Thanksgiving Pecan Pie!

appy almost Thanksgiving!!! I hope each of you little turkeys are spending time with family, preparing your stomaches for the biggest meal of the year, and gearing your minds for the yearly Black Friday fiasco.

Because I love Thanksgiving (and eating) so much, I've decided to share my favorite Pecan Pie recipe with you! This little goodie has been plucked from the Loveless Cafe cookbook (an iconic Nashville restaurant with the most delicious Southern cooking you'll ever eat) and tweaked by yours truly. It really is the best pecan pie I've ever had, and I get compliments on it at every family/friend gathering. Here's the gold, ladies and gentlemen...

Loveless Cafe Pecan Pie

• 1 (10-inch) baked pie shell
• 1 and 1/2 cups pecans (halves/pieces)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown suger
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 tbs unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375. Place pecans in the pie shell and place shell on a baking sheet.  Whisk together eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Whisk the melted butter into the egg mix.  Pour mixture over pecans. Bake for 35-40 min, or until puffed and firm in the center.  (NOTE: sometimes this pie turns out a little more runny than I'd like, so I add 1 tbs of cornstarch to the filling mix to firm it up!)

Happy baking, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

marie

It's Fall Yall!

ell, well, well... Here we are again, another fall!  The leaves have changed and are falling, the weather is getting colder (I had a photoshoot yesterday morning at dawn, and about froze my TAIL off) and football season is in full swing! Fall is definitely my favorite season.  SO- what better way to celebrate my favorite season than with my favorite cupcake??? Here it is, Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting... quite possibly the most "fall" thing you've ever tasted.  Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 & 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3 eggs (room temperature)
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbs baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 standard muffin cups with paper baking cups.

Beat sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine pumpkin and buttermilk in medium bowl, mix well.  Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice, nutmeg and ginger in separate medium bowl.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with pumpkin mixture, beating well after each addition.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling two-thirds full.  

Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean.  Cool cupcakes in pans on wire rack 15 minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.  

While cooling, prepare cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese frosting:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 and 1/2 sticks of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 box of 10x Confectioner's Sugar (powdered sugar)

With an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioner's sugar, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, mixing on medium speed until the frosting is light and creamy. Pipe with a pastry bag onto cupcakes.

Well, there you have it! Fall for your tastebuds :) 

Happy Cupcaking!

Marie