Cupcake challenge week 5: Cupcake roundup

Sometimes I get bored with baking. Or find that I really don't have any inspiration, even though I feel like baking. So the holiday cupcake challenge at Hoosier Homemade was really nice, because it made me think a little outside the box. The challenge is over now, except for voting (please vote for my New Year's champagne cupcakes, number 3). So here's what I did for the last month, with both the help of Kelly and Aunt Betty.

Week one: favorite fall flavor. I made egg nog cupcakes...my next goal is to make some egg nog homemade!

Week two: Thanksgiving cupcake. I made pecan pie cupcakes, and found I like them better than actual pecan pie!

Week three: Christmas cupcake. I did chocolate peppermint, with a peppermint patty baked into the middle. They were pretty rich, but people sure seemed to like them.

Week four: New Year's cupcake. I did champagne (not terribly creative, I know). But these were a nod to my Kansan folk (LNOPwooo!), and the frosting was darn good.

So, happy holidays! I'm posting this roundup on the last Hoosier Homemade challenge. Now it's time to go scheme away and come up with more holiday cupcakes. I'm thinking gingerbread.

Cupcake challenge week 1: Egg nog cupcakes

Christmas stuff is out in the stores. Well, granted, Hobby Lobby has had Christmas stuff out since, what, July? I don't get it. I like decorating and all that, but we've hardly hit freezing temperatures yet here in Kansas! It's totally out of the ordinary, too. I'm just waiting for that freak ice storm (knock on wood).

The thing I love about this cold season is all the warm things that come with it: snuggling in blankets (with kitties, of course!), fireplaces, homemade hot chocolate — seriously, my grandma's hot chocolate mix is the best ever, no competition. And certain foods sound better, too. Potato soup, stew, heavy chocolatey desserts. And then there's the egg nog. It came out on the shelves last week. I immediately bought a carton, of course. I used to hate the stuff, but now it's one of my favorite holiday treats. I'll probably try making it homemade this year.

But of course I had to make the cupcake version. You know me. It wasn't entirely selfish, though. I'm taking part in a cupcake challenge, hosted over at Hoosier Homemade. Kelly is helping me out. It's a four-week thing: favorite fall flavor, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. Those are coming up next, but this week is favorite fall flavor. Maple is right up there, but I've made a gazillion maple desserts lately, so egg nog it was!

These cupcakes were made from a recipe over at Annie's Eats, another favorite blog. There's bourbon in them, which was pretty overpowering when I smelled the batter, but not when I tried it. I edited the icing a bit to make it more egg nog-y and thicker as well. Altogether, an excellent fall cupcake.

So I'm adding these to the cupcake challenge at Hoosier Homemade. Now, I'm off to go vote! It's my first time actually voting in my precinct and not using an absentee ballot. I feel so grown up!