Pecan Pie Cupcakes

Sue and I recently held a bake sale for the local food banks in Lillooet. We made several fancy schmancy cupcakes to sell. The next few posts will be some of the cupcakes we made.

I have already posted the Caramel Turkey Cupcakes (Which were vanilla cupcakes stuffed with a mini pecan pie!)

Today I am posting about Butter Pecan Cupcakes with Pecan Pie Filling and Vanilla Pudding Frosting and topped with a Pie Crust Leaf - otherwise known as Pecan Pie Cupcakes.

Coming up this week will be Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes, Cinnamon Bun Cupcakes with Cheesecake Frosting (yes, actual cheesecake!), and Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting and Peanut Butter Frosting.

They all sold really well. People were able to pick and choose to make up their own cupcake box and they really seemed to enjoy that.

Pecan Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients

Pecan Pie Filling

1 cup brown sugar, packed 

1 cup dark corn syrup

3/4 cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1 cup whipping cream

pinch salt

1/4 cup butter

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1 tsp vanilla

Cake

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup butter

4 eggs

2 cup sugar

3/4 tsp butter pecan extract

 2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

Vanilla Pudding Frosting

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding

2 cups whipping cream

Decorations

24 Pie crust leaves

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Pecan Pie Filling - whisk together brown sugar, corn syrup, cornstarch, egg yolks, and whipping cream in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil, whisking constantly, 3 - 5 minute or until thickened. Remove pan from heat; stir in butter and vanilla, whisking until butter melts. Place in a sealed air tight container and chill about 3 hours or until thick.

Cake - Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.

Heat buttermilk and butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat.

Beat together; eggs, sugar, and butter pecan extract. Beat in flour, baking powder, and salt.

Slowly beat in hot milk. Mix until well combined.

Pour into prepared or muffin tins.

Bake at 350 for approx 15 -20 minutes. Toothpick inserted near center should come out clean.

Remove from heat, let cool in pans for 5 minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool completely.

Vanilla Pudding Frosting - In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour in whipping cream and vanilla pudding mix. Beat on low until combined. Beat on medium until thickened, 1 - 2 minutes.

To assemble cupcakes -

Using a sharp knife, carefully cut a cone shape wedge of cake out of the center of each cupcake.

Using a spoon or piping bag, fill hole in cupcake with the Pecan Pie Filling. Repeat until all cupcakes have been filled.

Spoon Vanilla Pudding Frosting into a piping bag and pipe on top of cupakes, making sure to cover filling.

Sprinkle with chopped pecans and top with pie crust leaf. (To make the leaves you can make your own pie dough using THIS RECIPE, or you can use store bought. Simply roll out, cut with a mini cookie cutter, bake at 400 for 5 - 8 minutes, until golden brown, and then let cool.)

The presentation of these cupcakes is really beautiful. The original recipe at My Recipes called for the filling to be piped on top of the cupcakes as the frosting. Unfortunately it never set up that well for me so I decided to fill the cupcakes with it instead.

This is another recipe that is perfect for Thanksgiving too.

I think my favorite part of this was the Vanilla Pudding Frosting. So simple yet so tasty. It held up really well too. We made these the day before the bake sale and the frosting didn't wilt or melt at all over night in the fridge.

Oh, yeah. FYI - the Pecan Pie Filling makes a ton. You will have enough left over for another whole batch of cupcakes at another time. It stores well in the fridge, in an airtight container, for at least a week or two.

Stop by Carole's Chatter for some great food links!