Hummingbird Upside-Down Cupcakes

My hummingbird cupcakes with pineapple almond butter cream cheese frosting are among my  favorite cupcakes.  But, not everyone has almond flour, walnut oil, and golden syrup lying around (some of the key ingredients in that cupcake recipe).  This hummingbird upside-down cupcake recipe presents a simpler alternative with the same show-stopper flavor combination of pineapple, pecan, and banana. 

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Pineapple Almond Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

It seems that outside of the South (some people think of St. Louis as the South - but we're definitely Midwest), no one has heard of hummingbird cupcakes.  You are missing out!

My hummingbird cupcakes are everything that banana muffins wish they could be.  The hummingbird cupcakes have a strong banana flavor, but so much more complexity.  The addition of pineapple adds moisture and the sweetness of nature's candy.  The cupcakes have a nutty flavor (thanks to the pecans mixed throughout), but even if you happen to get a nut-free bite (unlikely), the nut flavor will still be there; I baked my hummingbird cupcakes using almond flour rather than the more typical all-purpose flour (bonus - the almond flour means these hummingbird cupcakes are gluten-free!).

Because banana is the most intense flavor in the cupcakes, I wanted to play up the pineapple in my cream cheese frosting.  When you add real pineapple (as opposed to pineapple flavor) to frosting, it tends to make the frosting too wet to pipe.  The natural tendency is to add more powdered sugar to compensate - making the frosting well above sugar levels I can tolerate.  For this frosting, I used almond butter as the thickener, which gave the frosting a pipeable texture (with enjoyable nutty undertones) without adding too much sweetness.  I'm in love.


What are Hummingbird Cupcakes?

Maple Pecan Cupcakes with Butter Pecan Buttercream Frosting for Paula Deen

Diving into these maple pecan cupcakes from the top, you’ll be met with butter pecan buttercream frosting that tastes exactly like butter pecan ice cream – so much so that you may be tempted to put it in a bowl and eat it with a spoon.  That wouldn’t be a bad choice, but then you would miss out on discovering how well the butter pecan pairs with the pecan-packed maple cupcakes made with a half cup of pure maple syrup.  Together, frosting and cupcake are pecan perfection!

I developed the maple pecan cupcake recipe for Paula Deen. So, you'll have to head over to Paula's website to learn how to make them.  Happy travels!

Butter Pecan Brandy Ice Cream From Ice Cream Happy Hour

When I first heard about the book Ice Cream Happy Hour, which contains 50 recipes for spiked ice cream, I had two questions:  How do you keep kids from eating it, and how does the ice cream set since alcohol doesn't typically freeze well?  Authors Valerie Lum and Jenise Addison don't answer question one (my answer is to hide the ice cream behind the frozen broccoli), but they do answer question two right in the preface. Mixing the alcohol with gelatin prior to stirring it into the ice cream allows the alcohol to freeze and yields a properly creamy end result (don't worry, the ice cream doesn't have the consistency of jello shots - you won't even notice the gelatin). 

Since butter pecan ice cream has always been a favorite of mine, I immediately knew that I wanted to try the butter pecan brandy ice cream.  The butter pecan brandy ice cream came out just as I had hoped: a cross between a traditional butter pecan ice cream and a strong egg nog.

I'm sharing the butter pecan brandy ice cream recipe below, but there are so many other flavors in Ice Cream Happy Hour that you might want to try - like Irish coffee ice cream, chocolate martini ice cream, and strawberry daiquiri ice cream.  I'll be giving a couple of copies of Ice Cream Happy Hour away later this week, so be sure to check back for the details.

Sweet Potato Casserole Cupcakes 3 Ways

I love sweet potato casserole cupcakes!  I can't get enough of them.  I love them so much that I'm giving you three different recipes:

1. The first sweet potato casserole cupcake recipe is one that I made back in 2007.  The best part about it is the maple marscarpone filling.  You could put that filling in any Fall cupcake and get rave reviews.
2. The next sweet potato casserole cupcake recipe has a crumb topping and crumbs baked into the cupcakes that give it a fun oatmeal-like texture.
3. This year, I made sweet potato casserole cupcakes with candied pecans.  It is probably my favorite recipe of the three.  But, you can't go wrong with any of them.  This year's recipe is below.  Sorry, they were all gobbled up before I could get a photo!  They look just like the cupcakes above, only they have toasted marshmallows on top instead of crumbs. 

Sweet Potato Pecan Cupcakes Recipe

Yield: 10 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• ½  teaspoon cinnamon
• ½  teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar
• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons pureed sweet potatoes (I used the kind from the can. Try to get the kind without corn syrup if possible.)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• ½ cup candied pecans (make your own or buy some premade)

Cupcake Directions

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, and baking soda.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, sweet potatoes, and eggs. Beat until smooth.
3. Mix the oil and apple cider into the sweet potato mixture.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
5. Fold in pecans
6. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full.
7. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.

Brown Sugar Frosting Recipe

Top each cupcake with brown sugar frosting and mini marshmallows (you can toast them with a culinary torch for added fun).

Apple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls - This Month's Cupcake Project Recipe for Paula Deen

 

As my regular readers know, I create monthly cupcake recipes for PaulaDeen.com.  This month, I was asked to develop something with apples or pecans.  I opted to use both! I made these apple pecan cinnamon roll cupcakes with a glaze that actually contains apple cider! 

Whether or not you make the cinnamon rolls, I'd highly recommend trying out the simple apple cider glaze. The apple cider glaze would be outstanding on my gingersnap cookies.

You'll find both the apple pecan cinnamon roll cupcake recipe and the apple cider glaze recipe on Paula Deen.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Bourbon and Pecan

Groom 2.0 wanted chocolate cupcakes for his wedding. I thought the better than sex chocolate cupcakes would be perfect, but Bride 2.0 found them too rich. They both really liked the derby pie cupcakes. However, they had a problem and I had a problem.

What Do Chocolate Cupcakes with Bourbon and Pecan Have to Do with Prince?

The problem that Bride and Groom 2.0 had with the derby pie cupcakes was the name. They aren't big horse racing fans and their wedding isn't around Derby time - it's in 2 weeks! This was an easy problem to solve.

Much like Prince, a name change was in order. The cupcakes formally known as derby pie cupcakes are now known as chocolate cupcakes with bourbon and pecan.

Wedding Cupcake Frosting Must Be Pretty

The frosting on the derby pie cupcakes wasn't pretty enough for a wedding. I knew I could do better.

I frosted the chocolate bourbon pecan cupcakes using a pecan butter frosting with chocolate and bourbon.

Did the new frosting and new name work for the soon-to-be wed couple? All will be revealed VERY soon. The couple has chosen their wedding cupcakes and I'll be posting about their selections any day now.

Chocolate Cupcake with Bourbon and Pecan Recipe

I am reprinting the original derby pie cupcake recipe here with just a few slight changes from the original.

For the chocolate cake, I used chockylit's recipe that I featured in my Better than Sex Chocolate Cupcakes.

Makes 16 regular cupcakes

• 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 C sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 C flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 C milk
• 1 t vanilla extract
  

1. Beat butter until softened.
2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small bowl and whisk to combine.
5. In another small bowl, measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine.
7. Add about half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine.
8. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
9. Make the fun gooey part. See below.
   

The Fun Gooey Part Formerly Known as Derby Pie Filling

The second part of the chocolate cupcake with bourbon and pecan recipe is a fun gooey part that I got from Allrecipes:

• 1/2 C white sugar
• 1/2 C light corn syrup
• 1/4 C butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/8 C bourbon
  
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/8 t salt
• 1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips
  
• 1/2 C chopped pecans

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and butter.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
3. Cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, combine eggs, bourbon, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.
5. Slowly pour the sugar mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.
7. Fold 3/4 of the fun gooey part into the chocolate cupcake batter. You don't need to mix it well, just give it a nice stir.
8. Fill cupcake liners about halfway.
9. Use up the remaining 1/4 of the filling by putting an additional spoonful or two of the fun gooey part on top of each cupcake, being careful not to fill them more than 3/4.
10. Bake the cupcakes at 350 F for 20-25 minutes.
    

Pecan Butter Frosting with Chocolate and Bourbon Recipe

Get the recipe for pecan butter frosting with chocolate and bourbon.

Cupcake Hero

These cupcakes are my entry into this month's Cupcake Hero! Cupcake Hero is a year old now! It's so hard to believe. Happy birthday!

Pecan Butter Frosting with Chocolate and Bourbon

Related Posts:

• How to Make Nut Butter
  
• Chocolate Cupcakes with Bourbon and Pecan
• Almond Butter Frosting
• Macadamia Nut Butter Frosting
  

The tricky part about pecan butter frosting is getting your hands on some pecan butter. Pecan butter is not something that is sold in most stores. It is, however, fairly easy to make nut butter yourself - but there is a trick.

Pecans don't have as much oil as peanuts or even cashews, so you will need to add in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil as you make it or it will take forever. By forever, I mean over 3 hours (which is how long Jonathan spent trying to make pecan butter for me the first time I made this frosting). You could, of course, make this frosting with any other nut butter you happened to already have sitting around. However, the pecan butter is so yummy!

Pecan Butter Frosting with Chocolate and Bourbon Recipe

• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 1 C pecan nut butter (check out my instructions on how to make nut butters)
• 1 T milk (more or less to taste)
  
• 2 T bourbon
• 2 T cocoa powder
  
• 2 C confectioners' sugar

1. Place the butter and pecan nut butter into a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer.
2. Gradually mix in the sugar and cocoa.
3. When the frosting starts to get thick, incorporate milk and bourbon one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable.
4. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Note: The color variety in the frostings in the photo comes from using different varieties of chocolate and more or less milk.