Halloween 7: Pumpkin spice cupcakes and a Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I didn't celebrate with a costume or anything this year, but I have been watching Halloween-y movies this year. Friday night I was introduced me to John Carpenter's "The Thing," which is truly gross. Reminded me of high school, when one of me and my friends' favorite movies to watch was John Carpenter's "Vampires." Then Saturday night was "Young Frankenstein." 

"Werewolf." "There." "What?" "There, wolf. There, castle." Gosh I love that movie. My dad introduced it to me as a kid. Last night I watched "Space Jam." I think it counts as a Halloween movie because it's got aliens, right? I'm going with that. I don't know what I'll watch tonight, but these cupcakes would go perfectly with it, especially with their black cat sprinkles!

For my final Halloween dessert, I went to Martha, and she came through. I made pumpkin spice cupcakes with a pumpkin spice icing. The cupcakes were nice and moist, and although this isn't the exact recipe I used from her cupcake cookbook, it will probably do. I know the one I used didn't use melted butter. The frosting is her swiss meringue buttercream recipe with some pumpkin pie spices mixed in, and it was awesome. I believe the term that was used was "cloud in my mouth." And naturally, I had to make black cat-themed cupcakes just like last year, when I made some with black cat toppers. This year, I went with sprinkles.

Now, for my favorite costume picture. This was when my whole family went as the Wizard of Oz, obviously. I was originally going to be the Scarecrow, but once I saw the Dorothy costume, I had to be her. Our dog, Nellie, was the Cowardly Lion, as evidenced by her fur collar. And my dad's costume? Yes, he made that out of ductwork. It was way cool. And it's a very special picture for me for another reason: It was the last Halloween my parents were still together, so the last time we went out as a family. So that's kind of cool.

Now here's a quick roundup of the other Halloween treats I made for the holiday.

1. Halloween Oreo cheesecakes

2. Fall Brenna brownies

3. Pumpkin chocolate tart

4. Candy corn cupcakes

5. Spooky Rice Krispies

6. Pumpkin spice cookies

(Posting cupcakes in Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday!)

Halloween 6: Pumpkin spice cookies

Sometimes, I forget I have a cookie press. But it seems so perfect to use for the holidays, starting with Halloween. I mean, who can resist these pumpkin cookies? I made them once last year, but I like them a lot better in orange. Especially with these fall sprinkles. 

I just used a basic spritz cookie recipe that came with the press, which is pretty simple and makes a gazillion cookies. I added orange gel coloring and some pumpkin pie spice, which gave these nice undertones of fall flavors but didn't overwhelm. Plus, they're basically two-bite cookies, so a perfect size.

Today's costume is another dance one from my last year at All That Jazz. Obviously, we did the can can, and it was for troupe, our competitive dance team. This was a picture my mom forced me to take in the driveway.

This is us actually doing the dance, I think at our dance recital in May. This would have made a pretty sweet costume, though. I know I still have the skirt somewhere!

Halloween 5: Spooky Rice Krispie treats

Sometimes, a Rice Krispie treat just hits the spot. I haven't made them in a long time, and it's not like they're hard, but I never think to make them. They seemed like the perfect easy Halloween treat, though. These are basic Rice Krispies with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds and chocolate chips mixed in. And obviously some orange.

Okay, once again, not Halloween. But still, I was a pretty resourceful cowgirl, what with my paper bag vest. Right? I wish I knew what year in school this was, but I really have no idea. Maybe I'll just do this for a costume this year. At least it would be cheap!

Halloween 4: Candy corn cupcakes

First off, I missed an anniversary a few weeks ago. Two years ago on October 8, I wrote an entry about snickerdoodles (which, incidentally, are not even in my top five favorite cookies). Thus started Ingredients of a 20something, which has now been going for two years and has (including this one) 121 posts. So happy belated birthday to this blog, which sometimes saves me from going insane with boredom in the absence of school, challenges me to new things and lets me keep up my writing in a non-journalistic style.

I knew I wanted to make candy corn cupcakes as soon as I saw Halloween cupcakes popping up around the internet. They're simple: my favorite yellow cake with some Halloween sprinkles mixed into the batter (which made them kind of orange) and then Swiss meringue buttercream piped in three different colors on top. Simple, but so, so good.

And for today's costume, I cheat a little bit. This wasn't technically for Halloween, but rather for a dance routine. We danced to "Walk Like an Egyptian" for my jazz routine that year. Nice and sparkly! 

(Posting these to Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday!)

Halloween 3: Pumpkin chocolate tart

I'll admit it: I hate pumpkin. Or at least, I have for a long time. I think it has something to do with handing out slice after slice of it at our church's Thanksgiving dinner. That, and the texture grosses me out. So why I decided to make this chocolate pumpkin tart, I don't know.

Maybe because it's pretty. And had a Halloween-y spiderweb. And wasn't that much pumpkin related to the crust and chocolate. That last part was probably it. Plus, does Martha Stewart ever screw up with her recipes? Actually, this crust was really finicky and super sticky. So maybe every once in a while she does.

You know what doesn't screw up? A Disney princess Halloween costume. So a couple days ago you saw Jasmine from Aladdin and this one is Esmerelda from Hunchback of Notre Dame (here's what she looks like in the movie). What's funny is that movie has had very little staying power in the grand scheme of Disney movies, but at the time I obviously loved it. I remember even having an Esmerelda Barbie (oh yes, I was totally a Barbie girl). 

Despite my aversion to pumpkin, I actually enjoyed this tart. Maybe I'm getting over my hatred of it! That, or the recipe just used the right amount of it in relation to the rest. We'll see if I make any more pumpkin recipes! I better, I bought another can of it.

Halloween 2: Fall Brenna brownies

Back when I was on the Kansan, these babies were known as Brenna Brownies. They're a Martha Stewart recipe, a pretty easy one at that, and one with two kinds of chocolate baked in initially. What's fun about them (besides the fact that they're amazing) is that every time you make them, you can customize them. Like these, with the fall peanut M&Ms. And chocolate chips. And yumminess. So even though there aren't any distinctive fall flavors in them, I still count them as a Halloween dessert. After all, the colors are right!

And for today's Halloween costume of yesteryear, princess Jasmine in a particularly cold year, hence the turtleneck. We've established I'm a Disney fan, right? And if you couldn't guess, Mom was a witch.

Last, my blog turned two years old last week! But I'm busy making Halloween desserts. So more about that later.

Halloween 1: Halloween Oreo cheesecakes, plus funk cupcakes and beignets

Sometimes, I just start itching for travel. Okay, not sometimes, often. I admit it, I'm a travel addict. I love going places to visit friends, sample food, just do whatever. In the last year, because I've transitioned jobs, I haven't traveled as much as I did during college. But I have been to Chicago and New York City in 2011 so far. But this week, I add another city, one I haven't been to since my sophomore year of high school: Salt Lake City. Apparently, there's a chance of snow in the area this week. It was like 87 here yesterday. But one of my best friends, Keane, lives there, so we're going to hang out for a few days. I can't wait! Plus, I know the area is beautiful, I bet especially right now when we're still in autumn.

My first journalism internship was at the Lawrence Journal-World, where I would end up working. I worked up on the features desk, writing stories like this one about all the animals in downtown Lawrence businesses and about the kids who grew up with Harry Potter. Later I would be hired full-time down in the news section, but I've always loved my features desk I started with. One of my editors from back then, Christy, left the JW a couple weeks ago, and Trevan, another editor who works with her, asked me to make her cupcakes. It seemed only natural to make funk cupcakes, which Christy had suggested once before. These are a little more wild and brightly colored than the last ones, but still the same concept: red velvet cupcakes (crushed velvet), rainbow frosting and some interesting wrappers. (Posting these funk cupcakes on Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday.)

Something I wanted to try when I made my 2011 baking goals (which I've fallen miserably behind on) was beignets. I've never been to New Orleans, but that's supposedly the place to have the best beignets. They're basically doughnuts, only smothered in powdered sugar. What could be wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. I'm glad I made them with Aunt Betty, because they definitely take two people. You put them in the oil and flip them continuously (and they puff up!) for just a couple minutes before you take them out and douse them in sugar. They were amazing. Now I just need to go taste the real thing in NOLA.

I'm hoping to do a bunch of Halloween treats during the month of October. Here's my first: Halloween Oreo cheesecakes. I've made the cheesecakes before, and these are just made with Halloween Oreos. Definitely worth a try. Also, with each Halloween baked good, I've got a photo to post of a childhood costume that I found while visiting Mom last time. So here goes: 

Pirate girl. I remember a lot of those pieces making appearances later on in dress-up games. So happy Halloween month!

Double maple, the last week of Halloween baking and 5 of 8 goals met

Okay. I admit it. I'm not a fan of Halloween. Well, not quite, but I don't go quite as all-out as everyone else does. I mean, I do on the baking end (obviously). But I didn't even go out for Halloween this weekend. I think it has something to do with how my mom made all my costumes, so store-bought ones don't really measure up. Here I am as an Indian (I look so serious!).


I've been quite the variety of Disney leading ladies, including Ariel, Jasmine and Esmerelda (from the Hunchback). Dorothy was another, and a witch...and I'm sure my mom can document the rest of the years with pictures. But I'm not a fan of going to the store and buying one, and I'm not really creative enough to come up with my own cheap option. So this Halloween I celebrated by watching the first half of Rocky Horror Picture Show (really, all I care about is the Time Warp). And by baking. Of course.


I think I mentioned once already how maple is one of my absolute favorite flavors. After this week, I might be mapled out, which I thought I'd never say. But first, I tried maple creme brulee from Joy of Cooking. It was my first creme brulee, but it's basically a custard, which I'd made before for an ice cream base. This is one of the only desserts ever that I didn't share — it was that good, once I figured out how to work my kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar.

I actually spent a lot of time thumbing through my Joy of Cooking last week. I tend to go in cycles, baking from online recipes, then switching to cookbooks. I thought I hadn't given this one enough love lately. I felt in a cookie mood later that week, and ended up making the chocolate oatmeal bars. Very chocolatey.


Then came a baking day at Aunt Betty's, which we all know means hours of baking for some different desserts. First, we made a Boston Creme Pie (also from Joy of Cooking) for my friend Tim's birthday. Never mind that his birthday was a couple weeks ago, I said I'd make him one, so we did. It's surprisingly simple; two layers of yellow cake with a creme in between and a chocolate on top. He so kindly modeled it for me :)

Then, another maple dessert. And another Joy of Cooking recipe. Maple fudge. It ended up being less fudgy and more candy-y, a lot like those maple leaf candies. So I'm counting it as a completed goal, because it really had the same texture. It was really good, but it's pretty much like eating solid sugar. I will need to wait a while to make it again.

Then Aunt Betty and I made my Uncle David's birthday cake, a Black Forest torte.(totally go look at this recipe; it's worth it to all you journalists just for the epic spelling error in the third paragraph of preparation). It's basically a bunch of cinnamon cookie-type things (they reminded me of churros), whipped cream in the middle and cherries, pecans and chocolate on top. The cream softens the cookies and it makes for an excellent 12 (yes 12!) layer cake. I didn't do too much on this, just helped form the cookies.


Then, the official Halloween cupcakes. I got these black cat cupcake toppers and cupcake liners a while ago from Bake It Pretty and was saving them. I made plain ol' yellow cake with sprinkles for funfetti and plain ol' orange frosting. I had to take a picture of them with my black kitty, who proceeded to lick two of the cupcakes, which were then thrown away. Silly kitty. Oh well, at least he's cute! Also, I've posted these over at Mommy's Kitchen with a bunch of other tasty Halloween desserts.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: doughnuts!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.


You might remember, but when I came up with my baking goals, doughnuts were on the list. Since then, I've made them. Twice. This challenge was my third. They're not hard, per se, but getting the frying right has proven to be pretty testy. All three times I've been at Aunt Betty's, and thank goodness, or I would have failed miserably. First was regular doughnuts with a chocolate glaze and sprinkles. Good, but the oil was too hot. Second was apple cider doughnuts, heavy enough to weigh you down but oh-so-good.


Anyway, I thought it was funny when this Daring Baker challenge came out, because I'd just made some doughnuts. But it can never hurt to try to perfect them! So for these doughnuts, we went with a basic yeast dough for light, yummy doughnuts. I used my doughnut cutter I bought while visiting Mary in NYC last fall. It makes slightly bigger doughnuts than most places call for, but it's super easy to use!


Like I said earlier, the frying part is a lot harder than it looks. The temperature of the oil jumps all over the place, and too hot and they get a lot heavier. These, though, were our best attempt yet. They were light and fluffy and wonderful. We put a maple glaze on top — maple is easily my favorite fall flavor! A few Halloween sprinkles, and we had a great fall treat. At like 4 p.m. Which seems like a weird time for doughnuts, but whatever.


So I'm curious now to see what our next challenge is, and if it will be something else I've recently made or something totally outside of my comfort zone. I might have to actually make these some time for a morning treat!

Three sweets and a shift

Sometimes, when I write this blog, I have a hard time remembering what's been going on during the last week. I find myself measuring my days in the crime or accidents I've covered while working my job, or the stories I've written recently. Or friends who have visited. My friend Taylor and I haven't had corresponding days off since graduating, until last week. It was nice to catch up with him, and go out for my friend Tim's birthday as well. Also, last Tuesday was my Aunt Betty's birthday. Which meant baking, of course!


See, when I have a couple days off, I tend to go over there and bake for hours on end. Generally it's stuff that's a bit harder than I try on my own, because she's done so much more than me. One of those things is the Joy of Cooking angel food cake. I've never made one before — it took 11 egg whites! Can you believe that? It seems it's basically a meringue with enough flour mixed in to make it a cake. Aunt Betty wanted a birthday cake, and this was it. A lemon glaze on top, and it was super tasty.


Also on the list was using the cookie press she got me for my birthday. The pumpkin shape seemed like a good place to start, you know, with the fall season and all. It's basically a sugar almond cookie extruded through a sort of gun-type thing. Once we figured out how to work it (after a couple YouTube videos) we were good to go! I'm thinking these will make good Christmas gifts later, with red- and green-tinted dough and the Christmas tree shape.


Later in the week, I worked dayside and got some awesome news — I got switched to an earlier shift! No more vampire living for me. Except that's not entirely true, since I'm up writing this at like 5:30 a.m. Maybe I still have some adjusting to do. Anyway, it means more writing and multimedia, which is exactly the kind of stuff I like doing. The other day I got to write about a former dairy farm that is being renovated for use by KU, which is totally my type of thing. I love old family histories like that. I've got another historical story coming up, and I'm pretty excited to work on it!


Point is, my shift came about because of a larger shift in our company. It's being restructured, and Friday was my last day working with some of my coworkers. So we celebrate with cupcakes, of course! Kelly helped me make the cupcakes, which we made half chocolate and half yellow to signify the split. Okay, I have to admit, I used boxed mix for the yellow. It's the first time I've used boxed mix for a cupcake in I don't know how long, but I was fricking exhausted and didn't want to go back to the store for a measly carton of buttermilk. So I used the box. Whatever. Anyway, I think they turned out cute, what with the Halloween decorations.


So now I'm off to finish the rest of my new work week, filled with interviews and hopefully fewer car wrecks (it's been a crazy couple week with those). Oh, one last thing, I saw the bar band for the first time ever on Wednesday at the Sandbar. It's a group of guys who play a bunch of typical band songs and the KU fight song and all that, and it was great. Too bad our football team totally blew it the next day. But it did make me excited for two things: 1) basketball season and 2) my friends visiting for the upcoming KU vs. Colorado game. Who cares if we'll probably lose? I get to tailgate! Woo hoo!