Jack Skellington Cupcakes

Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite Halloween AND Christmas movies. In the spirit of the season, I thought it would be fun to make some Jack Skellington cupcakes. They were surprisingly easy to make. Rolling out, cutting, and drawing Jack's face on the fondant is a bit time consuming, but definitely not very difficult since his features are pretty simple.

I simply cut out this template of Jack's face (you will need to adjust the size) and laid it out on each circle of fondant. Because I don't trust my own drawing skills, I then traced Jack's features with the end of a thin paintbrush. After the features are impressed on the circle, I filled them in with a black edible food pen. If you don't have a circle cutter, I would suggest investing in one- it makes it much easier to create clean shapes.

The actual cupcakes are a simple chocolate cake with vanilla bean frosting. These are not gluten free because I haven't created a fabulous chocolate cake in the Pixie Crust test kitchen yet.

For the Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 24):

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup hot water
1 cup sour cream

Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with paper liners and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift cake flour and salt together. Set aside. Cream together butter, sugar and eggs. Once light and creamy, add vanilla extract using a stand mixer. Melt baking chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Add chocolate to mixer. Add dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with sour cream. Once fully combined, add hot water and stir to mix.

Bake for 20-24 minutes until cupcakes spring back to touch.

For the Vanilla Bean Frosting:

3 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
2 tbsp cream cheese (for taste and texture to cut the sweetness a bit)

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add in powdered sugar. Mix until light and fluffy. Add vanilla bean paste and food coloring.

To assemble:

I like to place fondant decorations over the icing so that the frosting still peeks out. That way, someone could choose to remove the fondant topper and still have a good frosting: cake ratio.

Frost cupcakes with pastry bag fitted with star tip, don't pipe frosting on too high. Add Jack head to the top of each cupcake.

Pumpkin "Trick or Treat" Cupcakes (GF)

It feels so nice to be posting again. I've had a really busy couple of weeks, including a work conference (for my 9-5 job, which is not nearly as interesting as pastry) in Palm Springs.

In addition to being busy, I've been feeling a bit like a scientist in the kitchen now that I've switched over to exclusively gluten free baking. It's so exciting, but so different! And so frustrating! I made about 4 attempts yesterday at the perfect GF yellow cupcake and have yet to have succeeded. Luckily, these pumpkin cupcakes turned out beautifully.

These cupcakes are pumpkin with brown butter frosting. They are inspired by a "trick-or-treat" pumpkin basket and when you look at them, you can't help but get nostalgic. I love Halloween and today I spent a full day of child-like fun with Mr. Pixie Crust painting pumpkins to put outside of our apartment. He is a true artist! I'm so impressed by his raven pumpkin!

Mr. Pixie Crust and I had a conversation today about Halloween and what we used to dress up as. Neither of us have ever had the inkling to dress up as anything too spooky. In fact, I pretty much only wanted to be "pretty" characters growing up- a princess, a fairy (I was a fairy probably about 7 times), a mermaid, Cleopatra, a ballerina, etc. I guess some things never change!

For the Pumpkin Cupcakes:
*For non-gluten free readers, you can try this recipe I used for my Harry Potter cupcakes.

1 cup superfine sweet rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup superfine brown rice flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter, unsalted at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.

Sift together the flours, corn/potato starches, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Set aside. Cream together brown sugar, white sugar, and butter. Add in vanilla extract. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients in two parts, alternating with water and pumpkin puree. Mix for 2-3 minutes.

Fill liners about 2/3 full and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

For the Browned Butter Frosting
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 sticks browned butter (see below)
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar (or more, depending on how sweet you like your frosting)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp Wilton Orange food coloring gel

Slice two sticks of unsalted butter and place in 1 qt sauce pan. Melt over medium heat, stirring occasionally, and continue to heat until bubbly and light brown (about 4-5 minutes). Be very careful in this step- the butter browns quickly and can burn if you don't watch it carefully.

Set melted browned butter aside to cool completely (I put mine in the freezer for a couple of minutes to speed the process).

Once completely cool, combine browned butter and one stick of regular butter with powdered sugar in a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until fully smooth and creamy. Add food coloring and mix until fully combined.

To Decorate:
Tools/Ingredients
-pastry bag
-small round tip (I used a Wilton 3 tip)
-Mini-sized candy of your choice (I used Nerds, Tootsie rolls, and Mini Reese's Cups)
-Small amount of orange or black fondant
-Orange sanding sugar

To decorate the cupcakes like pumpkins, I used this tutorial from the Hello, Cupcake! book.

To make the pumpkins, place a generous amount of frosting on each cupcake and smooth into a rounded top. Pour orange sanding sugar onto wax paper or a paper plate and gently roll each cupcake into it. You can sprinkle sugar onto any bare spots. Next, use a toothpick to mark indents on pumpkin and use a pastry bag fitted with small round tip to pipe lines onto indents.

Once you've made the pumpkins (minus the stems, unless you make them all into plain pumpkins, which is still adorable-see photo below for proof), cut out the pumpkin face from a piece of rolled out black or orange fondant. Use a bit of frosting to glue each piece on.

Next, place the candy on the top of each cupcake. Put the largest item as far back as you can and then add the smaller items in front. Use a whole piece of licorice for the basket handle by arching over cupcake and pushing each end into it.

Spun Sugar Spider Web Flourless Chocolate Cake (GF)

Flourless chocolate cakes are one of my new favorite things to make. They're so simple to put together. I love that they use such few ingredients and take hardly anytime at all to mix up and bake. Plus, you don't even need to frost them since they're so decadent!

For this version, I decided to make it more festive by adding some spun sugar "webs" and fondant spiders.

For the Cake (Recipe adapted from Givers Log):

Tools/Equipment:
-9-inch springform pan
-Offset rubber spatula
-2 large mixing bowls (an additional large mixing bowl if you use a stand mixer to whip the egg whites)
-A fork (for spinning sugar)
-Parchment paper
-Non-stick cooking spray

Ingredients:
-12.5 oz good quality chocolate (I use a mix of bittersweet, dark, and milk)
-5 eggs, separated
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line the bottom of the springform pan with an 9-inch circle of parchment paper. Spray the sides of the pan and parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray.
Set aside.

Chop chocolate and melt by heating in microwave in 45 second-1 minute intervals. Stir well after heating. Once the chocolate is fully melted, add in the cubed butter and stir until melted and fully combined. Set aside to cool.

Whisk egg yolks and vanilla extract together until pale yellow and creamy looking.
Pour egg mixture over chocolate and mix until fully combined. If bowl containing chocolate/eggs is not large enough to contain whipped egg whites, transfer to larger mixing bowl.

Using stand mixer with a clean bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Once soft peaks start to form, add in sugar little by little. Continue whipping until egg whites form stiff peaks.

Add 1/3 of the egg white mixture to the chocolate mixture and fold until combined. Add in the rest of the whites and continue to fold until combined (it's better to leave few white streaks than to over mix or take the air out of the whites).

Spread batter into springform pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the rack for 19-23 minutes.

For the Fondant Spiders:

I used leftover store bought gum paste (you could also use fondant or marshmallow fondant) to create these little critters. I colored my gum paste with AmeriColor Royal Purple food coloring.

Directions:

Roll enough medium sized balls (about the size of a gumball) for the number of spiders you want to make. Next, roll the same number of smaller balls sized about 50% of the larger balls. Combine the two balls to form the body. Form legs by rolling small logs and placing underneath body. Shape legs to 45 degree angles. Allow spiders to dry/stabilize for a few hours or overnight.

For the spun sugar web, I used the recipe and tutorial from Sprinkle Bakes. One extra tip, you REALLY need to watch the sugar as it begins reaching high temperature. I overcooked mine slightly, but luckily, the sugar still spun okay.

Pumpkin Spice French Macarons

When I say that I love pumpkin, I mean it! There are likely to be several more pumpkin recipes on the way, but for now, I'm posting the recipe for these delicious Pumpkin Spice Macarons. I was surprised how pumpkin-y these tasted, given that they don't have any actual pumpkin (only pumpkin pie spice) but they are completely Fall worthy.

 UPDATE 11/01/2013:  Check out the pumpkin spice French macarons on my new blog, Sprinkle Liberally.

Macaron cookie shells (makes approximately 46 shells, depending on size)

1 cup plus 2 tbsp almond meal
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1 scant tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
3 egg whites (aged 24 hours at room temperature)
Pinch of cream of tartar
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp caster sugar (also called “baker’s sugar”)
Orange gel food coloring

Sift almond meal and confectioner’s sugar together two times in a large bowl. Sift in pumpkin pie spice. Set aside dry ingredients.

Using a stand mixer, whisk egg whites on medium-low setting. Once foamy, add pinch of cream of tartar. When egg whites have soft peaks, slowly add in castor sugar. Increase mixer speed slightly and add gel food coloring. Continue whisking until whites form stiff peaks. Using an off-set rubber spatula, gently fold almond flour/confectioner’s sugar mixture into egg whites until no more lumps remain and mixture ribbons off the top of the spatula.
Place mixture in pastry bag and pipe into circles onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake at 275 degrees for about 15 minutes. Rotate cookies 10 minutes into baking time.

Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Once macarons have fully cooled, pipe a dollop of buttercream onto the center of one shell and gently press the other shell on top.

Mini Pumpkin Spice Donuts (Vegan, GF)

I absolutely love the holiday season. Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year, but I must say that Fall is catching up to it. We might not have "real" seasons in Los Angeles, but it's definitely starting to feel like Fall here. The cold(ish) weather, the light blustery winds, and the pumpkin baked goods and coffee drinks popping up everywhere...

I am a huge fan of pumpkin. In fact, Mr. Pixie Crust and I had our first unofficial date over pumpkin pancakes (he's a big fan too). I'm planning on baking up all kinds of pumpkin treats this October, but to start, I decided to finally give my new mini-donut pan a whirl by baking up a batch of mini pumpkin spice doughnuts that are both gluten free and vegan. These festive little guys are moist, just dense enough, and filled with pumpkin goodness. Plus, I discovered that mini donuts are some of the most simple, yet fun treats to make! I can't wait to keep trying out new baked donut recipes.

Equipment Needed:

-12 cup mini-donut pan
-pastry bag or durable plastic freezer bag

For the Pumpkin Spice Donut Batter (makes about 3 dozen mini donuts):

1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill all purpose flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/2 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup sweet white rice flour
1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In large mixing bowl, sift together flours, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add coconut milk, vinegar, vanilla extract, oil and maple syrup to dry ingredients. Mix well (gluten free batters cannot be “overmixed”). Using a pastry bag to pipe batter inside each cup, fill each donut cavity a little more than 1/2 full.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until the top of the donuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 4–5 minutes before removing.

For donut glaze
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp, plus 1 tsp dairy free milk (I used rice milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift powdered sugar. Add milk and extract and stir until fully combined. Glaze should be thick enough to coat donut, but thin enough so that it does not clump and you need to hold donut upside down for a few seconds to allow excess glaze to drip off.

Dip top of each donut into bowl of glaze, allowing excess to drip off before placing on platter or parchment paper. After glaze has set on donut for a minute or so, dip top half into choice of sprinkles (or leave plain, if desired).

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes (Vegan, GF)

Now that I am permanently on a Gluten-Free diet and temporarily on a dairy free diet, I decided to go all the way (I am technically allowed to eat organic eggs during this temporary no-dairy stage) and concoct a vegan, gluten-free cupcake.

It took a few tries, but I think I came up with a darn good cupcake. You would never know it's missing the gluten, eggs, butter, or milk! In fact, the cake is so moist and rich, I think I even prefer it to my favorite regular chocolate cupcake recipe.  The other great part of this cake is that it is soy-free.  For a while, soy had a reputation for being a "healthy" alternative, but it actually is not and can cause problems for both men and women when consumed in large amounts.  But I digress...

If you're a vegan, or if you have friends of mixed diets, I would highly suggest making up a batch of these. In fact, even if you're NOT vegan or sensitive to gluten, give these a shot. I'm totally planning on bringing a couple of dozen of these to the next party I go to and not mention anything about the fact that they're a special new recipe because I'm absolutely convinced that no one will be able to tell.

I was feeling kind of down when I first found out that I couldn't eat gluten anymore and would have to completely re-orient myself with baking. I'm now very much encouraged, though, and I even feel like this is maybe how it was supposed to be for me- baking with a sensitivity towards allergies and alternative diets.

For the Double Chocolate Cupcakes:
(Vegan, Gluten-Free) makes 24 cupcakes

2 cups brown sugar (you could also use agave or an another alternative sweetener)
1 1/4 cups coconut milk (canned)
1 cup hot water

5 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (I used a Valrhona bar from Trader Joe's)

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup good quality dutch process cocoa powder (I used Valrhona, which can be found at speciality baking stores)
1 cup Bob’s AP GF Flour
1/2 cup superfine sweet rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup cornstarch (or potato/tapioca starch, if you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar*
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt


Sift together all of the flours, starch, cocoa powder, xanthum gum, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Melt chocolate and set aside. Combine coconut and canola oil in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add sugar and mix for about 3 minutes. Add vanilla extract. Add all dry ingredients and mix slowly until very well combined (**see note below). Batter will be thick and doughy at this point. Add the coconut milk and chocolate and mix well. Lastly, add the 1 cup of hot water and hand mix to incorporate with large spoon or offset spatula. Once batter is fully mixed, fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter and bake at 330 degrees for 23-25 minutes. You should rotate the cupcakes one time after 15-16 minutes of baking, but DO NOT open the oven any more than that. Be sure to leave the cupcakes to bake long enough- it may help to stick the middle of the cake with a toothpick to test for doneness (since they're GF, cupcakes may spring back at touch earlier than they are really done in the middle).

*I know vinegar sounds weird, but the vinegar and baking soda combine to give a rise and moisture similar to what eggs would normally create.

**since there is no gluten in the batter, there is no danger of over mixing your batter. In fact, all sources I consulted suggest that mixing GF/vegan batters MORE actually aids in creating a better texture for the final product.  In my novice opinion, this does indeed seem to be the case.

For the Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (I like Laura Scudder's Natural, no-stir creamy)
1/2 cup, plus one tbsp organic, non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening (the organic non-hydro stuff does not have the gross Crisco taste, trust me)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups confectioner's sugar

Combine peanut butter and shortening in bowl of stand mixer and mix with paddle attachment until well combined. Add vanilla and mix well. Add in confectioner's sugar and mix until incorporated and smooth. Decorate/frost cupcakes as desired.

Sparkling Syrah Concord Grape Sorbet

The day after I found out that I have to permanently cut out gluten from my diet, I went shopping at Trader Joe's and discovered how many of my "normal" favorite items I can no longer eat. It doesn't help that I am also on a temporary dairy-free diet with Ali- aka Mr. Pixie Crust- who also cannot eat soy (temporarily). Hmm...this has been tricky.

It shows how much we're on the same page that the day after our new diet was introduced we both came home with a couple of bottles of wine each. We are wine lovers, but I think even more than that, it was nice to have an indulgence left that we didn't have to worry at all about ingredient checking.

In the spirit of our appreciation for wine, I made a batch of Sparkling Syrah Concord Grape sorbet. If you haven't had a sparkling (dry) red wine, and you enjoy red wine, I highly suggest trying it. It is a really nice alternative to a traditional red wine on these warm summer nights. My absolute favorite sparking red is Mumm Napa's Cuvee M Red, but in this batch of sorbet, I used a nice, really economically priced dry sparkling red wine from Trader Joe's.

Sparkling Syrah Concord Grape Sorbet (adapted from Martha Stewart)
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds concord grapes
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup simple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup dry sparkling red wine (thoroughly chilled)

Wash grapes thoroughly and combine with 1/4 cup water in medium sauce pan. Place over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until grapes begin to break apart and dark juices are released (about 5-6 minutes). Pour grapes and juices into blender and puree. Pour mixture through fine mesh sieve and place over ice bath or into freezer until very cold.

Add simple syrup, lemon juice, and chilled red wine to grape puree. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

For a stronger wine flavor and pretty presentation, serve in glasses with sparkling wine poured over sorbet.