mini pumpkin pies for thanksgiving

Still enamored with the flower-shaped tart crusts from my two previous posts (see mini blueberry cheesecake tarts and mini chocolate cream tarts). for Thanksgiving last year I decided to make little mini pumpkin pies with the same shaped tart crusts, except this time with pie crust dough instead of chocolate wafer cookie dough. We were planning on driving down to LA to spend Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family, so I thought these little portable mini pies would be perfect to make ahead and transport!

For the crust I used my go-to all butter pie crust recipe (recipe in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book!), which I chilled and then rolled out to about 1/8 inch thick. Then I used a flower-shaped cookie cutter to stamp out each mini crust.

Then I fit them into my ungreased cupcake tins, and put them in the fridge to chill.

While the crusts were chilling, I start on the pumpkin pie filling, which included canned pumpkin pie, evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, salt, and eggs.

Then I filled my chilled mini crusts and then baked them at 350F until the crust was golden brown and the filling was just set and still a little bit jiggly.

I let them cool before removing them from the cupcake tins and then chilling them overnight to let the filling set even more.

I just love the way the little flower-shaped crusts look, plus they fit into the cupcake tins perfectly!

Thanksgiving with my family was super fun, we ate under an outdoor gazebo and we stuffed ourselves until our stomachs were uncomfortably full! The evening ended with a kids dance-off and lots of goofy selfies! Happy Thanksgiving!

thanksgiving turkey cupcakes - pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Last year for my youngest son's preschool Thanksgiving party, I signed up to make dessert. I knew wanted to make Thanksgiving turkey cupcakes, but I wanted something different from the ones I had made in previous years (see these and these ones as well). So using the "petal technique" that I've done on cakes in the past (originally done by Hungry Housewife! Go check out her tutorial!), I created these cute little turkeys!

I decided on a pumpkin cupcake to match the occasion (and also it's semi-healthy for the kids!). I used the same Martha Stewart recipe that I've used in the past, because it always comes out moist and fluffy!

For the frosting, I whipped up a batch of cream cheese buttercream and divided it into four, and colored the first three portions for the turkey's tail feathers.

The fourth portion I colored brown, for the turkey's head.

Using the petal technique, I created the first row of tail feathers with yellow frosting ...

Then the second row with orange frosting ...

And the third row with red frosting.

Then I piped a little round blob for the turkey's head!

Finally, I used black sugar pearls for the eyes, rainbow chips for the beak, and upside-down heart sprinkles for the wattle.

Aren't they cute?

Gobble Gobble! Happy Thanksgiving!

mini pumpkin swirl cheesecakes

It's about that time of year where everything in pumpkin flavor starts to show up everywhere! And these are no exception. I made these mini cheesecakes for Thanksgiving last year, but I think they would be great around Halloween time as well!

It starts with an Oreo cookie crust, made with melted butter mixed with pulverized Oreo cookies (filling and all). I used this recipe from Crazy For Crust, but you could also do a graham cracker crust if you like. Just press the crust mixture into the bottom of a cupcake tin lined with paper liners.

Next comes the filling!

The basic recipe for the filling is in my book, except instead of topping the cheesecakes with jam after baking, I mixed a small portion of the filling with canned pumpkin puree, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and ground ginger (you could also use pumpkin pie spice to make it easier). (See here for other filling options!)

After adding a few dollops of the pumpkin mixture on the top of the filling, I used a toothpick to swirl it around into a pretty pattern.

Then I baked them in a water bath at 325F for 20-25 minutes, until set and just barely jiggly in the center. (Note that it's important to bake them in a water bath to prevent cracking!)

Then I popped them into the fridge to let them cool and continue setting, until it was time to serve them!

You could also use raspberry puree or blueberry puree instead of the pumpkin, but I think the pumpkin swirl is just perfect for this time of year!

Enjoy!

pumpkin spice mini cupcakes with brown butter cream cheese frosting

Okay, wow. I just checked the date on these pictures, and turns out I made these about four years ago, but never had a chance to blog about them. Whoops!

Anyhow, sooooo I made these little mini pumpkin cupcakes four years ago! I had leftover pumpkin puree from something or other (I can't remember at this point!), and so I decided to turn that into mini cupcakes. Just for fun. So for the batter I used Martha Stewart's trusty pumpkin cupcake recipe from her "Cupcakes" book (also used for these Halloween Jack-o-lantern cupcakes, as well as this pumpkin layer cake with piped roses).

For the frosting, I took my basic cream cheese frosting (recipe in my book, The Hello Kitty Baking Book), but instead of regular butter, I browned the butter by melting it in a pan over medium heat, waited for it to brown, and then chilled it until it because solid again. Then I let it come to room temperature before incorporating it in my frosting. (Yes, sounds like a lot of additional work, but SO worth it for that brown butter flavor!!!)

To get the cute little dollop-shaped frosting on top, I used a pastry bag fitted with just a coupler (or you could also just use a large round tip). Holding the bag upright above the center of the cupcake, squeeze your frosting out slowly, and use a pumping motion to keep the frosting moving outwards. Once the frosting has spread almost to the diameter of your cupcake, stop squeezing the piping bag and slowly lift the pastry bag up and away from your cupcake, to give you that cute little point on the top.

And there you have it! Super simple yet tasty. And perfect for Halloween, or even Thanksgiving! Enjoy!