The Painted Apron

Cupcakes & Tea for the Witch & Me!

Posted by the Painted Apron on October 28, 2012 · 5 Comments 

Halloween is just around the corner so I decided a little insurance might be a good idea…Just in case a witch stops by, to cast a spell, or spill some spiders, or do some other ghastly prank or ghoulish trick…I set a table for her & me, so we could sit down for a cup of tea…and perhaps a sweet bite would win her delight…

I decided to bake some mini cupcakes for several reasons, 1. I LOVE mini cupcakes, 2. I pinned a recipe I wanted to try asap, and 3. LOOK

I saw this kit at Williams Sonoma the other day

Who doesn’t love a bargain!  Sometimes stuff goes on sale a week or so before the holiday so look around for deals now.

How cute are these?  They would be easy to make too, just some straws and some cut-outs or printables and a little ribbon…

I got the sprinkles and cupcake papers at Target.  Right after I finished making these, my son HHjr called and said that he and Super Boy were making Halloween cookies. He didn’t want to use food coloring because it isn’t organic so they made their own by juicing carrots and beets.  OF COURSE THEY DID! Sigh….I feel like such a failure!

But I still think I can lure the witch to my table, she won’t resist, she won’t be able!

I’ll put cupcakes around in the bar and the kitchen

That will keep any BAD witch from getting TRICKS in!

And just to be safe, one more thing that I think

I’ll leave her a bottle of wine she can drink! BOTTOMS UP!

Let’s get started on the cupcakes, they came together very quickly and they are REALLY GOOD, Hungry Husband said they were so little that he had to lick his fingers to get 2 bites!  Tonight I will let him have more than one!

First, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy

Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth

Combine dry ingredients and then add them to batter, and beat until smooth

chop the pecans or pound with a rolling pin [FUN! this makes you the master of your recipe!]

and gently fold them into the batter

Fill your mini cake papers with a scoop of dough or about 3/4 full

Bake them at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Mine took EXACTLY 11 minutes, but check them at 9 minutes, you never want to overcook cupcakes,  they will be dry, so always err on the underdone side.

Beautiful!  While they are cooling make the frosting

This frosting recipe calls for vanilla bean paste because liquid vanilla would cause it to be too runny.  I recently bought some vanilla beans at Costco so check out your local warehouse club for them.  They are a little tricky to work with, you can slit them

and scrap it out with your knife tip

or cut the bean in pieces and squeeze it and the paste will come out the end like toothpaste! It’s a little sticky but you will want to wear it like perfume!

Combine the paste with the butter, syrup, salt  and sugar… Well, that’s a little boring

Aha! That’s better! A little purple food coloring* and it will be perfect for any witch!

When your cupcakes are cool, let the fun begin!

*look for gel food coloring not liquid, it works so much better. My grocery store has basic gel colors but I got the purple at Hobby Lobby

Here’s the recipe:

BUTTER PECAN MINI CUPCAKES

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 11 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 30

Ingredients

  

Cupcakes

• 1/2 Cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
• 1/2 Cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 Cup finely chopped pecans
• whole pecans to decorate

Maple Buttercream

• 1 Cup unsalted butter room temp
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
• 3 3/4 Cup Confectioners sugar sifted
• 6 Tbsp. real maple syrup

Instructions

 

Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a 24 well silicone mini muffin cup liner on a baking sheet. Conversely if you don’t have a silicone muffin pan you can use regular mini muffin pan with paper liners.
• Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and stir. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat to combine. Stir in the chopped pecans.
• Fill the wells of the mini muffin cups with one Tablespoon of batter. Bake for about 11-12 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool for about 2 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to continue cooling until completely cool. Makes 24-30

Maple Buttercream

• Make frosting by creaming the sugar and butter, add maple syrup and vanilla bean paste and beat well to incorporate. Adjust consistency by adding more syrup or a dash of milk or cream if desired. Frost cakes.

Notes

These cupcakes would make a great GIFT FROM THE KITCHEN too!

Keyword Butter Pecan cupcakes, Halloween cupcakes, maple buttercream, mini cupcakes

Thanks for visiting, stop by again soon!

I’m joining the Tablescaper for SEASONAL SUNDAY
Between Naps on the Porch for METAMORPHIS MONDAY
Stone Gable for ON THE MENU MONDAY and TUTORIALS, TIPS & TIDBITS
The Gunny Sack for WHAT’S IN THE GUNNY SACK?
Savvy Southern Style for WOW US WEDNESDAY
Between Naps on the Porch for TABLESCAPE THURSDAY
Rattlebridge Farms for FOODIE FRIDAY

check out these amazing blogs!

the Halloween glasses can be found at JMdesigns Gallery

NOTE: I am still experimenting with my watermarking technique, I hate to ruin beautiful photos but due to the internet thieves, it is necessary!