Westie Cupcakes & a lesson!

I was planning to make cupcakes for Amber's upcoming birthday and Apple wanted a lesson in cupcake decorating! I taught her how to make butter cream icing and we decorated some fun Westie cupcakes!

Just a slice...

Here is a picture of the Lusciuos 4 layer pumpkin cake before serving!

Luscious 4 Layer Pumpkin Cake

This cake seems to have replaced the pumpkin pie in my family! It came highly requested again so I finally made it! I put the recipe below with my little tweaks to make it lower fat (the original recipe can be found at http://www.kraftkitchens.com/) Mixing the batter

The top of the cake always comes out some what cracked like a pumpkin pie would... I like the effect.

I always cut the top off of one of the 2 cakes so the cake lays flatter (it also makes for a good test piece, gotta check out the flavor!!)

Even though you think you might run out of the filling, there actually will be left overs so you are able to be generous with the layers!

Here is a side view of the finished cake. Of course, it always looks kind of messy... once you cut it into slices, add whip cream and drizzle caramel on it... it looks quite nice!

What You Need!
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix (I use french vanilla!)
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened (I use the reduced fat version)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed (I use the reduced fat version)
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

Make It!
HEAT oven to 350°F.
BEAT cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp. spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans.
BAKE 28 to 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. (for me it usually take about 40 minutes to cook, this is quite a thick batter) Cool in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.
BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl with mixer until creamy (room temp works best). Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spice; mix well. Gently stir in COOL WHIP (make sure the cool whip is not frozen hard). Cut each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife; stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers. (Do not frost top layer.) Drizzle with caramel topping just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't tell you how frustrated I am at myself! I had all these great 'in progress' pictures of how to make these cupcakes... and... I forgot to put my CF card in my camera!! Ugh! Anyhow, here are the finished products!

These guys are my 'pumpkin patch' some have little halloween faces, even though its only thanksgiving, you all know how much I love halloween!

Since this is for thanksgiving... they are pumpkin cupcakes with creamcheese centres!

Thanksgiving Turkeys! These were so much fun to make... they are chocolate and very heavy on the buttercream icing as you have to build up the feathers from the bottom! I am sure some of us sweet tooths' won't mind!

Are any of these headed your way you might wonder? The box of 4 is for Brian's mom and sister...

The sampler plate is for Brian's brother's thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night...

And this big tray is headed to Aaron & Steph's for their thanksgiving tomorrow night!

I hope everyone has a great thanksgiving!

Bird's Nests for Mom's Birthday!

So I decided that Bird's Nests would be a great option for Mom's birthday! White cake with Coco flavored icing and toasted coconut... Super cute... Everyone loved them!

I did a multi colored cupcake again and got a really interesting pattern! I used White, Yellow and Teal... I layered it, but it baked up the outside of the cup... still looks great!