Don't Use Satellite Internet

Hello! So, I know I said I'd be around this week with some posts about the goodies I've been working on lately. Unfortunately, I've been having some technical issues. The issues are:
1. I live in the middle of nowhere right now.
2. Since there are no phone lines or anything, we have satellite internet.
3. Satellite internet sucks.
Aside from being totally awful to begin with, the internet has not liked the amount of time my brothers have spent recently playing WoW, and it has decided to go on strike. It is now running at glacial speeds (if it works at all), a significant downgrade from the snail's pace at which it normally runs. Having Blogger load at all right now is slightly miraculous, so I'm not even going to attempt to upload photos.
I'll be back as soon as the internet decides to cooperate again, which I hope will be soon.
So....ttfn!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

I love pumpkin. Funnily enough, pumpkin pie isn't terribly high on my list of loves, but I love pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cheesecake, and of course pumpkin cupcakes!

I'm particularly proud of these cupcakes because this is the first recipe I've created myself; the first time I've gone beyond simply baking someone else's recipe or making just tiny modifications to existing recipes. I'm still not terribly confident in making my own recipes, so I did reference a couple cake recipes to be sure I had decent amounts of flour, sugar, butter, etc, but I still feel this is a recipe I can call my own :)

The cupcakes are moist and flavorful, and I think they certainly fall within the "cake" category, rather than being something that could be mistaken for a muffin. But that's just my opinion.

Ready for the recipe?

1 1/2 c sifted cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

10 tbsp butter

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/2 c light brown sugar, packed firmly

2 eggs

1 c pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare cupcake trays.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and powder, and spices.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating about 20 secondss after each.

Add the pumpkin and beat until incorporated; the batter will look curdled.

Reduce your mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides and beat for an additional 20 seconds.

Bake for about 22 minutes.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

And there you have it! Yay!

I made a ginger cream cheese frosting for these cupcakes. I highly recommend adding ginger to your frosting (for these particular cupcakes)! The slight kick from the ginger really enhances the cake. As usual, I don't actually have a frosting recipe. I started out with an 8 oz package of cream cheese and 6 tbsp (or maybe 8?) of butter, added powdered sugar and milk until I liked the consistency, and ginger until I liked the taste. I had enough to frost 24 cupcakes.

I don't have a lot of pumpkin cupcake pics, so here is a little bonus picture! These are vanilla confetti cupcakes with chocolate frosting that I made for my friend's boyfriend's birthday a few weeks ago :)

I've been super busy the past few weeks, so I apologize for my absence here! But stay tuned, I'll be back later this week to share some more of the goodies I've been busy baking!