Pumpkin Cakes with Cinnamon Glaze

Hello.  My name is Maureen, and I am addicted to pumpkin.  Pumpkin spice coffee.  Pumpkin pie (with Cool Whip).  Pumpkin fudge.  Pumpkin pie dip with graham crackers.  Pumpkin butter.  Pumpkin soup. 

AND I LOVE PUMPKIN CAKE, especially the ones that I made tonight.  Okay...so I didn't make them all by myself.  The monkey did lend her hand.

I am super excited that fall is right around the corner (although I am not ready for summer to end) because I love fall foods.  Fall = Pumpkin Season.  Here is the first of what I hope is many more pumpkin baking recipes to come.

The finished product

Pumpkin Cakes

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)
• 1 egg
• 1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 heaping tablespoon pumpkin pie spice





Cinnamon Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 heaping teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons whole milk.

Combine the cake mix, pumpkin, egg and spices in a mixing bowl and mix well. 
Pour the cake batter in your choice of pan (I used my Texas cupcake pan....everything is bigger in Texas)
Bake according to the package directions.
Prepare the cinnamon glaze: Combine the four ingredients, and stir until well blended.  Store in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve the cakes.
The cakes can be allowed to cool, or can be served warm.  The glaze is best added to the cake when you are ready to serve it.

Enjoy! 



Here's my monkey putting the ingredients together.



The naked cake



Chocolate Peanut Butter Filled Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

It's time for me to put up, or shut up.  No more sitting around waiting for a reason to bake.  I'm just going to do it.  Why not?  What's stopping me?  Nothing.  The only thing that can get it my way is me.

With that said, I am challenging myself to a 52 week baking challenge.  Each week, I am going to make and/or create some sort of baked good -- cakes, cupcakes, pies, you name it (in fact, I'm open to suggestions). 

The challenge started on Sunday, when I was looking for someone to bake for.  The obvious choice was my husband because it was Father's Day.  This is a cupcake he requested.  It was his day.  How could I say no.  The actual cake is pretty simple, since I used a box cake mix.  The filling is a take off of the recipe we use to make peanut butter eggs at Easter.  The frosting is my old stand by, courtesy of Wilton.

Sorry about the picture quality...I took this using my phone

Chocolate cake mix, and ingredients necessary

Peanut Butter Filling
1 stick butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powered sugar, sifted

Buttercream Frosting
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 stick Crisco
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted.
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a standard muffin tin with paper lines.

Prepare and bake the cupcakes according to the directions on the back of the box (tough, right).  Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

Prepare the filling: In a glass bowl, melt the butter and peanut butter for one minute.  Stir until the butters are combined.  Add the sugar, one cup at a time, and mix well.  Place in the refrigerator to cool.

Prepare the frosting by following the directions found on the Wilton website (no need for me to copy and paste!).

Once the cakes have cooled completly, use a small knife and remove a hole in the center of the cake.  Fill the hole with the peanut butter mixture, and frost the cakes.  I used the Wilton 2D tip to make them pretty (food should take good and look good too).

Happy eating!

Simple (and Inexpensive) Gifts for Teachers

If you are the parent (or guardian) of a school-age child, then you know that it is Teacher Appreciation Week.  If you haven't thanked your child's teacher, be sure to do so.  Can you imagine having to deal with 25 kids for up to eight hours a day, five days a week?  I'm wiped out after leading a Girl Scout troop for an hour every other week.  More power to teachers.

I wanted my daughter to give a little something extra to her teachers this week to show her appreciation.  Time was not on my side, and I needed something quick and easy (and, let's admit it, cheap).  I searched the web, and found this cute idea using a soda bottle.

You won't need a lot of things to put these together.  In fact, you might have this stuff on hand right now.  Gather the following: A 2 liter of soda, some card stock, a pen or marker, a hole puncher, ribbon, and scissors.  You'll also need to grab this sweet tag courtesy of Tammy Mitchell Photography.

How many tags you print depends on how many gifts you want to make.  Make sense?

Cut the tags, and glue or tape them on to card stock.  This will give them tag some "weight", so it will hopefully not tear.  Be sure to have your child sign the tag.  The teacher needs to know who the gift is from!  Using your hole puncher, punch a hole (say that 3 times fast) in the top left hand corner.  Tie the tag to the bottle, and BOOM!  Gift complete.


We didn't want the school nurse to be left out this week, because it is also Nurses Appreciation Week.  My daughter and the school nurse are on a first name basis, as my daughter is in that office at least 3 times a week.  Can you say hypochondriac?  We searched the web again, and found this easy "Thanks A Latte" gift idea. 

Here's what you need: a disposable coffee cup (yes, I know...save the world....just give it a rest for now), single serve coffee packets, single serve creamers, a chocolate bar (just a little something sweet), ribbon, card stock and these adorable tags.

Print out the tags, and glue/tape them to the card stock (again, you want these to have a little weight to them).  Place the coffee, creamer, and candy in the cup, and place the lid of top.  Punch a hole in the tag, and tie it to cup.  You now have a gift ready to hand out. 

Even if you don't make these cute gifts for the teachers, please be sure to say this simple phrase: Thank You.  A little kindness does go a long way.

Chocolate Covered Goodness

My work hosted a bake sale earlier this week, and I wanted to make something that no one else would think of (at least, I hoped no one would).  I was going to make chocolate covered marshmallows, but decided to make Oreo Pops because the cookies were on sale at the market, and because I wanted to see if I could make someone fall into a sugar coma.

Here is what you need to make your own Chocolate Covered Oreo Pops:

• Package of Oreos (I prefer Double Stuff Oreos)
• Popsicle sticks
• Melting chocolate
• Sprinkles

Carefully (CAREFULLY!!!!) twist the chocolate cookie wafers apart.  I can't stress the word carefully enough.  I had the toughest time getting the cookies to stay in one piece.  I got ticked off at the amount of wasted cookies I had, but my niece and nephew were overjoyed.  Put the cookie with the "middle" stuck to it on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet.

The pile of broken cookies that made my nephew's eyes go wide

Melt the chocolate according the package direction.  Make sure you do not overcook it, or you will be stuck with useless chocolate (it will burn).  Dip the top of the popsicle stick in the chocolate, and place in the middle of the cookie wafer.  Place the plain cookie wafer on top so you will now have a complete cookie.  Transfer the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes, allowing the chocolate to set.

Check out my mad skills

Back to normal

This might sound too difficut to do.  Get ready......here goes...... Cover the cookie pop with the melted chocolate.  Whew!  Too much to handle, right?  I have found it easier to spoon the chocolate over the cookie instead of dipping it directly in the mixture.  Make sure you cover the entire cookie, and allow the excess chocolate to go back into the bowl.  Place the covered pop back on the wax paper.  Now is the time to sprinkle the sprinkles on your pop.  Allow the chocolate to set, and then you can wrap things up.

Getting a chocolate bath

Cute, right?  Super easy, right?  This would make great party favors, especially since melting chocolate comes in a variety of colors.  I used blue because I made these on Autism Awareness Day, and this was my attempt to Light It Up Blue.  This blue color would be perfect for a baby shower.

Finished product

How did the bake sale go, you ask?  Pretty good.  We have a variety of snacks, and collected $156.  How did my stuff go?  I made chocolate cake pops, which sold out.  I think a few Oreo pops were left over.  Truth be told, I think the blue chocolate frightened some people away.  However, I did ask a co-worker what she thought of them, and she said they were "effing good" (direct quote).