Autumn Appropriate

autumn cupcake

Gosh, I didn’t mean to let three weeks go by without a post. I’ve been sick for almost all of that time, so I hope you’ll forgive me. I also had a string of lacklustre recipes emerge from my kitchen that I thought didn’t seem worthy of sharing, or at least not until I’ve altered them to my liking. But mostly, I’ve been revisiting old favourites, many of which I’ve posted here before. There’s been pesto and pie, biscotti, and a new take on these simple slice and bake cookies, adding lemon zest and chopped dried cranberries. They were delicious!

I recently pondered the fact that I had not baked, let alone eaten a cupcake in quite a long time. In fact, they hadn’t really crossed my mind in a while. Surely my infatuation with them was not waning? I firmly believe that you can never outgrow a cupcake, they seem to be much loved by young and old. I decided to make a batch of autumn-appropriate cupcakes with some delicious pears. They are in abundance right now and I can’t get enough. I drank the pear juice reserved from Step 2 of the recipe by itself but couldn’t help but think how delicious it would be with some vanilla-infused vodka in a fruity cocktail.

I loved everything about these cupcakes; they were deliciously moist on the inside, not too sweet but with a hint of warmth from the cinnamon. The chopped walnuts made an interesting textural contrast and the creamy vanilla bean icing set it off in all the right ways. I wasn’t the only fan of these cupcakes either! My (nearly) three-year-old cousin Cooper loved them too, and had an interesting way of eating them. He licked all the icing off the top before he actually ate the cake. Awwww…

cooper

Pear and Maple Cupcakes
Adapted from Australian Women’s Weekly Cupcakes
Makes 12

• 2 medium pears, grated coarsely
• 60g butter, softened
• ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup self-raising flour
• ¾ cup plain flour
• 1/3 cup walnuts (or pecans), finely chopped

Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Adapted from Cupcake Project
• 1 ½ cups pure icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
• 200g butter, room temperature
• ½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 1 tablespoon milk

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (355°F) and line a 12 hole cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Strain the juice from the grated pear, squeezing out as much juice as possible.
3. Beat butter, brown sugar and cinnamon with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, maple syrup and vanilla and mix to combine.
4. Add flour and mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix. Fold in walnuts (or pecans) and grated pear using a large spoon.
5. Divide between paper cases and smooth surface. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
6. To make vanilla bean buttercream, beat icing sugar with butter until creamy. Add vanilla seeds and milk and beat for another minute. Smooth onto cooled cakes.

16 Comments on “Autumn Appropriate”

  1. Sorry you got sick, Lisa 🙁 At least you’re back and in good form! I love your cupcakes 🙂 Hey, it’s a good thing Cooper didn’t just lick the icing off and give the cake to his mum to eat, as kids are wont to do 😛

  2. Manggy, I’m on the mend, getting there slowly! He’s a regular little sugar fiend! He hit the marshmallows pretty hard too, and ran around all afternoon.

    Patricia, thank you! Cooper is very cute, and great fun to have around. He’s always making people laugh with funny things he says and does.

  3. Kate, I just love maple syrup. In cakes, on pancakes, even on ice cream!

    Leslie, I hope you enjoy it as much as Cooper and I did 🙂

  4. Diva, thanks. I think these cupcakes would also be nice warmed up, minus icing, with vanilla icecream instead.

    Chewy Waffles, it says 60g, I think the font makes it a little hard to read, sorry!

  5. I am so sorry you were sick for that long! These cupcakes are very unique. I will keep them in mind when autumn rolls around again in my neck of the woods!

  6. I forget that you are almost entering winter now when here in the northern hemisphere, we are dreaming of ice cream. But I love apples and spices and chestnuts… perfect. Beautiful photos and adorable Cooper!!

  7. Toontz, awww thanks. I am feeling much better now. I hope you enjoy them next autumn!

    Evelin, haha. I would too, but the icing goes so nicely with the cake!

    Aran, thank you! There are lots of things to like about autumn, it’s true…but I wish it was spring here 🙂

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