I'm usually fairly good at multi-tasking but my attempts to bake and help create costumes simultaneously on Saturday turned into an epic fail. Okay, it wasn't quite that bad. But the next morning, as I was considering what I could do with the leftover canned pumpkin from the cupcakes I had made the night before, I suddenly realized I had no recollection of opening a can of pumpkin. Meaning, there was NO pumpkin in the PUMPKIN cupcakes I had made last night. Minor detail.
The fact that the batter was a bit thick didn't trigger a thought about the lack of pumpkin; I was simply going to add more buttermilk. Nor the comment from a taste-taster who said they were rather 'thick' and perhaps a tad dry. Or how about the fact that they weren't ORANGE. Yeah, I'm apparently a bit dense at times. These facts all came rushing to the forefront of my brain, however, when I realized the absence of pumpkin in my memory. (In an attempt to save face -- I was running back and forth between batches sewing patches into my brother's scarecrow costume. You'll forgive me my fault, won't you?)
The irony: first, I can't find pumpkin at ANY store; now, I can't manage to get it into the batter. I suppose I have learned to live without it for so long, I have gotten used to the notion its not going to be a part of my treats. ;-)
At any rate, I made these tasty 'pumpkin' cupcakes from Smitten's Kitchen. They were rather delicious even without the pumpkin. Spice cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. Besides the lack of pumpkin, the only other deviation from the recipe was I left out the maple syrup and 1/4 c. of butter from the frosting. And, of course, I added a little candy corn on top for flair.
The true hit of the evening, however, were my pumpkin rice krispie treats. I simply added a bit of red and yellow food coloring to the marshmallows and butter after melting them to give it a nice orange tint. I also added a sour apple bite to the top as a stem. They were every bit delicious and every bit accurate.
N.B. When shaping your rice krispie treats, let the mixture cool a bit before you get started molding. If it is too hot, it simply sticks to your hands. Although, too long and it will never come out of the pan...about 5-10 minutes does the trick.
A costume sampler:
Sally, 'Breaking News', and Swinging Dancer
Caped Masquerade
Scarecrow
Napping Indiana Jones
The Freeway

