"There is a fine line between a pumpkin and a cupcake..."

(This morning, in the kitchen at work, said with great confidence) Jenny to Tarah:  "There is a fine line between a pumpkin and a cupcake"

Wait.  Stop.  There is a red flashing light going off somewhere in my brain.  Something in what just came out of my mouth was not quite right.  Thinking...  Thinking...

Ah, silly me!  What I meant to say was "There is a fine line between a muffin and a cupcake."

And there is a fine line.  I made some pumpkin muffins for the office this morning (with leftover ingredients from the Pumpkin Cake with Browned Butter Frosting that I made on Tuesday for an office birthday party).  The muffin recipe I found online was titled:  Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting.  Now, am I totally off or is that just a bit delusional?  I call anything with frosting a cupcake, all the way.  And without frosting, it can totally be a muffin.  But thats just my opinion.  If you disagree on the line between cupcake and muffin, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

This was a big pumpkin week for me.  Apparently the passing of Halloween flipped a switch in my mind and with one 26oz can of pumpkin, this week I made a birthday cake, a batch of muffins and a very tasty breakfast of Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes.  In case you find yourself in mood for some pumpkin, here are a few ideas...

Pumpkin Cake with Browned Butter Frosting
(Slight adapted from Shutterbean.com)

Cake
1 2/3 cup flour (+ 3T)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda (just under)
1/2 tsp baking powder (just under)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup warm milk (+ 2T)

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease and flour a 9 inch x 2 inch cake pan (I used a Springform pan and it worked beautifully)
- Mix flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.  Add eggs and beat to combine.  Add pumpkin and milk and mix to combine.
- By hand, add the dry mixture and stir until just incorporated.
- Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 55 minutes.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes.  Remove.  Top with frosting and enjoy!

Browned Butter Frosting
4 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 T milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

(Parenthesis reflect high-altitude adjustments!)

- Melt butter in a pan over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently until the butter turns medium brown.
- Remove from heat and add to sugar, vanilla and 1 T milk.  Stir.  If you think it is too thick, add the other tablespoon of milk.
- Allow to sit for 5 minutes and then spread over the cake.  The consistency will be a little bit like a glaze.  And don't worry that it doesn't make much.  All you need a is a little!

I took pictures of this cake but they turned out a big "gray".  Not quite blog-worthy.  So you'll have to use some imagination...  Or go to the link above under the recipe name.

Okay.  Deep breath.  I know this is longer than most of my posts.  But I have one more yummy recipe for you.

Here we go:

Pumpkin Spice "Muffins"
(Slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman blog)

After looking over a couple web recipe for pumpkin muffins, I chose this one because amazingly enough, in the full batch, it only calls for 1/2 cup of sugar.  Another recipe I saw called for 3 cups!  And this one has no oil and just 4 T of butter.  So as far as muffins go, this one is a bit healthier than some.  Hope you enjoy!  (And reference her beautiful blog for pictures!)

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
4 T butter
1 heaping cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon Sugar, optional

- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Grease 12-cup muffin tin or use paper liners
- Mix dry ingredients: flour - salt
- Cut in the butter using a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Separately, mix the pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla.
- Add to the flour/butter mixture and stir by hand until just incorporated.
- Pour into muffin cups.  Top with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.
- Bake 25 minutes.  Allow to rest 15 minutes.

And enjoy!