Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

I absolutely adored the cupcakes we had for our Halloween party recently, they’re squidgy and moreish thanks to the wonderful winter spices and the cinnamon icing might just be the best thing ever! Today I’m going to share the recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing.

Ingredients

3oz/ 85g Butter or Margarine

8oz/ 225g White Sugar

8oz/ 225g Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

180ml Milk

8oz/ 225g Pumpkin Puree (you can use canned or freshly made)

10oz Self Raising Flour

1 heaped Tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 Tsp Nutmeg

1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves

1/2 Tsp Allspice

 

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

1 standard tub of Cream Cheese (usually about 225g)

2oz/ 50g Butter

Icing Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1 heaped Tsp Ground Cinnamon

 

Method

First cream together the white sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Then add in the eggs one at a time mixing thoroughly.

Now stir in the milk and pumpkin puree until combined.

Sift the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves and allspice into the mixture. Fold the flour into the mixture using a large spoon until just combined.

Now fill 23-24 cupcake cases or approx. 15 muffin cases with the batter.

Bake in a preheated oven 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Icing

The trick to cream cheese icing is not to over mix, if you do you’ll end up with a delicious runny icing but it’s no good for piping on a cake. Either use an electric mixer on low speed or mix by hand.

Mix together the butter and cream cheese until just combined. Next add in the vanilla extract and cinnamon.

I haven’t put a quantity for the icing sugar because I think it’s better to test your icing by taste and texture. Add icing sugar and mix gently until you like the sweetness and your icing can hold together sufficiently to be iced onto your cooled cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

Our Christmas guide to gifts for the feet!

It’s time to start compiling your Christmas shopping lists but what if you can’t think of the right present, are you doomed to cliché socks and boring slippers? Of course not! With a little searching you can turn that seemingly boring gift into the perfect present with our Christmas guide to gifts for the feet!

First things first though you mustn’t forget how important it is to look after your feet during the colder weather. The temperature drop can worsen skin conditions, cause blood flow restriction and chilblains to name just a few problems. Thankfully most issues are easily dealt with as you can now shop footcare products online at many sites like Simply Feet.

 

Casey Slipper

Casey Slipper

The Casey Slipper from Canterbury Sheepskin RRP £81.72

The wonderful Casey slipper is made from genuine sheepskin and looks like luxury and comfort itself. Even better you can be in with a chance to win a pair in our current competition!

Blizzard Socks

Blizzard Socks

Blizzard Bamboo socks from Braintree Clothing £4.00

Bamboo socks are made from an eco fibre fabric which is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and incredibly soft. Plus they come in really lovely designs.

Fluffies Socks

Fluffies Socks

Fluffies Socks from Seasalt £8.00

Don’t fancy slippers but still want ridiculously cosy toes, then these socks are the perfect present.

Skull and Cutlass Slippers

Skull and Cutlass Slippers

Red Skull and Cutlass on Velvet Slippers from MySlippers.co.uk £295.00

Looking for something traditional and yet quirky for the man in your life? Then these pirate style toe warmers can’t fail to fit the bill *yarrrrr!*

Pansy Olive Socks

Pansy Olive Socks

Pansy Olive Socks from Avoca E16.95

These wonderful feminine knee socks complete with lacy trim and bows can’t fail to impress.

 

Hedgehog Slippers

Hedgehog Slippers

Wool Hedgehog Slippers from Lilac Coast £24.95

Not forgetting the little ones, keep wiggly toes all wrapped up with these gorgeous non-spikey hedgehogs for the feet.

Hetty Rose Workshop

Hetty Rose Workshop

Shoemaking Workshop at Hetty Rose £195.00

Don’t gift a shoe, gift an experience! Your recipient can make their very own pair of shoes hand crafted from vintage Japanese Kimono fabrics!

Back to the Moon at the National Space Centre!

IMG_4634One small drive to the National Space Centre, one fantastic planetarium film for family kind!

Last weekend we jetted off  to the National Space Centre in Leicester to witness the premiere of their brand new fulldome planetarium film called ‘Back To The Moon For Good’.IMG_4574

Back To The Moon For Good is narrated by award-winning actor Tim Allen (aka the voice of Buzz Lightyear). It details the worldwide race to land a robotic spacecraft on the moon and win the Google Lunar XPRIZE, with a $30 million prize up for grabs.IMG_4873

We hadn’t visited the National Space Centre before and my kids haven’t learnt the history of space exploration, so it was really interesting to see just how quickly they became engaged. In terms of educational value the centre has a mind boggling amount of historical and technical information that can easily occupy any adult. For the kids (and kids at heart) there are plenty of lifesize displays and buttons to press, there’s even a bumpy simulator. My three loved a small theatre style area where they listened to information about various planets in our solar system, I had to tear them away so they didn’t miss lunch!IMG_4840

Next we collected some gourmet popcorn (I’m still unsure of Curry flavour but strawberry cheesecake was amazing) and took our seats for the premiere of Back To The Moon For Good. Sir Patrick Moore gives a personal introduction (the planetarium is named after him) and then the show began. How best to describe this movie experience…. how about…. Wow! The entire domed ceiling came alive with wondorous space images which gave the whole film a distinctly 3D feel. Part way through my youngest leaned over and asked me if the room was moving, such was the spectacular visual effect. The film is just 25 minutes long making it the perfect length for children and adults alike. We were all blown away by the ambitious plans as every team is completely privately funded. Of course I can’t give too much of the plot away but we all thought that the film was stunning and truly awe inspiring!DSC_3705

Not content with merely hearing about the teams on screen, we got a chance to ask a few of them questions along with the folks from Google. Being the confident social types that they are, all three of my children asked a question.DSC_3818

Astronaut G asked if there was a British team? Alas we discovered that there isn’t 🙁

Astronomer I asked if any of the team members or Google chaps had ever been into space? Unfortunately they hadn’t made the trip yet (but would like too!)

Alien N asked if there were any dinosaurs on the moon? Apparently there are! A Lunasaurus was among them 🙂DSC_3781

We had an absolutely fabulous day and I thoroughly recommend you all go to see the film if you can, it’s a sensory experience not to be missed!

For more information on the National Space Centre and the film visit www.spacecentre.co.ukIMG_4596