NOVEMBER DESSERTS & A FALL PLAYLIST

It's falltime, everyone :)

Last week my mom texted me that it's snowing for the first time in my hometown (in Illinois), and I felt pretty sad to be missing it. Sure, months of bitter cold can get unpleasant, but the first snow is just magical.

Meanwhile in Cali I eased my snow-sickness with a falltime stroll through beautifully changing trees. People complain that there aren't seasons here, but it's not true. The leaves on the trees change colors later in the year, and stay colorful longer, so there are practically months of watching red/orange/yellow/purple leaves float to the ground and then crunching through them. Yes, we're lacking the crispness in the air, but I'm mostly over that now :)

Okay onto food. I'm not the biggest pumpkin fan, but I got an urge to eat something really fall-ish (hence these pumpkin-maple-cinnamon cupcakes), which inspired me to share some of my favorite November desserts. All of these are great inspiration for Thanksgiving, of course, whether you're hosting a crowd, staying curled up at home, or have been tasked with bringing dessert to a gathering.

CHOCOLATE BOURBON PECAN PIE

APPLE MUFFINS WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE CENTERS

PUMPKIN DREAM CUPCAKES (WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING)

 HOMEMADE CARAMEL SAUCE

If you're really in a pickle and need a last-minute treat, or if you want to give a homemade gift but don't have a lot of time, I recommend Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread Mix. It's $2.99, and it's yummy.

You should also check out my Caramel Apple Martini, which deserves to be enjoyed all the way through fall!

Last but not least, I'm sharing a fall playlist. I listen to a ton of music but don't usually make playlists for seasons like this. I've really enjoyed this one for getting me into a fall spirit, though. Hope you enjoy it, too!

If you have Spotify, here's a link to open the playlist in Spotify (it's called "falltime").

If you don't have Spotify, you can enjoy it here!

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES with MAPLE-CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

All right, dear readers. I'm not the biggest fan of pumpkin, but Jessica's pumpkin dream cake on The Novice Chef kind of made my mouth water, particularly the cream cheese frosting with maple syrup and cinnamon.

The cake is moist and dense, and it's really perfect with cream cheese frosting. However, if you're in it for the pumpkin, you should know the pumpkin flavor in these cakes is pretty faint. Just enough, and fantastic with the flavors in the frosting.

I'd planned to fill all of the cakes with the frosting (and not frost on top), but I got half way through the minis and stopped because the cake was a little too dense to fill by inserting a tip. So for the ones you see not frosted on top, I cut a conical chunk out of the top, filled it with frosting, and replaced the cone of cake.

As you can see, it looked pretty messy, so I ended up just frosting the rest.

Happy, fall, dear readers. Enjoy!

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES with MAPLE-CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

taken directly from Jessica's pumpkin dream cake over at The Novice Chef, except for the assembly/baking time

Cakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk

Frosting:
12 oz (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
6 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl/stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla, pumpkin and vegetable oil. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk.

Bake at 300°F - standard for 18-20 minutes, mini for 12 - 14 minutes.

For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Add confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth.

APPLE MUFFINS WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE CENTERS

Hello, dear Reader! Happy fall! I'm back with another ode to fall, and with three words that make me feel warm just thinking about them: cinnamon, sugar, apple. Mmm :) I snatched this recipe from the fabulous Lizzy at YourCupofCake to make these muffins for some last minute gifts. While in the oven, they filled my entire apartment with the most cozy and delicious fall scent.

The day I was planning to bake them, my father-in-law sent us a picture of his house in Illinois - in the humble hometown that both my husband and myself call home. The leaves were turning yellow and orange, and the grass was turning crisp, and he wrote that it had been 30 degrees that morning. That's the beginning of fall in the Midwest. We call it sweater weather. It's tights and boots. It's crunching under your feet. You can see your breath in the morning, but the sun feels warm in the afternoon. It makes "cinnamon-sugar-apple" even more warm and cozy than it already is.

Well this is our very first fall outside of the Midwest, and California hasn't really given us the sweater weather we've been waiting for. However, on the morning I'd planned to make these muffins, it was chilly. Chilly, gray, and a little bit windy. Nate suggested we leave the windows open and bundle up... what a great idea! So for a couple hours we managed to enjoy sweater weather in our apartment, and all the while these delicious little muffins baked their perfect scent right into our fall morning.

It is a happy fall, indeed. :)

Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Centers
(adapted slightly from YourCupofCake)

INGREDIENTS: 

Muffins: ½ cup brown sugar ½ cup white sugar ¼ cup oil 1 cup applesauce 2 eggs 1 ¼ teaspoon vanilla 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon ¾ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup buttermilk 2 cups peeled chopped apples

Topping: ½ cup brown sugar 1 T flour 2 T melted butter Filling: 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon 1/3 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Mix together filling ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate.
For muffins:
Beat sugars, oil, and applesauce. Add eggs and vanilla.
Mix together dry ingredients, and add gradually to wet ingredients.
Stir in buttermilk and chopped apples.
Remove filling from fridge.
Fill muffin tins 1/4 full with batter. Spoon cream cheese mixture over. Cover cream cheese mixture with remaining batter.
Mix topping ingredients together and spoon onto muffins.
Bake at 375, 13 - 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.