Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

The recipe I used was based on this one: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8521/pumpkin-cupcakes.aspx

For the cupcakes you will need:

• 280g plain flour

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• 110g butter, softened

• 200g caster sugar

• 5 tablespoons brown soft sugar

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 180ml milk

• 250g pumpkin, cooked and pureed

For the Cinnamon and Cream Cheese Icing:

• 200g cream cheese, softened

• 50g butter, softened

• 350g icing sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

I know it seems like quite a lot of ingredients but it is definitely worth getting all of the spices as they really add so much flavour to the cupcakes and smell amazing. I got most of my ingredients from Aldi which worked out so much cheaper. I got some pumpkin and bat sprinkles and some little pumpkin chocolates wrapped in foil from Asda. Also my autumnal silver and gold foil cake cases which I love are from Asda too. This recipe makes around 24 cupcakes which is perfect if you wanted to give them out to the children that knock on the door for trick and treat or just to give out to all of the family. If you don't want to make as many then just half all of the measurements. 

Method

You can buy tinned pureed pumpkin from Waitrose but as I don't live near one I made it myself. I just scooped the inside of a pumpkin out and cut it into smallish chunks. I boiled it for 20 minutes then mashed it up. It does make the baking time a bit lengthier but you could do this the day before or a couple of hours before you start.

1. Preheat the oven to 190 C/Gas 5. Grease the cupcake tins or line with cupcake cases. Sift together the flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, baking powder and bicarb then set these aside in a bowl. The original recipe uses cloves and all spice which you can use if you wish
2. Beat 110g of butter, caster sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy. The mixture should be lighter in colour. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree after the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, try not to over mix just make sure it is all combined. Pour the cupcake mixture into the cupcake cases,
3. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes until they are golden in colour and the tops spring back when lightly pressed.  Cool in the tins for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
4. While the cupcakes are cooling it is time to make the icing. Beat the cream cheese and 50g butter with an electric mixer in a bowl until smooth. Mix in the icing sugar a little at a time to avoid being covered in a white cloud. Add the vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon then beat until it is fluffy. Once the cupcakes are cool you can pipe on the cream cheese icing. (I gave up piping as my icing turned out a bit too sloppy, I resulted in spooning mine on)

These cupcakes are delicious, you don't get that claggy texture like you do with some cupcakes. They are really light and fluffy, I am upset that the shops will no longer be selling pumpkins as I won't be able to make any more until next year. Ah well...bring on the Christmas baking.

Holiday to Portugal

Guys, I have the holiday blues. After leaving sunny Portugal where I went on holiday with my boyfriend Marcus and coming back home to cold Autumnal weather I just want to hibernate. I thought it would be a nice idea to look back at the place where I was this time last week,  I enjoyed the area we went to that much that I wanted to share it as an idea for others to go to on holiday. We went to a place called Portimao in the Algarve, our hotel was really nice and where we were situated we could walk into a town called Alvor which took around half an hour or there was a free bus to Portimao Town or Praia Da Rocha. We visited all of those above and had some fun exploring, eating and I took some photos of my evening outfit choices. I couldn't believe how hot it was for the time of year, we got a slight tan and had a nice dip in the sea.

On our first evening we went into Alvor Town and ate at a lovely restaurant on the harbour, the first picture was our view which was incredible. We had the most amazing food, Marcus had the Algarve Codfish and I had a mixed fish kebab. It was the freshest fish I have ever had in my life!

On this day we got a taxi into Portimao town to explore, we had dinner there and had a nice little walk along the harbour. I loved all of the sculptures along the harbour, one of my favourites was the blue birds on the side of the building. 

The dish below was monk fish wrapped in bacon and was so good.

The one thing I noticed about Portugal was there was a lot of things made of cork and I fell in love with this bag and bracelet that I bought. 

This was a tuna steak, I have never had it before and I really enjoyed it. So fresh and delicious. 

I may have over indulged on a few crepes and waffles with nutella. This was the jumbo waffle which we shared.

The last two food pictures is a smoked sausage and my meal of steak on a stone which is a Portuguese speciality.

Such an amazing holiday, I can't wait to explore somewhere new next year. I am open to options so would love to hear anywhere nice that you have been on holiday.