Recipe: spice pear cupcakes
Recently, I haven't been baking (or cooking) nearly as much as I wanted to, so I decided to fix that.
They are called "spice pear cupcakes"; basically, cupcakes with chopped pears and cinnamon inside, and brown sugar frosting on top. They may not look like much, but they are delicious.
Note: I blatantly stole this recipe out of one of my mother's magazines. Just wanted to clear that up before someone thinks that I came up with the recipe myself. I am decent at following recipes. I am awful at creating them.
Ingredients: 1 yellow cake mix, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 3 eggs, 1 and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 pears, 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, 2 sticks of butter, 1.5 cups brown sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 3 to 3.5 cups confectioners sugar.
1. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners. As if you couldn't figure that out by yourself. Seriously, why is this even a step?
2. Preheat oven and prepare 1 package yellow cake mix according to package direction, except use 1 ¼ cup water, 1/3 cup oil, 3 egg whites, and add ¾ tsp ground cinnamon.
3. Stir 1 cup finely chopped, peeled pears (takes about 2 pears) tossed with 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour into batter.
4. Meanwhile, in 2-qt pot, melt ¾ cup butter (12 Tbsp) over medium heat. Stir in 1 ½ cups packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup milk, and ½ tsp ground cinnamon. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm, let stand 30 minutes or until completely cool. (This is IMPORTANT! If you don't let it cool completely before adding the sugar, you'll end up with a liquid mess.)
5. Gradually stir 3 to 3 ½ cups confectioners sugar into cooled brown sugar mixture until smooth and spreadable. Spread over cupcakes.
Makes 24 cupcakes, which are approx 185 calories each with frosting or 70 without 245 calories each with frosting or 130 each without. (Sorry, apparently I fail at math.)
The original recipe also called for pear-shaped caramels to top each cupcake, but I am super lazy and don't like caramel very much, so I didn't bother with it. But if anyone wants that part of the recipe, let me know and I'll type it up for you.
Rating: 8/10. The next time I make these, I'll probably go a bit lighter on the brown sugar and cinnamon, which should up the rating to 9/10. (My mother thought they were perfect as they are, but they're a bit rich for me.) Would make a great Thanksgiving dessert, imo.
They are called "spice pear cupcakes"; basically, cupcakes with chopped pears and cinnamon inside, and brown sugar frosting on top. They may not look like much, but they are delicious.
Note: I blatantly stole this recipe out of one of my mother's magazines. Just wanted to clear that up before someone thinks that I came up with the recipe myself. I am decent at following recipes. I am awful at creating them.
Ingredients: 1 yellow cake mix, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 3 eggs, 1 and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 pears, 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, 2 sticks of butter, 1.5 cups brown sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 3 to 3.5 cups confectioners sugar.
1. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners. As if you couldn't figure that out by yourself. Seriously, why is this even a step?
2. Preheat oven and prepare 1 package yellow cake mix according to package direction, except use 1 ¼ cup water, 1/3 cup oil, 3 egg whites, and add ¾ tsp ground cinnamon.
3. Stir 1 cup finely chopped, peeled pears (takes about 2 pears) tossed with 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour into batter.
4. Meanwhile, in 2-qt pot, melt ¾ cup butter (12 Tbsp) over medium heat. Stir in 1 ½ cups packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup milk, and ½ tsp ground cinnamon. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm, let stand 30 minutes or until completely cool. (This is IMPORTANT! If you don't let it cool completely before adding the sugar, you'll end up with a liquid mess.)
5. Gradually stir 3 to 3 ½ cups confectioners sugar into cooled brown sugar mixture until smooth and spreadable. Spread over cupcakes.
Makes 24 cupcakes, which are approx 185 calories each with frosting or 70 without 245 calories each with frosting or 130 each without. (Sorry, apparently I fail at math.)
The original recipe also called for pear-shaped caramels to top each cupcake, but I am super lazy and don't like caramel very much, so I didn't bother with it. But if anyone wants that part of the recipe, let me know and I'll type it up for you.
Rating: 8/10. The next time I make these, I'll probably go a bit lighter on the brown sugar and cinnamon, which should up the rating to 9/10. (My mother thought they were perfect as they are, but they're a bit rich for me.) Would make a great Thanksgiving dessert, imo.