leave well enough alone. I used a favorite peanut butter cookie recipe of mine, and rolled the dough in sugar before baking. That's all!  Get to the store and buy these ingredients and start baking. You'll be happy you did. I  don't want to get graphic, but I brought these to my hair salon, and the response was that these cookies rivaled a sexual experience.  S'all I'm sayin'.


PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cp. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
40 Reese's miniature peanut butter cups OR
half and half Reese's and Hershey's Kisses


Cream together the softened butter and sugars. Mix in the vanilla and peanut butter, then the egg. Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour through salt) and add all at once to the creamed mixture, mixing very well. Refrigerate for at least an hour, overnight if you want to do this at another time.


When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough into balls about the size of a walnut, maybe a little smaller. Roll in a dish of granulated sugar and place each ball into an ungreased mini muffin pan. Bake for 8 to 8 1/2 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place a peanut butter cup into the center of the cookie cup, pressing down gently so the candy is flush with the height of the cookie cup. Allow to cool in the mini muffin pan for a few minutes, and they will come out of the pan much easier. You can give them a nudge by sliding a knife carefully around the outside of the cookie to help it out, but you shouldn't have any problem. If you're using Hershey's Kisses, follow the same instructions for placing the candy into the cookie cup. This recipe makes around three dozen, give or take a few. 


Big Tip Here! Unwrap the candies and place them in the freezer while preparing the dough. It makes a big difference to have the candy be slightly or completely frozen before placing on the hot cookie. 

I thought twice about posting a picture with this reeeealllly old mini muffin pan, but I couldn't bring myself to PhotoShop out the worst of it right now, and I wanted you to see what the cookies looked like in the pan. If anyone wants to send me a new mini muffin pan, I'll give you my address ;-)

Apple Cranberry Streusel Pie

I am never going to become famous posting to this blog once a month. Of course, I wasn't thinking about becoming famous at blogging at all. There are hundreds, no thousands, of really good food and recipe blogs out there. Nonetheless, here is another entry being humbly offered for your reading and eating enjoyment. It's a delicious twist on the great old standby - apple pie. I think I mentioned once or twice how I am trying to use that expensive jar of cardamom that I bought.  Okay, I threw some in this recipe for good measure, plus a few other ingredients to make this pie one that tastes as awesome as it looks. Try it, and please leave a comment for me to let me know you stopped by.

STREUSEL TOPPING

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

4 Tbs. cold butter

PIE FILLING

1/3 cup white sugar

2 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cardamom

2 tsp. lemon juice

1/3 cup dried cranberries

8 or 9 apples (2 1/2" small size)

1 frozen deep dish pie crust shell

1 Tbs. butter

Prepare the streusel topping by combining the brown sugar, flour, walnuts and butter. Use a pastry cutter or your hands to mix the streusel into a crumbly mixture. Set aside.

Peel and thinly slice the apples. Place in a large bowl and add the white sugar, flour, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon juice and cranberries. Stir to coat evenly. Pour this mixture into the deep dish pie crust, packing it down a bit as you go.  Listen, if you want to make your own crust, knock your socks off. I just love those frozen crusts! Mound the mixture higher in the middle. Top evenly with the streusel, packing it down well. Dot with the Tbs. of butter. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 50 to 55 minutes. Remove to a rack and let it cool before slicing.

This recipe is not part of the not so famous "Singingirl Cooks!" cookbook.  If you are interested in knowing more about owning the book, please let me know and I'll tell you how easy it is to make that happen!

Cardamom and Orange Butter Cookies

Would my Aunt Rose be upset about me changing her recipe for Orange Butter Cookies ever so slightly? I hope not. I've been thinking of ways to use that jar of cardamom ever since I spent a fortune on it last week. I decided I was going to make something Indian inspired last weekend, got my grocery list together for Melon Curry and Coconut Chicken Fingers, both of which you can see at my gal-pal's site, www.raisin-toast.com. I nearly croaked when I saw the price of that jar of Spice Islands cardamom. Damn, it was expensive! I bought it anyway. Now I understand it would have been better to buy the pods and grind it myself. Oh well, live and learn. I have a feeling, anyway, that if I put that in my recipe, you know, the pods and the grinding and all that, my friends and family would ask me if I've gone totally mad to think they would consider cracking pods open and grinding the contents by hand.

So, okay. I've got the ground cardamom, and I have added it to my dear Aunt Rose's old, very old, cookie recipe. They turned out awesome. Here's the recipe. Enjoy.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
Juice of 1 large orange (approximately 2 ounces)
3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Heaping 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add orange juice and mix well. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Add gradually to the butter mixture until everything is incorporated.

Refrigerate for at least an hour. You could make it at night and bake the next morning if you wanted to.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Just dust the baking sheet with flour. Roll big heaping teaspoons of cookie dough into a ball and place on the cookie sheet, 9 or 10 cookies at a time, don't crowd. Dust the bottom of a glass with flour and give the cookies a tap to slightly flatten. They'll turn out beautiful that way. You can just drop them from the spoon too if you don't want to roll them in a ball and flatten them. They'll be more irregularly shaped,  the picture shows the cookies both ways. You decide how you like them. Bake on the middle shelf for approximately 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. They will still be light on top. Remove to a rack to cool. Makes about 3 dozen.

When cooled completely, make a mixture of a few spoonfuls of apricot preserves thinned with a few drops or so of orange juice. Brush this over the cooled cookies as a glaze. You can top this with finely crushed walnuts also. Or, make a simple chocolate glaze with confectioners sugar, cocoa and milk until drizzling consistency. These cookies can be frozen and decorated at the time you are going to serve them. They are equally delicious plain, and now even more exciting with the addition of cardamom!! (Of course, the original recipe did not call for cardamom, so if you just don't want to spring for the jar, make them without. Aunt Rose did.

One final thought about cardamom.... In an attempt to find ways to use my expensive spice, I'm putting a few good size dashes in my coffee grounds in the morning for coffee that tastes awesome. It's like chai coffee!! And I will use it again, I will. I will....

This recipe, along with over 120 pages of recipes, pictures and stories is part of my cookbook, "Singingirl Cooks!" available for purchase. Ask me about it.  Thanks!