Pumpkin Cupcakes with the Best Icing Ever

Many months seem to have desserts that belong to them.  June, July, and August are for ice cream, popsicles, and cold desserts.  September is for apple desserts.  October is for all things pumpkin and cupcaky.  December is for cookies. January is for sneaking in bread pudding once I'm done trying to eat healthy.  February is for cherry and strawberry desserts. Spring and summer months (depending on where you live) also get berry crisps, strawberry tarts, and other light, not so filling desserts.

November gets pies.  Every imaginable kind of pie.  Some pumpkin desserts make the cut, but mostly, it's pies.  November is not for cupcakes.  Sorry, November.

Yet, here it is, November 10 and I am posting a cupcake recipe.  I still have pureed butternut squash in my fridge and there was that school fall festival yesterday, complete with a cake walk.  I made cupcakes.  They were fabulous.  So November, you can have these cupcakes too, especially if they sneak in at the beginning of the month, before the pies take over.

We were thankful these were mostly donated to the school cake walk.  Otherwise, Curtis and I would have eaten way.too.many.  The icing was incredible--salted caramel.  One cupcake was all we each got and it was just enough to leave me thinking about exactly how good those cupcakes were and how lucky two cake walk winners were.

If you want, you can make the salted caramel sauce days in advance.  Just refrigerate and then reheat before to room temperature (so it's pourable) before using.  If you don't feel like messing with making caramel, you can also use store bought salted caramel sauce.  Just be sure to buy the good stuff (with real ingredients, not the cheapest on the shelf).

A single recipe makes 15 cupcakes.  Go ahead and just double the recipe.  Share the love.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Icing
adapted from twopeasandtheirpod.com

Cupcakes:
3/4 c (12 T) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 c flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
1 c cooked pumpkin (butternut squash) puree or canned pumpkin
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 t vanilla
2 large eggs

Salted Caramel Sauce:
1 c sugar
6 T butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 T fleur de sel or other fancy, coarse sea salt (it's worth it to buy this in bulk folks.  Totally worth it)

Frosting:
3/4 c (12 T) butter at room temperature
2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c salted caramel sauce (from above)

For the cupcakes:  In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium (or medium-low, up to you, I like medium) and cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter turns golden brown.  Watch carefully to prevent from burning.  The butter should smell nice and nutty.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Meanwhile, in a small to medium bowl,  whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a larger bowl, stir together the pumpkin, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and browned butter.  Add the flour mixture and whisk until just combined.  Line muffin cups with paper liners.  Fill each cup  3/4 full.   Bake in a preheated 325 degrees oven 20 -25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack after they have cooled a bit and allow to cool completely before icing.

For the salted caramel sauce:  While the cupcakes bake, make the caramel sauce.  Heat the sugar in a small saucepan over medium to medium-high heat.  Stir in the sugar as it begins to melt and stir frequently until the sugar is melted.  Once the sugar has melted, no longer stir.  Swirl the pan if you need to stir the sugar.  Continue cooking the sugar until it reaches a deep amber color (a lighter amber color will give you a milder flavor), being careful not to scorch it.  If you are unsure, use a candy/fry thermometer and cook until the sugar reaches 350 degrees.  Carefully add the butter and stir (caramel will bubble up vigorously when things like butter or cream are added).  Stir until the butter is melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the cream.  Sir in the fleur de sel.  Melted sugar is extremely hot.  Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then you can pour into a jar or other storage container.

For the frosting:  Beat the butter until light in color and fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar and continue to beat until the sugar is incorporated.  Add 1/2 c of the salted caramel sauce and beat to combine.  Increase the mixer speed to medium-high (depending on your mixture) and beat until airy and fluffy.

Frost the cooled cupcakes.  For embellishment you can drizzle extra caramel sauce on top or top with a square pretzel (my favorite!).

Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine

Mmm...butternut squash in a slow cooker with chicken and chick peas. Moroccan food made easy.

We enjoyed this and I was pleased to find a way to use butternut squash in a slow cooker. It was a nice stew and was great over couscous. The olives over top are optional--we put them on top the first time around, but not for the leftovers. M was a little hesitant about the squash, which was just fine with Little I who had all of his plus all of M's squash. M stuck to the chicken.

This is a great dump and cook slow cooker meal--which are my favorite kind. No sauting anything before hand--the only work is peeling and cutting the butternut squash into chunks.

This serves 6.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine
adapted from Delish.com

1 (1 1/2 lb) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" - 1 1/2" chunks
2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped or 1 c canned diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15-oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 c chicken broth
1/3 c raisins
2 t coriander
2 t cumin
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3 lbs (bone-in) chicken thighs, skins removed
10 oz couscous
1/2 c green olives, pitted (optional)

In a 6-qt slow cooker, combine squash, tomatoes, onion, garlic, beans, broth, and raisins. In a separate, small bowl, combine coriander, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Rub spice mixture all over chicken thighs. Place thighs on top of vegetable mixture. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

About 10 minutes before serving, prepare couscous according to pkg directions. To serve, fluff couscous with fork. Stir olives into chicken mixture. Serve chicken mixture over couscous.

Pappardelle with Roasted Winter Squash and Mizuna

I substituted mizuna for the arugula this time around and everything turned out just fine. The mizuna in fact was not as flavorful (translated peppery or even as bitter) as the arugula. I didn't like it quite as well, but Curtis said he liked it better. (The recipe was posted earlier....if you can't find it, use the butternut squash or arugula label and it should be easy to find).

The squash was just as wonderful as last time. Not quite all of it made it into the pasta because it was done before the rest of the dish and I found myself snacking on it occasionally. What a tasty snack!

Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake

..because Butternut Squash Chocolate Cheesecake doesn't sound as good! That's right, butternut squash made another appearance in a dessert.

Cheesecakes still remain a bit of a mystery to me, but I am getting it a little more figured out....reading up on them helps a lot. To make this cheesecake (which was supposed to be lighter than some...), I started by crushing 1 1/2 c of chocolate wafers (a little more than half of a 9 oz package) in my food processor. I transfered the crushed wafers to a bowl and combined 2 T brown sugar and 2 T melted butter and mixed well. I pressed the wafers into the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan and up the sides about an inch or so. I set this aside until later.

For the cheesecake, I pureed 3 c low-fat (not non-fat) cottage cheese in the food processor until it was smooth. I then added 12 oz cream cheese at room temperature, 1 1/4 c sugar and 1/4 c cornstarch and pureed until smooth. I poured this into a mixing bowl and added 2 beaten eggs, 2 t vanilla, and 1/4 t salt and then beat (with an electric mixer). I removed 1 1/2 c of the cream cheese batter and put it in a separate bowl for later. To what remained in the mixing bowl, I added 1 1/2 c of cooked, pureed butternut squash (or pumpkin), 1/4 c brown sugar, 3/4 t cinnamon, and 1/8 t ground nutmeg and mixed well.

In the bowl I had set aside, I stirred in 1 c melted chocolate chips and 1/3 c cocoa powder and mixed until it was thoroughly blended.

I poured the pumpkin mixture into the crust-lined pan and then spooned in the chocolate mixture on top (I tried to spread it out, but it ended up really close together). I swirled everything together gently with a knife, being sure not to mix the two together but to just leave streaks of chocolate through the pumpkin. I baked in a preheated 325 degrees oven for 60 - 65 minutes or until just the edge of the filling was set. I turned off the oven and left the cheesecake in the oven for 30 minutes with the oven door closed. Then I removed it from the oven and let it cool on rack at room temperature for 3 hours. Then, I finally covered and refrigerated over night before serving. All of this gentle cooling is supposed to prevent cracks on the top. I have yet to achieve a cheesecake without cracks, but maybe this helps.

Butternut Squash Bisque with Bok Choy Salad and fresh whole wheat Bread

As I've mentioned earlier, I've been searching for the perfect butternut squash bisque for a couple of years now. I think with a few adjustments I may have finally found my soup.

I combined two recipes--one from Whole Foods and one from About.com: French Food. I sauted 1/2 a chopped large onion and 1/2 T minced fresh ginger (I will decrease that amount next time---use only 1/2 - 1 t instead) in a soup pot for 5 minutes. I added 1 1/2 lbs peeled and chopped butternut squash and 2 large chopped carrots and sauted the veggies for another 3 minutes. Then I added 2 1/4 c chicken stock and 1 T orange zest (again, I will decrease that amount next time to probably 1 t) and brought everything to boil. I lowered the heat, covered the pot, and simmered for about 30 minutes (or until all carrots and squash are tender). Then I added 1/4 c chopped fresh parsley, a dash of nutmeg and about 1/2 t sea salt. I transfered the soup to my food processor and pureed the mixture until it is smooth and creamy (a hint about pureeing hot ingredients in a blender or food processor---take the the cap in the center of the lid out---that will allow the heat to escape without the spewing soup everywhere. I am speaking from experience!). Put it back in the soup pot and add 1 c of heavy cream (Whole Foods recipe stops before adding the cream, but the cream makes the soup thicker). Heat until the bisque is hot. Garnish with croutons (we used Central Market croutons because I was too lazy tonight to make those too).

I also made a bok choy salad to go with it and a loaf of rustic whole wheat bread. I found the bread recipe online and as I made it, I realized it didn't make a lot of sense---the process was much different than typical bread recipes and the ingredients contained no oil or no sugar, which was also very unusual. I won't repeat the recipe so I am not going to post it.

The kids didn't like the bisque. They ate bread with homemade jelly on top. Curtis and I loved the bisque and we enjoyed a nice complete meal.

Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagne

Before I get into the nitty gritty of tonight's meal, may I just sing the virtues of the butternut squash a little more? I've talked about it being roasted and cooked in cubes (tonight's recipe was also cooked in cubes). Did you know also that butternut squash makes killer pumpkin pies? Really! It tastes better and has better consistency in pies than say the large pumpkins you use for carving. I have now used up almost all the butternut squash in my pantry. Next week, I plan to scour the Farmer's Market for more butternut squash because I am dreaming of making pumpkin (aka butternut squash) flan and pumpkin chocolate cheesecake. Plus I hope to make a butternut squash bisque (which, by the way, I am still searching for the ultimate butternut squash bisque recipe so if you happen to have one that isn't too runny and has the perfect blend of spices, please, let me know!). In case you have never seen a butternut squash peeled and cut open, here are two pictures. The first one is with seeds, the second is after it has had the seeds removed.

Tonight's meal was time intensive. The recipe was from Epicurious. I did a few things differently, some I think were good choices, some weren't. The recipe is basically 4 parts you assemble (not unlike most lasagne's): the filling (squash and hazelnuts among other things), the sauce (a white sauce, also known as a bechamel sauce), the noodles, and the cheese. A quick recap of what I did that varied from the recipe. For the filling, I was sure I had hazelnuts so I didn't get any at the store on Monday. Upon looking, I did in fact have hazelnuts. Just not the 1 c that was called for; I only had about 1/4 c. Next time, I will use a full cup. I love the flavor of hazelnuts and suspect the combination of hazelnuts and squash is wonderful. The recipe calls for the hazelnuts to be toasted. To do that, just put the nuts in a 375 degrees oven and cook for about 6 - 10 minutes. Remove, place in a dish towel, and vigorously roll/rub to get the skins off. It's ok if not all the skins come off. The recipe also called for the no-cook noodles. I had the other kind (the old fashioned, cook first kind) on hand, so I cooked the noodles and reduced the baking time to 15 minutes without covering the dish at all. The cheese was no different.

Where I had my difficulties with the recipe was the white sauce. I have only started making sauces in the past 6 months so I am still figuring the whole sauce thing out. I suspect (although I am not 100% sure) my problem was using skim milk instead of whole milk. I think skim milk takes longer to boil and thicken than whole milk because what was supposed to take 10 minutes took closer to forever (or at least 20 minutes). It turned out fine, just took a long time. I found myself cursing the recipe as I stirred and stirred and stirred, telling myself this better be darn good if I was going to spend this long of a time making it.

The final result? Curtis and I loved it, although I was missing the hazelnuts. J ate the squash and a little noodles. M? Well, her response was, "Mommy, something's wrong with this." Hmm...I think I struck out with her!

Pappardelle with Roasted Winter Squash

If you start everything at the same time, the meal will hypothetically be finished in about 25 minutes. The butternut squash needs to be peeled, seeded, and cut ahead of time to prepare the meal that quickly.

Butternut squash has quite a thick skin and aren't the easiest vegetables to prepare for cooking. After several different experimentations over the years, I have found a vegetable peeler (one that doesn't move, some wiggle, some are stationary. The stationary vegetable peelers work best) to work the easiest. After the squash is peeled, cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. Again, after much experimenting I found the easiest way to get the seeds are is to cut around them with a serrated steak knife and then scoop them out with a serrated grapefruit spoon. The serrated edge lets you get just the seeds and stringy membrane without losing the wonderful fleshy part. Once that is done, cut the squash into 1/4 - 1/2" cubes.

To actually prepare the meal, combine 4 c of cubed squash, 2 T balsamic vinegar, 2 t olive oil, and 1/2 t sea salt (or kosher salt or just regular salt) in a large bowl. Toss well to coat. Grill in a grill basket over a medium hot grill until they are tender and browned, stirring occasionally to prevent charring (if some get a little charred that's ok, it brings out the flavor). If you prefer you could also roast the cubes spread in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet in a preheated 475 degrees oven for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the squash roasts, cook 8 oz (1 package) papparedelle pasta according to package directions. Drain in colander, reserving 2 T of the cooking liquid. While the pasta cooks, melt 1 T butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 T pine nuts, 1 T fresh chopped sage (optional--sometimes I add it, sometimes I don't), and 2 cloves minced garlic and cook for 3 minutes or just until the pine nuts begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Place pasta, 1 T reserved cooking liquid, pine nut mixture, and squash mixture in a large bowl. Toss gently to coat. If pasta seems dry, add second reserved T of cooking liquid. Add 2 c arugula and 1/2 c Asiago or Parmesan cheese. Toss gently to combine and serve immediately.

Curtis and I love this meal. The butternut squash is very sweet when roasted/grilled and almost tastes like sweet potatoes. M just ate the pasta and cheese. J just ate the squash. It worked out perfectly!

Butternut Squash Risotta

It was our first cool fall day today. I decided that there was nothing like butternut squash to celebrate fall. I needed to look for a recipe though that didn't have too many other "fall" type vegetables, since I didn't have any of those. I found a risotto recipe that looked good.

I had never made risotto before, so I was a little nervous. One of my friends told me last week she had tried a similar recipe which was really good, so I decided to go for it. The recipe was from the October issue of Bon Appetit (I can't find the recipe online...). A brief description...I peeled and removed the seeds from 1 lb of butternut squash. I sauteed that in some butter and sprinkled it with a little brown sugar, salt and pepper. I made the risotto using beef and chicken broth, fresh thyme, onions and bacon, gradually adding the broth and stirring a lot. The recipe called for shallots, which I substituted with a less amount of regular onions. It also called for sage, but again, I had none and I didn't really miss it. The risotto was not lacking in flavor. That's the really short version. If you want the whole recipe let me know...it's pretty long.

Overall the dish turned out great! Curtis, J, and I loved. M wouldn't touch it. However she did eat the butter beans that I seasoned with a chicken bouillon cube, as did Curtis and J. The risotto wasn't as much work as I was worried about. I stirred for a little, then went to check on the kids playing in the backyard. I did that repeatedly.