Woodchuck Cider Pumpkin Cupcakes

This weekend, my boyfriend Kyle attended Manksgiving. If you're not familiar with Manksgiving, it's basically an excuse for a group of dudes who played rugby together in college to get silly drunk. Oh, and also to air "the grievances". Yes, they literally did that.

They also each had to contribute to the bounty of Manksgiving; a small nod to the men who have given "manks" before them... Yeah, I heard these puns alllllllllllllllllllll weekend. Kyle decided to make his mom's ragu alla bolognese, which I knew would be a huge hit, so I decided to contribute some booze-soaked cupcakes to the noble cause of intoxication.

Despite the fact that Kyle accidentally put the butter I was trying to bring to room temperature overnight back in the refrigerator (editor's note: it goes without saying, this discovery was followed by a thorough explanation of why ingredients like butter must be room temperature for baking), these cupcakes turned out light, spicy, and deliciously autumnal. 

I was very happy with the results and would encourage you to add them to your own giving of thanks/manks/and/or grievances.

After discovering my butter had been placed in the fridge, I had to
expedite the process of bringing it to room temperature by submerging
the butter in a bowl of warm water. It didn't work out quite as well as planned.

I found these eggs whose proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen foundation.
I bought them 'cus they were pink.

The batter looks like baby food, but it's not 'cus of the booze,
so, uh, you may want to hide ya' kids.

How all good things start: with two sticks of butter and a brick of cream cheese

See what I mean?? Good things = cream cheese frosting

I abandoned the idea of filling the cupcakes 

with caramel in favor of drizzling caramel on top...

...so I did it in the shape of the Georgetown Cupcake flower

And it was better than Georgetown Cupcake, not only because it was,
but because there were no lines and it has booze in it. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Woodchuck Cider Pumpkin Cupcakes

Yields about 2 dozen cupcakes (I got 19 'cus I like a big cupcake)

2 cup of all purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
3 room temperature eggs

1 room temperature egg white
1 15 oz. can of pureed pumpkin (not the pie filling)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup Woodchuck cider (or any hard cider you like)

Woodchuck Cream Cheese frosting 

This will likely make much more than you need--either half the recipe or freeze the leftover

1  brick of cream cheese
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup Woodchuck cider
4-6 cups powdered sugar, depending on how sweet you like it

Caramel sauce for drizzling

1. Line two cupcake tins; pre-heat oven to 400--we'll drop this to 350 once you pop the cupcakes in.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and spices in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Using a stand or hand mixer, combine eggs, pumpkin, sugars, oil, and cider until it resembles a boozy baby food.

4. In small batches, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.

5. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full (or, if you're me, 5/6)

6. Pop these bad boys into the oven, and immediately drop the temp from 400 to 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. This helps you achieve the beautiful dome effect.

7. While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting. Start by whipping the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Then add the spices and cider.Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.

8. Once cupcakes are completely cooled, pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Adorn with drizzles of caramel.