United Cakedom: bowls

This is the first Thanksgiving, I think since I moved to the UK, that I haven't made pumpkin pie. It felt a little odd, but there were no complaints with the alternative.

This recipe suits cupcakes if you don't happen to have a 6 cavity dessert shell that makes cake bowls! After a quick look around the 'ol internet they don't seem to exist any more if you come across one pop a comment below and let us all know!

The special tin isn't necessary though because the recipe makes great cupcakes and when topped with the cream cheese frosting and toasted walnuts and drizzled with salted caramel it's perfection all in one little cake.

Cupcakes aren't generally something that is thought of as a dessert, but as a birthday treat or a snack with coffee. However, I would argue that cupcakes make a great dessert, who can say no to an individual cake?

I mean they can... but I don't understand those people.

No matter if these are baked as cupcakes or dessert bowls or, if you adjust times slightly, as a tray bake the cake itself is a good cake. It's a nice texture and the spices are popularly paired with pumpkin because they work well together.

So, if you are looking for an autumn or winter treat that fills your kitchen with the best smells give this one a go!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes or dessert bowls

4 large eggs
400g sugar
200ml vegetable/sunflower oil
1 can (425g) of pureed pumpkin
325g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarb of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Heat the oven to 170C and line your cupcake tin or grease your 6-cavity dessert shell tin with butter or shortening.

Beat the eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin together. Then beat in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, bicarb, salt, ginger, and cloves until just combined. Using a medium ice cream scoop fill your cupcake cases or your 6-cavity dessert shell tins. I made a dozen cupcakes and 6 dessert bowls; you could probably get a dozen and a half cupcakes or about a dozen bowls. If you are making bowls you don't need the frosting below, just fill with ice cream or whipped cream and sauce and nuts and whatever you want to top it with!

Cream Cheese Frosting
100g cream cheese
70g butter
1 tsp vanilla
300g icing sugar
walnut halves, toasted (optional)
salted caramel drizzle (optional)
ice cream (optional, but highly recommended)

Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together. Slowly beat in the icing sugar until combined and smooth. Place about a tablespoon or so of frosting on top and smooth out with a spatula.

Finish off the cupcakes by sprinkling or placing the walnuts on top and drizzling over about 2 tablespoons of salted caramel by placing it in either an icing bag or sandwich and just snip the tip. If you made dessert bowls, then ice cream is always a great filler, whipped cream and toasted walnuts would make a suitable alternative in my opinion!

Pumpkin spice is one of my favorite spice combinations and even though you can use it any time of year, it just feels right in the autumn months leading to winter. English winters are wet, cold, and grey a far thing from my snowy, cold, and grey winters back home, but I still like this time of year. I love sweaters and hats with bobbles and my scarf collection is endless I could literally wear a different one every day of winter... well maybe not every day!

If you like winter as much as me please leave a comment below! And if you try this recipe I hope you like it!

It’s not every day one turns 30, but I suppose that can be said about every birthday. It's been exactly a week since my birthday, it's time I stop going on about it.

That's what this post is about to wrap up my birthday and not talk about it again until next year. If I even admit I have a birthday next year. We'll see.

However this year I decided to make a big deal about my birthday and this is to share what I got up too and some of the awesome presents I got!

It started the Friday (the 10th) before my birthday with a night out. I went to town with a couple of my girl friends. We started with cocktails at The Slug and Lettuce, then dinner with wine at Nando's, then back to The Slug and Lettuce for more cocktails. The 7 dwarfs served us, thankfully Sneezy didn't sneeze in our drinks and Grumpy tried to be really grumpy, but he didn't do a very good job of it. It was a good night.

They bought me Joseph Joesph nesting bowls. Yay! They are awesome! Thank you Kim and Kirsty!

Then I went on a baking course for the day. Thank you Mom and Dad! See previous previous post to read all about my day at Cake Boy in Battersea, London.

Then I had a party. Where friends and family came with drink and we were all very merry.

A few people brought bouquets. My favorite was My Floral Cupcake, it contains, blueberry roses, pink roses, Lydia spray roses, lisianthus, and chrysanthemums! Thanks Cathy! Looking forward to our date tomorrow (Friday)!