Pumpkin Cupcakes with Avocado Icing {Veggie Desserts + Cakes by Kate Hackworthy}

This week Kate Hackworthy had her very first book published Veggie Desserts + Cakes: Carrot Cake and Beyond! After having followed her blog for a few years and interacting with her on social media I was delighted to have the opportunity to check out her book!

There are no illusions that sugar and flour and all the things you need to bake exist in her recipes. In my review (in previous post) I mentioned in that Kate didn't write her book to hide vegetables away in baked goods, but to show how they can shine!

There were so many recipes to choose from and this one, even though it has more of an autumn feel, stood out to me. I love pumpkin and the spices used with it! I was unnecessarily weary of the avocado icing - I thought "this is never going to work."

It did.

It turned out beautifully. The avocado I had might have been on the small side and I did need extra icing sugar to get in into a spreadable consistency. It was when I could coat my spatula in the icing and turn it around without it dripping that I felt I had it right. 

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Avocado Icing 

125g unsalted butter, softened 

125g granulated sugar

2 large eggs

150g pumpkin puree (canned or puree cooked pumpkin or butternut squash)

2 tsp vanilla extract

175g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp salt 

100ml milk

Avocado Icing

1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled

250g icing sugar 

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oven to 170C and line your cupcake pan with paper cases.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and beating each one in well, then beat in the pumpkin and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.

Alternating, add one-third of the flour to the egg mixture and stir to combine, then one-third of the milk. Repeat until all the ingredients are combined.

Spoon the batter (I like using my medium ice cream scoop) into the cupcake cases until nearly full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

To make the avocado icing -
Puree the avocado with a hand blender until smooth and creamy, then transfer to a large bowl. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice and beat with an electric mixer until thick. You may need to add more icing sugar, depending on the size of your avocado, to get a thick piping consistency. Spoon into a piping bag and frost the completely cooled cupcakes as desired. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

*as I said above I needed to add more icing sugar - I didn't feel the need to pipe the icing I just used a palette knife to apply and smooth out the icing!

These cupcakes turned out great for me! The cake is nice and soft and has a great taste with all those great spices and pumpkin! The icing, as I mentioned above, I was weary of, but it turned out well! The avocado acting as the butter for the icing gave it an interesting flavor that complimented the pumpkin cake well!

Visit Kate's blog Veggie Desserts or see more of her delicious recipes on one of social media channels - Facebook or Instagram or Twitter! 

Check out how these other bloggers got on trying out Kate's recipes:

Chocolate Cauliflower Ice Lollies - on Recipes from a Pantry
Cavolo Nero and Orange Cupcakes - on The Hedge Combers
Beetroot and Vanilla Sorbet - on Natural Kitchen Adventures
Carrot Gingerbread - on Farmersgirl Kitchen
Carrot Gingerbread - also on Ren Behan
Avocado Lime Tarts - on The Veg Space (check out this post to win a copy of Kate's book!!)
Pea and Vanilla Cake with Lemon Icing - on Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
Kale Apple Cake - on Tin & Thyme
Courgette Poppyseed Loaf - on Family Friends Food
Courgette Poppyseed Loaf - also on Baking Queen 74
Strawberry and Spinach Swiss Roll - on Foodie Quine
Pea and Mint Cupcakes with Rose Water Buttercream - on Kavey Eats

Herby Sausage & Apple Stuffing! Thanksgiving and book review

Since we were able to have family over for Thanksgiving this year, because we had it on Saturday, I went all out!!

The menu:

Creamy Onion & Garlic Soup (New Covent Garden: All Seasons cookbook)

Roast Turkey with Scarborough Fair Butter

Herby Sausage & Apple Stuffing

Perfect Roast Potatoes

Sautéd Brussels Sprouts
Green Bean Casserole
Gravy and cranberry sauce

Super-Pumpkiny Pumpkin Pie (Flour by Joanne Chang)

Packed up Thanksgiving Dinner for my father-in-law.

4 out 8 of the recipes I used above I took from Leon book 4: Family & Friends! I've never been to a Leon restaurant, but I have book 2 and loved it so when I had this one land on my doorstep last week I couldn't wait to tuck in! Leon is all about food that tastes good and does you good. 

The book is divided into 3 sections: Today: what you make today; Tomorrow: what you’re planning on having tomorrow; Yesterday: food/meals of memory and events. In “Tomorrow” there is a whole section dedicated to Christmas & Boxing Day. Which is about the same stuff I eat for Thanksgiving! It was perfect! The book offers so much more, it is full of classic and adventurous recipes for all levels of cooks! Everything recipe I tried this weekend was exceptional and yummy!!  

I will say up front that I didn't take a lot of pictures. It was a busy day and I was living in the moment. Something Leon is all about. Enjoying food with Friends & Family!! It was a great dinner shared with my little family and my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. She loved the Herby Sausage & Apple Stuffing so much I thought I would share it with you and her as she asked for the recipe! I added a few notes on what I changed or did slightly different!

all that was left!

Herby Sausage & Apple Stuffing:

1 tbsp olive oil

400g gluten-free sausage meat (I used Bramley Apple and Pork Sausages)

the turkey liver, chopped (optional)

1 onion, chopped

2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

125g cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped (I didn't use them because I don’t like chestnuts) 

125g gluten-free breadcrumbs (I used a bit more breadcrumbs as I left out the chestnuts)

8 small fresh sage leaves, chopped

8 sprigs of fresh thyme, leave picked

a pinch of ground allspice

125ml good cider

50ml water

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the sausage meat until cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. If there is a lot of fat left in the pan, drain some off.
2. If using, add the turkey liver to the pan and fry until cooked. (I soaked mine in milk while I was prepping other things) Remove and set aside. Add the onions and apple to the pan and fry until slightly soft.
3. Put everything into a large bowl and mix together thoroughly, adding the cider and water. Drink the rest of the cider while greasing an ovenproof dish. Spoon the stuffing into the dish and pop into a preheated oven at 190C/375F/gas5 for 30-35 minutes, or until crispy on top.

The whole meal was a big hit and I can’t wait to make some of these recipes a part of my Thanksgiving in the UK tradition!

Leon: Family & Friends by Kay Plunkett-Hogge & John Vincent: Amazon UK, The Book People, Octopus Publishing

Paint the Town Black! Gingerbread Guinness Cupcakes!! #ToArthur

This Thursday is Arthur Guinness Day and pubs across Ireland have invited massive music names and local artists to come celebrate the man behind the pint and Paint the Town Black. 

Wish I lived in Ireland! ;0) 

I have had my eye on these cupcakes for a while, but whenever I look through Tea With Bea I always decide on a cheesecake! Not sure why that is? There are so many other delicious looking cakes in this book!

My frosting was very liquid-y I am sure I did something wrong…. like put my butter in the microwave to soften it and even though it wasn't melted it was probably too soft!

But it still tastes delicious and I kind like how the cupcakes looked like mini Guinness pints with the foam ya know? I also sorta wish I had made it as a cake instead…ah well there’s always tomorrow!

So here they are Gingerbread Guinness Cupcakes!! Enjoy!

Gingerbread Guinness Cupcakes:
250 ml/1 cup Guinness stout

250 g/3⁄4 cup black treacle/molasses

11⁄2 teaspoons bicarbonate of/baking soda

280 g/2 cups plain/all-purpose flour

11⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice

1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 eggs

100 g/1⁄2 cup caster/superfine sugar

100 g/1⁄2 cup dark brown soft sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger

200 ml/3⁄4 cup sunflower oil

chopped crystallized ginger, to decorate
muffin trays, lined with about 24 large cupcake cases

makes 24

Preheat the oven to 170˚C (340˚F) Gas 5.

Put the Guinness and treacle in a tall saucepan (the next step will cause the mixture to bubble up violently and potentially overflow, so choose a very tall pan) and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of/baking soda. Let stand until completely cool.

Put the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves in a bowl and stir until well blended.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, both sugars and the grated fresh ginger. Gradually add the oil. Add the stout syrup and stir thoroughly.

Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cupcake cases, filling them four-fifths of the way up (the mixture will not rise that much).

Bake in the preheated oven for 25–35 minutes until they feel springy to the touch. Remove the cupcakes from the muffin tray and let cool on a wire rack.

golden cream cheese icing

225 g/1 cup cream cheese

60 g/3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

175 g/11⁄2 cups icing/confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons golden syrup

piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle/tip

To make the golden cream cheese icing, put the cream cheese and butter in a bowl and beat until combined and glossy. Add the icing/confectioners’ sugar and beat until fluffy. Fold in the vanilla extract and golden syrup.

Fill the prepared piping bag with the icing and pipe onto the cupcakes. Top with a couple of pieces of crystallized ginger, to decorate.

Variation: to make into a layer cake instead of cupcakes, spoon the mixture into 2 x 20-cm/8-inch pans or 1 x 25-cm/10-inch pan and bake at 160˚C (315˚F) Gas 4 for 45–55 minutes (for the small pans) or 1 hour 15 minutes (for the large pan).

I’m sharing these on Cupcake Tuesday with Hoosier Homemade! 

You can also find this recipe here. 

Welsh Cakes!!

Someone in my husband’s office requested these; who of course is Welsh! So, I accepted the challenge! His verdict was that they were good, but (there is always a but) they needed to be a bit thicker. I also forgot the sugar dusting (sorry!) they were sugar dusted once they arrived at the office! The flavor was there so need to work on thickness might need to get myself some rolling pin guides!!

The recipe is from Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. It is my go-to baking book, can't recommend it enough! It has a little bit of everything!

Welsh Cakes: 

125g cold unsalted butter, cubed/diced
250g self-rising flour
75g caster sugar, plus more for sprinkling
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground cinnamon (optional; I added this in)
100g sultanas
1 large egg, beaten
7 ½ cm crinkled round cutter

Rub the butter into the flour as if you were making pastry, then stir in the sugar spice(s) and dried fruit. Add the egg to make soft but not sticky dough. Form a disc, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for a minimum of 20 minutes. Roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of about ¾ cm (no idea what my width was…) Use the cutter and cut out cakes; you will need to re-roll etc… but should be a problem. Preheat your unoiled griddle or cast-iron frying pan and cook the cakes for about 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove to a cold plate and sprinkle with caster sugar. (I missed this part and the receivers commented on it! Oops! I was in a hurry!) 

note: the Welsh Dragon picture comes from a site that sells Welsh Air. WTF?!? I should bottle the air in Berkshire..... 

Gingernuts with Custard Cream filling!!

Fox’s Biscuits make a biscuit called Ginger Crunch Creams. I love these things. If I ever leave England these would be in my top 5 of most missed treats. So, I had been thinking about making my own for a while. I mean it’s just a crunchy ginger cookie with cream smooshed in the middle. (Word is trying to correct smooshed hahaha!!)

Baking is a huge trend at the moment so I wasn’t surprised to see that Jamie Oliver jumped on the bandwagon with an issue of his magazine dedicated to baking (Issue 27 Mar/Apr 2012). I am glad he jumped because this issue has a lot of interesting recipes.

There is a whole section for homemade biscuits based off of shop-bought favorites. I took the recipe for the ginger nuts and then halved the recipe of the cream filling from the custard cream recipe! Then like magic I had my favorite shop-bought biscuit, but even better!! These turned out exactly how I wanted them too!! Enjoy!!

Notice how I switch between calling these biscuits and cookies. Ha! My 4 year old already corrects my American words. It’s a little annoying to be honest. Humph. ;0]

makes 16 (8 if you are sandwiching them together)

100g self-rising flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground ginger

a few gratings of nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

50g light muscovado sugar

50g butter, cubed, softened

2 tbsp golden syrup

Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas 4 and line a baking sheet.
2. Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and then rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in the syrup, and press into a dough
4. Divide into 16 pieces (I weighed mine out because every time I try to break into equal pieces I fail.) they should weigh about 15g each give or a take a little.
5. Roll each piece into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet. Use a bottom of a glass to flatten them.
6. Sprinkle some of the demerara sugar onto each one; I didn’t have this so I just used regular granulated sugar. The demerara sugar is bigger granules and would work better the regular sugar just sort of blended into the biscuit. Press the sugar into the cookie with your fingers.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Remove the biscuits and let them cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

for the custard cream:

100g icing sugar

2 tbsp custard powder

50g unsalted butter, softened

boiling water

1. Mix the icing sugar and custard powder together in a big bowl.
2. Then beat in the butter, this is why I suggest a big bowl. I used my medium sized bowl and the sugar/powder mix went everywhere the second I turned on my hand mixer. If I had the bigger bowl it has bigger sides and wouldn’t have puffed up into my face!!
3. Add 1 tsp of boiling water and mix until smooth.
4. Cover and set-aside until ready to use.

To finish: Spread each side of the cookie with the custard cream and smoosh them together!!

note: there are no eggs in this recipe