Who got the last cackling laugh?

Let this be a lesson to all creepcakes....

Happy Halloween my Pretties!!!

Boo! Did My Creepcakes Scare You?!

Tonight I've been invited to the "Neighborhood of Nightmares." Unlike your run-of-the-mill-let's-spook-each-other Halloween house party, the "Neighborhood of Nightmare" is hosted at three VERY old houses that sit across the street from a creepy old cemetery.  Guests will travel from house-to-house playing scary games, judging each others costumes, and--scariest of all-- parading through the cemetery! A Halloween creep show of this magnitude, needs a cupcake as its creepy companion.  I have  good ol' Martha to thank for her creepcake inspiration!

These chocolate fudge cupcakes are topped with a colorful sweet buttercream frosting.   Each creeepy face is unique and constructed from sticky candy favorites. 

Tonight these cakes will be giving party goers the creeps by:

 showing their nasty teeth....

"Grrrrrrr!"

peering at us with their googly eyes...

"I sees you!"

and bearing their sharp fangs...

"Hissssssss!"

Though these creepcakes won't be as scary as the cemetery parade they'll be doing their  jobs creeping us out all night.   I can't help but wonder, between the party goers and the creepcakes, who will get the last cackling laugh?   I guess you'll have to stay tuned....

Happy Halloween !!

Until my next cupdate,
Linds

Fall for Pumpkin Spice

It's finally starting to feel like fall in Chicago.
Most of September and October has still felt like summer and tricked me into thinking that we'd have gorgeous temps in the 80s well into December.  (Wishful thinking I know!)  Even though I've been enjoying the beautiful whether, I've found it hard to get into my festive fall baking spirit.  Who wants to turn the oven on when it's 80 out unless they have to? Not me. 

But, the winds of change have blown in cooler temps, crisp air, an abundance of colorful fall leaves, and my baking inspiration! There is no better way to say hello to fall than with Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes.

The pumpkin cake is an airy, flavorful, and topped with a rich cream cheese frosting.   The texture of the cake is very light and the contrast from the heavy frosting was the perfect touch.  The frosting was absolutely delicious!!  When eating a cupcake, I'll usually scrape most of the frosting off of of the cupcake.  I ate every last bit of frosting with this cupcake. I contemplated for a while about going back into the kitchen and just eating it by the spoonful . I didn't.;-)

 

Happy Fall everyone! I'll keep the cupcakes coming!

Unitl my next cupdate,

Linds

Am I Cake Flour Challenged?

Call me crazy, but I hate cake flour.
Now, I know cake flour is designed for baking cakes. It's heavily milled for a super light texture to make cake extra light and fluffy. But, every time I bake with cake flour my cake is dry, tastes too much like flour, and it sheds dry little crumbs everywhere!

I never have this texture problem when I bake with all-purpose flour. With AP flour, my cakes are moist, flavorful, and have a gentle soft crumb.

So, what's the deal? Does anyone else have this problem? Or, am I Cake Flour challenged?

I would love your advice and comments!

Until my next cupdate,
Linds
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