Fall is definitely my favorite time of year. The weather cools down, Black Friday is just around the corner, and everything smells like a crazy combination of cinnamon and nutmeg.

I recently made a few batches of cupcakes for a house warming party but the flavors are perfect for your holiday get-together since there’s a little something for everyone. For this party, we made the great Banana Split Cupcakes from before, a Chocolate-Nutella cake that I have dubbed the “Too rich to eat, too delicious to turn down” cupcake, and some great, down south homemade apple pie cupcakes.

For the Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes you will need:

In a large mixing bowl, combine water, eggs, butter and cake mix. Bake in your favorite liners at 350 for 18-22 minutes.

Let your cupcakes cool completely. Once they have cooled, using a small paring knife, cut a circle into the cupcake to create a well. Save the top of the cupcake to create a “lid”.

Fill the cupcake well with a small dollop of nutella. Less if definitely more since it is so rich. Place your “cupcake top lid” to seal in the nutella so you can work with a flat surface to ice the cupcakes.Spread a thin layer of nutella across the top and add your chocolate frosting.

Since I wanted these to be the definition of indulgence, I added a little extra frosting for these bad boys.

For the Apple Pie Cupcakes you will need:

• 1 box Spice Cake mix (Or your favorite recipe)
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1-2 cans White/Vanilla frosting
• Cinnamon to garnish (optional)
• Caramel to garnish (optional)
• Aluminum cupcake liners (optional)

For the Apple Pie Filling you will need:

• 4 medium sized apples (I used Granny Smith)
• Juice of one lemon
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg, to taste
• ¼-1/2 cup sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine water, eggs, butter and cake mix. Bake in the aluminum liners at 350 for 18-22 minutes. Let your cupcakes cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut apples into small chucks, about an inch long. Completely coat apples in lemon juice and then in sugar. Try your best to refrain from eating the apples. Trust me, they somehow taste addicting level delicious!

Add the bowl of spices and completely coat the apples. Place into a large pan on low heat and bring to a slight boil. Be sure to continually stir so the sauce doesn’t scorch the bottom of your pan.

Let this cook about 15-20 minutes until your apples are soft. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool completely.

 Once your cupcakes have cooled, using a your paring knife, cut a well like you did with the chocolate cupcakes. Save the top of the cupcake to create a “lid” and fill the cupcake well with a small spoonful of your filling.

Place your “cupcake top lid” to seal in the filling. Ice the cupcakes and completely cover the top with your white icing. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon onto each one and a swirl of caramel.

These were a huge hit at the party and I’m sure they will be for your party too. Happy Baking!

I realized I’ve been lacking on the cupcake department lately, but I think I can make it up to you.

Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I look forward to the unofficial first day of fall more than any other day of the year. I am definitely that girl in line first thing on "Pumpkin Spice Latte Day”. Really the only thing that can make a pumpkin spice latte better, is to eat it as a cupcake right?

For this recipe you will need:

-2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

-3 tbsp espresso powder

-2 tsp baking soda

-2 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp ground cinnamon

-1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

-1 tsp salt

-1 cup sugar

-1cup brown sugar

-4 large eggs

-15 oz. Pumpkin Puree (1 can)

-1/2 cup cooled coffee for brushing

-1-2 cans butter cream frosting

--Tan baking cups (optional)

--Cinnamon to garnish (optional)

--Caramel sauce to garnish (optional)

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, espresso, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; whisk together until well combined and set aside. In another mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, oil, and eggs. Begin mixing on low and slowly increase the speed of your mixer until all ingredients make a smooth thick texture like a pudding. Slowly combine your dry ingredients and be sure to mix well.

Fill your baking cups about half way and bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes. Once cupcakes have cooled, using a small spatula, pastry brush, or I ended up using a paper towel, begin to sponge a layer of coffee to the top of your cupcake. Do this about 2-3 times, allowing the coffee to dry completely each time.

Using a hefty dollop of butter cream icing, spread evenly across the cupcake. The beauty of these, lattes don’t normally have very intricate tops so your cupcakes aren’t under any pressure and the off-white of the butter cream makes the foam seem a little richer.

Gently sprinkle some ground cinnamon to the tops and add a swirl or two of caramel. Voila! Pumpkin spice lattes that you can enjoy even in this Florida heat.

Happy Baking!

Thanks to her majesty Gwen Stefani I will forever spell out bananas by her singing it to me.

While spending my days on Pinterest (what else is new) I came across a banana split cupcake. Now I've never been a fan of banana splits but I've been going through a strange banana phase. I can't seem to get enough of them. I figured this was the perfect excuse to buy a few more bananas. I think this batch has been my favorite so far!

Now this batch has a few elements to it and I've broken down the ingredients for each one:

Cupcakes:

• Box of vanilla cake mix
• ½ cup melted butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup water

Banana custard filling:

• 1 ½ bananas
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup corn starch
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp sea salt

Chocolate dipping sauce:

• 6-8 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 2 cups butter cream frosting

Other ingredients:

• rainbow nonpareils (optional)
• maraschino cherries (optional)
• yellow cupcake liners

In a medium to large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, water and melted butter. Mix well and add cupcake pans. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes. I found mine were done between 19-20 minutes.

While cupcakes are baking, in a food processor or similar appliance, combine bananas, milk, heavy cream and vanilla. Blend until you have a smooth consistency. Slowly add in the sugar, corn starch and salt and mix well. As far as the salt, the original recipe called for kosher salt, which I didn't have. The sea salt worked fine in this recipe, so use whatever you have in the pantry.

Add the banana mixture to a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until it starts to low boil. Once it begins to boil, continue to cook and whisk constantly for 5-7 minutes until custard thickens. Custard should stick to the back of the spoon after 5 minutes. If it hasn't reached that point, keep whisking for another minute or two.

Once your cupcakes have cooled, using the back of a decorator tip or a small paring knife, cut a small well in the middle of your cupcake. Once your filling has cooled slightly, add about 2 tbsp to each cupcake, or until the well in completely filled and level with the cupcake.

Using a butter knife, quickly frost your cupcakes. You need a mounded top of frosting. This will be covered so it doesn't need to be pretty, just consistent. Place cupcakes in the freezer for about 5 minutes for the icing to harden. 

In a small sauce pan combine the chocolate chips and about 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream. Too err on the side of caution, add 1/4 cup at first and slowing incorporate the rest of the cream. You want a smooth but still slightly thick sauce. It will thicken as it cools.

Remove the sauce from the heat. Only work with 3-4 cupcakes at a time because the icing will not take long to soften once out of the freezer and can melt under the hot chocolate sauce. Gently lower your cupcake upside down into the sauce until it is level with the cupcake liner. Slowly, raise the cupcake straight up to allow any excess chocolate to drip off. Once you flip the cupcake upright, you may need to angle it to catch any final drops. Now add your rainbow nonpareils completely around the edge. The more the merrier with these! Immediately place the cupcakes back into the freezer for the chocolate to set.

You're still going to want to work with 3-4 cupcakes at a time on this to keep the chocolate from softening. Using a star decorator tip add a small swirl of butter cream. Try to fill the void space inside of the nonpareils. Top with a cherry and throw them back into the freezer for 5-10 minutes. They can then be refrigerated until you are ready to serve them.

Learn from my unfortunate lesson, add the cherry to the top of the icing swirl before you stick them back in the freezer, they tend to fall off if you don't.

As always, Happy Baking!