14 Oct Pumpkin Cupcakes w/Cream Cheese Icing
This weekend was the Texas vs Oklahoma football game – and since the game is too painful to talk about, we’re going to get a little nostalgic.
TX vs OU weekend is basically Christmas for Longhorn Football fans. In college it was by far, the biggest weekend of Fall Semester. Some of my fondest memories of my time at UT are from OU Weekend. If you’ve never played slap the bag or taken Peppermint Patty Shots at the back of a moving Greyhound Bus, you haven’t lived.
For you non-Texans, the TX vs OU rivalry is referred to as the Red River Rivalry, and every year we meet half way in between our respective cities, on neutral ground (The Cotton Bowl, Dallas TX), to hash out all of the mutual hate and frustration that has built up since the previous year’s game.
All of the fraternities on campus hire greyhound buses, book hotels, and find themselves a date for the weekend. Sorority girls, in turn, decorate coolers with paint pens, and fill them with beer and liquor to keep herself and her date fully lubricated for a full 48 hours. You can imagine the shit show that follows.
One of the best things about the game is that the Cotton Bowl is in the heart of the Texas State Fair. I don’t know if you’ve heard about the TX State Fair, but it’s pretty legendary for all of the fine delicacies that you can find while wandering from booth to booth. We’re talking fried everything. Fried Oreos, fried coke, fried bubblegum, fried macaroni and cheese, even fried butter. It’s a hungover college student’s mecca.
Wondering what a Peppermint Patty Shot is? As a BONUS, I’ll fill you in on that recipe as well as a recipe for the best Pumpkin Cupcakes that you’ll ever have.
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Peppermint Patty Shot
1 bottle Peppermint Shnapps
1 squeeze bottle Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
1 Stupid College Kid
To administer said shot, have your victim lean their head back and open their mouth. Pour 1ish shot (we’re not measuring here) into soon-to-be sloshed person’s mouth. Next, squeeze in some chocolate syrup. Now, have the person shake his his/her head vigorously, to ensure proper mixing. Swallow. Enjoy.
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Pumpkin Cupcakes:
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 c packed light-brown sugar
1 c granulated sugar
1 c (2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled
4 eggs
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree (not to be confused with pumpkin pie mix)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper or foil liners and set aside for later.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugars and eggs and beat with hand mixer on medium speed until well combined.
4. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix on low/medium until batter is smooth.
5. Use spatula to fold in the pumpkin puree. Batter will be fairly thick.
Tip: Since the batter is very thick, you may want to do the following to prevent mess when putting batter into cupcake liners. Scoop half the batter into a gallon-sized ziplock bag and cut off 1 corner of the bag. Squeeze the batter into the cupcake liners, like you would if you were piping icing onto a baked cupcake. Repeat with the 2nd half of the batter until 18-24 cupcake liners are full.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool.
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Cream Cheese Icing:
1 8oz block cream cheese, softened
1/4c of butter (1/2 stick), softened
2-3 c powdered sugar
1. Beat together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy
2. Add powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments until desired consistency and sweetness are reached.
Optional: add a little cinnamon to complement the spice in the pumpkin cupcakes 🙂
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Guess what? I made marshmallow fondant for the first time to make these cupcakes Longhorn themed for the big game! Stay tuned for my fondant recipe and experience.
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