A Pretty Sweet (Potato) Cake for Thanksgiving!

Woohoo! Thanksgiving break is finally here and my bags are already packed for the long weekend of great food n' family ahead. Still, I just couldn't duck out without sharing one more fun, festive fall dessert for any of you still needing a last-minute Thanksgiving dessert.

I love sweet potatoes in just about any form. And I'm betting that many of you feel the same...especially around this time of year! Which is why I simply couldn't resist making this richly flavored sweet potato cake this Thanksgiving. You'll love how quickly this comes together. Plus it only dirties up a bowl and measuring cup. It's also quite friendly to guests on restrictive diets, since the cake is already egg and dairy-free. If any dairy is an issue, simply swap dairy substitutes into the frosting to make this a welcome Thanksgiving dessert for all =).

P.S. - I want to thank Oh Nuts! for the wonderful Jumbo Raw Georgia pecans they sent me for free to use in my holiday baking. These pecans were so fresh and yummy. I sampled one as I was measuring them out for this cake and ended up eating so many I had to get more for the recipe O:-). They're big, as the name suggests, and have a wonderful subtle sweetness that made them downright addictive.

Mojito...(Yea You Guessed It) Cupcakes!

My friend's boyfriend, Eric, had his birthday recently and threw a huge birthday bash. His friends are the reason I've heard of "icing." Let's just say they know how to party. A good strategy for getting everyone pumped up? Give your party a theme and have drinks to match. Skittles, in this case. Even as food-obsessed as I am, I'd never have thought to base a party around a candy. Guests were asked to dress head-to-toe in their favorite Skittles color (classic flavors only) and rewarded with Skittles-infused vodka shots. I'm pretty "girly" when it comes to drinks and prefer to taste the alcohol as little as possible. So I admit these shots tasted like rubbing alcohol to me, though with a fruity edge.

One drink I can handle, even when made a bit stronger, is the Almighty Mojito. Seriously, how can you not love the taste of summer in a glass? I reckon you can't 8p. But I'm no bartender, plus vodka was clearly the poison of choice for the party. My thoughts predictably turned to that certain perfectly portable baked gift: The Cupcake. My starting point, a classic vegan recipe that produces wonderfully moist morsels. Without eggs or butter, the key mojito flavors of mint, lime, and rum could shine unhindered. Rounding things off, pretty swirls of cream cheese frosting with extra zing from a squeeze of lime juice. Thankfully, I was right to count on Eric's friends having a healthy appreciation for this classic cocktail. These and some red velvet cupcakes made by another friend were gone within the hour =).

Mojito Cupcakes! [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from VCTOTW and VeganYumYum
Makes 12 cupcakes

XIAOLU'S NOTES: You'll need about 4 limes total for this recipe, if you garnish with lime slices. Otherwise, you'll only need 2. For the frosting, know that cream cheese can become runny when overbeaten, so mix only as long as needed for each step.

1 cup milk or soymilk
1/2 C fresh mint, roughly chopped and bruised
Zest and juice of 1 lime (about 2 Tbsp juice)
2 tsp dark rum
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola or other neutral oil
3/4 cup sugar
Lime Rum Frosting (Recipe below)
2 more limes sliced OR fresh mint leaves, to garnish

Combine milk and mint leaves in a small pot over medium heat until hot but NOT BOILING. Remove from heat and let steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Pass the milk through a strainer to remove mint leaves, but press on the leaves to extract as much flavor as possible. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a regular 12-cup muffin pan with baking liners. Whisk the mint-infused milk and lime juice in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get good and curdled.

In large bowl, combine the sugar and lime zest and rub thoroughly to infuse the sugar with lime flavor. Add the milk mixture, oil, and rum, if using, and beat thoroughly. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix until no large lumps remain [small ones are okay].

Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack, and let cool completely. Pipe or spread frosting on cupcakes and garnish with lime slices.

Lime Rum Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, cold and cut into 6 chunks
Pinch of salt
2 tsp dark rum
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 to 2 drops green food coloring, optional

Cream the butter, sugar, and salt together just until fully combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing. Add the cold cream cheese a chunk at a time, waiting until each is incorporated before adding the next. Add the rum and lime juice and mix just until incorporated. Taste the frosting, adding more sugar if needed. Add the food coloring, if using, one drop at a time and combining thoroughly after each, until you have the color you want.

Hootin' for Cupcakes (and late for Cupcake Hero)

Oh my...it's less than 24 hours until I have to get on a plane to China and I have yet to start packing. You might say I like to do things last minute ;p. With that in mind, you shouldn't be surprised when I tell you next that I'm tardy for this month's Cupcake Hero challenge, which asked us to take our baking inspiration from either of 2 wonderfully creative cupcake decorating books by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, Hello, Cupcake! or What's New, Cupcake?.

The design for my halloween pumpkin cupcakes last fall came from Hello, Cupcake!, so I already knew this as a treasure trove of unique ideas. After then eying (har har ^_^) their owl cupcakes for months, it took but an instant for me to decide on them for this challenge. I did put my own spin on their recipe and re-tooled the directions, so be sure to read on if you want my version.

Since I already had to buy Oreo cookies for the owl "eyes," I figured I might as well step it up another notch by adding them to the batter. On the other hand, I saw no need to pipe frosting on these already-darling ears, so I (gladly, since it was 2 a.m. by that point) dropped that part with no ill effect that I can tell.

My friend Kelly, upon discovering what the cupcake fairy had left in her office, even exclaimed this was "seriously the cutest thing" she'd ever seen and that she enjoyed its adorable stare. Cupcake.Win XD. To balance out tootin' my own horn hehe and because they're truly charming and creative, I recommend you check out this round-up I found of other owl cupcakes.

Cookies N' Cream Owl Cupcakes [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from VCTOTW via CHOW and Hello, Cupcake! via Duncan Hines
Makes 15-17 cupcakes

XIAOLU'S NOTES: The number of cookies listed below for decoration is if you split and cut the cookies perfectly every time. It's tougher than it looks, but gets easier the more you do it. Even so, I'd have more on hand just in case. An entire regular-sized package of Oreo cookies was enough for me for the batter AND decorations. Splitting the cookies is the most time-consuming part of the recipe but is most important to the final appearance. Since the ganache frosting can set fairly quickly, I recommend having all the toppings ready when you begin frosting, then decorating each cupcake right after frosting rather than going back once you've frosted the batch.

Cookies N' Cream Cupcakes (Recipe below)
Chocolate Ganache Frosting (Recipe below)
30-34 Oreo, Newman-O, or other chocolate cream-filled cookies
30-34 chocolate-covered mints (Junior Mints)
15-17 candy-coated chocolates (M&Ms)

Split the sandwich cookies in half crosswise, keeping the cream side hole (microwaving 5 cookies at a time for 3-5 seconds helps to keep the cream side solid). [I found my frosting spatula split the cookies most cleanly.] Use the dull side of a paring knife to remove any excess crumbs from cream filling and to smooth the sides of filling that has shifted during splitting.

Collect the remaining sides of the cookies without cream to use for the ears. Make 2 parallel cuts with a serrated knife in these cookies 1/2 inch from each rounded side, discarding the 1/2 inch strip that remains from the center of the cookie.

Pair up the cream sided cookie halves so that those with similar amounts of cream are together. Gently push Junior Mints into the cream of each, but don't push too hard or you'll squish the mint. [Play around with different positions to give each "owl" its own expression and personality :).]

Use a small spoon or spatula to smooth chocolate ganache frosting onto the tops of the cooled cupcakes. Place the cream sided cookies, cream side up, on the middle of the cupcakes, making sure that the eyes are oriented the way you want. Push gently to make sure they've adhered to the frosting.

To make the ears, attach the cut cream-less cookies to the cupcakes above the "eyes", textured side facing up and round edges inward. These should hang over the edge of the cupcakes, but be sure to press them into the frosting where possible to make sure they adhere well.

Lastly, press M&M candies [standing them up on their sides] between and slightly below the cookie "eyes" as beaks. Show them off to everyone XD!

Cookies N' Cream Cupcakes
1 cup soy milk [or regular milk]
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped Oreo, Newman-O, or other chocolate cream-filled cookies
(about 8-10 cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 muffin pans (or use 1 pan plus as many free-standing paper souffle cups as needed) with baking liners.

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK). Gently fold in chopped cookies.

Fill liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
[or use a combination of semisweet and bittersweet]
1-2 tablespoons corn syrup

Combine the chocolate and cream in a medium, microwave-safe bowl. Try to submerge the chocolate as much as possible, but it's okay to have some above the cream. Microwave the mixture on medium for 1 minute. Stir and heat again in 15-second increments, stirring thoroughly each time, until fully melted. Stir in corn syrup. Let this cool and thicken (in the fridge if needed) before using. If it cools too much, reheat in the microwave at 5-second intervals until it softens to the consistency you want.

Halloween Pumpkin M&M Cupcakes and Cookbook GIVEAWAY

UPDATE: Yay I WON Cupcake Hero::September with my caramelized banana creme brulee cupcakes. It was a super close contest and Christy's PB banana sandwich cupcakes look amazing too. This was so much fun, I can't wait to see the next roundup!


Can you guess what time it is again?! IT'S CUPCAKE HERO TIME!! Okay now I know you're thinking this girl needs to cut back on the sugar / coffee / Red Bull, and maybe I do...but with Halloween coming up we all know how likely that's gonna be (mwahaha). Returning to the ever-important topic of cupcakes, I've been plotting a while now for October's challenge (partly to distract myself while waiting for the results of September's throwdown including one of my entries).


The theme this month, Booo-tiful Pumpkin Cupcakes, had both flavor and decorative components. We were told to use pumpkin in some part of the cupcake plus to make the top "Halloween-y." Aye aye, Captain CB! Our awesome hostess was even so kind as to point us to this goldmine of ideas. I went in search of a cool-lookin' design that wouldn't require anything too fussy (like fondant or food coloring) and found these fun chocolate M&M insect and mummy toppings. All the instructions on how to make these yourself are below and know that I love questions =).

Let's not be shallow though and forget what's on the inside (I'll be here all night, folks 8p): unbelievably moist pumpkin cake with a hint of spice, punctuated by chocolate candy bits. I de-veganized the original recipe by cookbook goddesses Isa and Terry (which they'll hopefully forgive), but that can be easily reversed using vegan versions of the candies, cream cheese, etc.


Vegan or not, the recipes in their cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (VCTOTW) are some of the best in existence. There are so many unique flavors, like green tea, Boston cream pie, rum raisin, and margarita cupcakes. This book would rock anyone's socks off, so I want to give a free copy to one of you! To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment by next Friday, October 16, telling me your favorite thing about Halloween. Please make sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.


Creepy Pumpkin M&M Cupcakes [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from VCTOTW and Hello, Cupcake!
Makes 12 cupcakes

XIAOLU'S NOTES: I had work in the afternoon, so I baked the cupcakes midday and refrigerated them until I had time to prepare the rest at night. This worked out great so don't be intimated if you can't do all this at once!

1 cup canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup soy milk (I used regular milk)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup M&M candies, roughly chopped up
Cream Cheese Frosting (Recipe below)
Chocolate and M&M Insects and Eyes (Recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a standard muffin pan with paper liners. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together into a small bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir the pumpkin, oil, sugar, milk, and vanilla together until thoroughly mixed. Add in the dry ingredients and stir into the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in the chopped M&M candies.


Fill paper liners about 2/3 full with batter. Tap the pan firmly against the counter one time to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack and let them cool completely there.


To assemble insect cupcakes: spread an even layer of cream cheese frosting onto the cupcakes using a knife or spatula. Gently peel the chocolate candy insects from the parchment paper, place one or more on each cupcake, and press slightly to secure. That's it!

To assemble mummy cupcakes: if you have melted chocolate leftover from making the insects and eyes, squeeze 1-2 teaspoons on the top center of each cupcake then spread and and smooth it out with a spatula. Place a pair of M&M eyes on top of the chocolate (or directly on the cupcake). Next, fit a piping bag with an Ateco #48 tip (or other rectangular basketweave tip) and fill it with cream cheese frosting. Make the "bandages" by piping flat strips of frosting at different angles across each cupcake, leaving only a strip right around the eyes.

Mummycakes caught in the buff (orange?) - how embarrassing!

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces (1 cup) cream cheese (low-fat is fine), room temperature
1/4 cup (2 ounces or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups sifted powdered (confectioner's) sugar

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese and butter until soft and smooth. On low speed beat in the vanilla, salt, and sugar. Start with 1 1/2 cups of sugar and add more to achieve desired sweetness and stiffness. Finally, beat on high speed for a few moments until smooth.

Chocolate and M&M Insects and Eyes
Regular, mini, and peanut M&M candies
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

XIAOLU'S NOTE: I roughly followed the templates from Hello, Cupcake! If you'd like to try them, just leave a comment with your email and I'll send it right over.

Using a fairly thick and dark pen or marker, draw outlines of insects or whatever creepy design you want on light-colored paper. Separate your candies by color.

Gotta confess, the OCD part of me kinda relished this part.

Place chocolate chips in a plastic zipper-lock bag and microwave at 10-second intervals, massaging the bag in between, until the chocolate is fully melted. Press as much air as possible out of the bag then close the top.

Lay a piece of parchment or wax paper over the outlines you made earlier. Use scissors to cut off a 1/16-inch corner of the plastic bag and pipe the chocolate onto the parchment paper along the outlines underneath, making sure to connect all the parts to each insect. Before the chocolate hardens, place the M&M candies on top.


If making mummy cupcakes, spread out pairs (one for each cupcake) of mini or regular M&M candies in matching bright colors. Use the same bag of melted chocolate to pipe dots on the candies to make pupils.

Chill all piped chocolate in the refrigerator until firm, at least 5 minutes.

XIAOLU'S NOTE: If the chocolate starts to solidify as you're working with it, you can microwave it again at 10-second intervals until it softens again.