No, I haven’t stopped writing in order to start a bakery in the hopes of attracting an adorable police officer who thinks I make great cakes and has an equally adorable accent.
Not yet, Officer O’Dowd. But someday.
But I am doing an awful lot of baking lately. After my therapist was like, “You need a hobby, yo,” and I was like, “Writing is my hobby and until I reach my entirely unobtainable goal of being the best, richest, most sexy writer in the universe, I cannot slow down,” and she was all, “Do you realize you have gum in your hair?” I decided that maybe she was right, a change is in order. So, I bake. All the time. Like crazy.
From L-R: Baking, crazy.
Today, to celebrate the fact that my latest release, BRIDE OF THE WOLF, hit ARe this morning and is already rocking a shiny silver bestseller badge, I decided I would treat my family, and you guys, to some crazy baking of my own design. So, I present unto you:
Jenny’s Bestselling Pumpkin Apple Cuppycakes.
For the cuppycakes:
1 box Jiffy Apple Cinnamon muffin mix
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp nutmeg
Preheat your oven to 400f, you sexy bastard.
In your fancy schmancy electric mixer (or a plain old bowl, if you have arms like Canseco), combine your mix, egg, and pumpkin until it’s blended. Then throw in the other two ingredients. Blend the hell out of ’em.
Fill your prepared (read: greased like whore during fleet week) muffin cups half-way with batter. I suppose you could also use paper or silicone baking cups, but I like my prostitution analogy, and that makes it harder to work it in (that’s what she said).
Bake those delicious sonsofbitches for about thirteen minutes, or until the tops start to brown a little.
For the cream cheese frosting:
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted. Sifted good.
In your magnificent mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese until blended. Add the vanilla and blend. Add the sugar a little bit at a time. I did it about 1/4 a cup at a time, so you don’t end up with lumpy horror or a face full of white powder ala Lindsey Lohan. Once all the sugar is incorporated, crank that mixer up to 11 (any high speed will work, so long as it doesn’t whip frosting around everywhere) and let it mix, scraping the sides, for about five minutes.
Slap that beautiful monstrosity into a piping bag and go to town on the cooled cuppycakes.
Et voila.
If you haven’t checked out BRIDE OF THE WOLF yet, you can get it from ARe, and read it while enjoying your delicious autumn treat.