Cupcakes For Fiesta Friday #40 And A Halloween Tour Of My Neighborhood
Pumpkins
This week is special, today is Halloween and believe me Halloween is HUGE in my neighborhood. There are numerous theatrical productions, a Halloween Walk, houses are decorated, the leaves are blowing and it’s a bit blustery today, I think it’s a perfect Halloween day! I do love Halloween, I get to watch my favorite horror flicks, hand out candy, do some baking and participate in the festivities. I decided to bake cupcakes to give to the children I know and that know me. Vanilla cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting. I used my go to yellow cake recipe, an original from my Mom and the best yellow cake EVER!! It’s like a cross between a regular cake and a chiffon cake. It’s very light and has a great crumb. I posted this recipe years ago on Food52 and it’s been made many many times over and is a very popular recipe. I made the cupcakes in three sizes, jumbo, regular and mini. The recipe made 12 regular size, 6 jumbo and 12 mini’s. That’s a lot of cupcakes, which is why I thought I would bring them to this weeks party, Fiesta Friday #40. Hope you enjoy and Happy Halloween!!!
The party this week is hosted as always by Angie @The Novice Gardener fresh from her big birthday bash last week and our lovely co hosts are Margy @La Petite Casserole and the fantastic Jhuls @The Not So Creative Cook (Jhuls honey. you are nothing if not creative)
Assorted cupcakes
Tender Yellow Cake
Serves 10-12
3 large eggs separated and at room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons Baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup + 1 tbs vegetable oil (I use canola)
1 cup whole milk (1 or 2% work also)
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pre-heat oven to 350
Prepare 2 9 inch round baking pans or cupcake tins, butter bottoms and line with parchment rounds, butter again bottoms and sides and dust with flour.
Beat egg whites until frothy then add 1/2 cup of the sugar (reserving the rest) a tablespoon at a time until egg whiles are stiff and glossy. Set aside.
Sift flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt into large mixing bowl if you are using a hand held mixer or into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add the oil and 1/2 cup of the milk and the vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed, mixture will be quite thick. I actually prefer to use a hand held mixer for this recipe.
Add the egg yolks and remaining milk and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
Fold in egg whites and distribute into the baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 10-20 minutes in the pan then turn out onto cake rack to cool completely. NOTE: Adjust baking time if making cupcakes 15-20 mintutes.
Frosting is wonderful
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
(Adapted from a recipe from Country Living)
8 oz softened cream cheese
8 oz softened unsalted butter
3 tbs half and half or milk
3 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Beat cream cheese, butter and half and half until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar, cocoa and vanilla and beat until spreading consistency, smooth and creamy. If too thick add more milk a tsp at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. Frost your cake or cupcakes immediately.
mini
Halloween theatrical set
313 Clinton Halloween set
More 313 Clinton
Grave Markers with a message Next door to 313 Clinton
Halloween decorations
NYC marathon is Sunday
Fiesta Friday
apuginthekitchen 
Those look yummy! Happy Halloween! I also submitted my first Fiesta Friday post. I hope I did it correctly :p
Oh how wonderful, have to look for your submission!! Thank you.
Looks like a ton of fun in your hood this evening. Wish I could see the Marathon too! Love the mini cupcakes –
Thanks Liz, it is so much fun here on Halloween, Love it!!
What a lucky bunch of children to get those cupcakes for Halloween! You are so generous with your time and talent Suzanne. I adored the “walk” around your neighborhood. So glad you shared it. Huge hugs!
Thanks Teagan, just gave some away a little while ago. I love Halloween and really get into it like everyone else around here.
Yeah, i always enjoyed it hugely and miss it a lot since i’ve been here. But those cupcakes… i’d swear i could smell them when i looked at the picture. They must be magic! 😀
Luckily my neighborhood is really into Halloween, more than Christmas or other holidays. Wish you lived close I would bring you some cupcakes.
This is absolutely my favorite yellow cake recipe!! These are some very lucky kids who will get these cupcakes!
Thanks Susan. Already delivered one box of cupcakes, the rest later.
How lucky are those who will receive your Halloween treats? Extremely lucky, I would say. Your neighbourhood has gone all out to celebrate Halloween, I loved looking at your pictures of the decorated houses. I admire your brave in watching horror flicks, I wouldn’t sleep after viewing one! Have a good weekend. 😉
I only give cupcakes to children know and the parents know me. Packaged candy for the rest I’m afraid. Thanks look forward to my night of horror films. Candles burning, love this night. Thanks so much.
Fantastic cake recipe Suzanne. I am saving it to make. Bored of baking different versions of chocolate cake again and again! So making this next time. Loved the icing. So neat :).
Boo! Happy Halloween ;).
Ohhhhh scary stuff!!! Boo to you too. Thanks it’s a wonderful cake recipe, So light and delicious and I love that it doesn’t have butter in the batter,
These are looking great – and I loved your tour of the ‘hood!
Thanks Ginger, love my hood, Halloween is fun here!!
I just came back for Belfast, where they really go for it. Never shared a plane with so many witches and little devils (and a half-hearted pirate, a.k.a. my daughter)
What fun!!! Would love a plane full of costumed people. Half hearted pirate, LOL!
Oh these cupcakes look moist and delicious! I love the little star of frosting on the mini version. My neighborhood loves Halloween too but not to the extent of yours. Have a great time!
It was a wild night here. Fun though. Thanks so much. Making the cupcakes today was fun.
They’re decorated so well Suzanne. 🙂 Happy Halloween!
Thank you, I am not very good at decorating. It helps to have a decorative tip for piping. LOL!
I’ve never heard of yellow cake before! These sound lovely 🙂 How long and at what temp do you bake your minis for? Bought some mini muffin pans recently, but haven’t got the cooking times quite right…
Yellow cake is the same thing as vanilla cake or a vanilla sponge. Super easy and so delicious. The mini’s took around 8-10 minutes. Honestly, I didn’t time them felt them after about 8 minutes and they were done. Thanks so much.
Happy Halloween, what a lovely post! I could down a few of those cupcakes right about now 🙂 Gorgeous!
Thanks Loretta!
Happy Halloween!! Your cup cakes look delicious, I could eat a couple of those right now!! Nice post! 🙂
Thanks so much Michael. hope you did something fun for Halloween.
Happy Halloween! Your cupcakes seem like quite the treat 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you, love a good cupcake!
Love the cupcakes, love Halloween and thoroughly enjoyed your journalistic survey of Halloween in our fair neighborhood!
Halloween is so much fun here, woke up this morning and someone had smashed the pumpkins all over my stoop and I was reminded that I am in Brooklyn. Thanks Azita.
Gurrrrr! that sucks.
Thank you for the tour, so fun to see your neighborhood all decked out for Halloween! Those cupcakes look wonderful…wish I could sample one!
Thanks Laila, wish we would do the same for Christmas but it’s really not as festive here as Halloween,
Wow Suzanne those cupcakes look sensational! Lucky kids!! Thanks for the walk thru ur neighborhood 😀
Thank you so much.
Love the shots round your neighbourhood – it’s so interesting! We don’t do halloween and I find it so interesting to see just how huge it is over there x
It is huge here, Halloween parades and productions, it’s fun. Thanks so much Elaine.
Happy Halloween and your cupcakes look very tempting, Suzanne 🙂
Thanks so much Linda!
OMG your halloween treats looks amazing Suzanne. … kids must have enjoyed… am droooooling here.. wish I was there to treat my halloween with such divine cakes…
Kids love the cupcakes especially the mini’s with colored sugar sprinkles. Thanks so much.
Wow! Halloween must have been so good at your place, Suzanne. Kids (and adults) would definitely enjoy. 😀 And these cupcakes looks absolutely perfect treat. Happy FF, Suzanne and enjoy your weekend. 🙂
Thanks Jhuls. Thank you for co hosting the party this week.
It’s my pleasure, Suzanne. 🙂 Hope to co-host with you in the future. Happy weekend!
How fun! And the cupcakes look divine!
Thanks so much, hope you and your family had a nice Halloween!
It was very cold and very slow – and I have a huge surplus of candy…but because of that, I turned off the lights a bit earlier than usual and avoided the older teenagers.
I guess maybe because of the cold and because it was a friday evening a lot of people when to the malls or parties.
I did the same, there were some big kids and adults who seemed aggressive, grabbing candy from my bowl. Woke up to smashed pumpkin all over my stoop, guess I got tricked. Wasn’t cold at all here quite mild and nice. Our neighborhood is so well known for Halloween we get people outside of our neighborhood coming here, each year it gets bigger and bigger,
Hi Suzanne, oh your neighborhood looks like the place to be for Halloween, so sweet of you to bake cupcakes for the children you know.
Thanks Cheri, yes Halloween is a great time in our neighborhood.
Suzanne, you must have lots of pumpkins to eat later on. 🙂 I like your cupcakes icing, beautiful!
Thank you. Unfortunately someone smashed every pumpkin on my stoop during the night. What a waste, I had to throw the all away.
Oh dear, you must be so upset. Don’t worry, check out my lastest post, I will show you a wonderful recipe made with pumpkin, hope you like it. 😊
Heading over now. Thanks!
Looks like halloween is a lot of fun in your neighbourhood! These cupcakes look yummy, I bet the kids loved them!
Yes, so much fun here. The cupcakes were a success. Thank you so much.
I would never turn down a good looking and tasty I am sure cupcake. Thanks for sharing a tour of your neighborhood 🙂
You and me both, yes, I have never been know to turn down dessert. Thank you so much,
As usual, a stellar recipe from you! Not surprised! 🙂 Your cupcakes look wonderful with that delicious frosting! I loved the Halloween tour of your neighborhood, too! Thanks for letting us peek! Hope you had a good Halloween, Suzanne!
Thanks Christina, I had a really nice Halloween. Hope you did also.
Wow, all of those decorations are simply awesome! I took my daughter out last night and just marveled at all the decorations in our neighborhood. Everything looked so awesome. We definitely want to partake in the decorating next year. I just love it.
The cupcakes look amazing and delicious. Cupcakes are one of my top favorite desserts ever…probably a tie between cupcakes and Tiramisu…and then brownies topped with ice cream…and then chocolate chip cookies…..oh gosh, I’m getting hungry now, haha!
I know cupcakes are at or near the top but then so many other desserts are right up there too. Thanks Brandi, I can’t wait to start decorating for Christmas, can you believe it, we are already talking Holidays. Time sure flies.
Love those pumpkins 🙂 Your cupcakes are gorgeous!
Thanks so much Sarah!
Yum! Cupcakes! Thanks for the neighborhood walk.
Thank you so much and my pleasure.
Beautifuly decorated home. And gorgeous looking cup cakes… 🙂
Thank you so much, there were some extravagant decorations around here for Halloween, it looks so pretty.
Fun 🙂 Wish I lived in your neighborhood–I’d be by for cupcakes! Great photos.
Thanks Liz, wish you did also!!
Wow, your neighbourhood looks like a fun place to hang out! What spirit!
Yummy cupcakes! Do you mind if I tuck a few in my bag for the ride home?
Take as many as you want. LOL, thanks I love where I live.
I absolutely love your neighbourhood tours. Such a treat to see the area you live in. And I just know your cupcakes would be the very best. It’s beautiful that you use your mother’s recipe – I love that. Lucky children in your ‘hood!
It is truly my Mom’s original. She said she spent a long time getting this cake recipe just right. She patterned it after a cake I loved when I was little from a local Italian bakery. This recipe is the best. Thanks Lindy.
I love Halloween decorations are amazing. Since in Italy we don’t celebrate it so much, I’m a newbie and, as kid, I’m bewitched by all the decorations… your neighbour seems to be amazing!!!! Thanks fro bringing those cupcakes to FF, a perfect sweet treat for Halloween party!
Yes Halloween is so much fun, the decorations, the costumes. I love it, thanks so much.
Looks like you live in a great, celebratory neighborhood, Suzanne. I bet fun was had by all. 🙂 And those cupcakes….yummilicious!
Yes, Halloween is a big deal in my neighborhood, bigger than any other holiday. It’s a lot of fun, thank you so much.
I will go for the jumbo cupcake anytime, looks delicious! We don’t really celebrate Halloween here in Singapore, but your photos make Halloween seemed so fun!
Thanks Jasline I think Halloween might be predominantly American but has roots outside of the US, it’s fun and we love it here. Thanks so much.
Beautiful swirl icing on your cupcakes Suzanne 🙂 Planning to try my hand at it 🙂
Thank you, I am not a cake decorator having the right tip helped. Thanks so much.
Hope you had a fun Halloween Suzanne! So very thoughtful of you to bake these gorgeous little cakes for the local children popping by to ‘Trick or Treat’! Yum!
Thank you, it was fun. It’s so festive here on Halloween. I love this time of year.
Boy I have to scroll down a lONG way to get to make a comment here! You’re so popular Suzanne!! Fun, fun post. We just have the normal cute neighborhood trick or treaters– and my favorite– carving pumpkins with my 4th graders! and that frosting looks pretty perfect!!
Thanks Rhonda. We have the normal too but mixed with the big productions. You know I am wishing in a way it would go back to the way it was a few years ago before it became this huge production that has gotten so much press. I like it but on a smaller scale. It was fun though.
I just like all the cute kids at my door step. And I live close enough to m school that usually a couple of my students show up and are surprised to see their teacher open the door! That’s fun!
Me too, they all look so cute and they are so happy and proud of their costumes. It’s wonderful.
I’ll take several of the larger cupcakes, please! 😀
You got it Patty, thank you.
How fabulous! It is so nice to see a neighbourhood come together like that. Sounds like you like ion a great place Suzanne. And those cupcakes! I’m sipping my morning coffee wishing I had one right now.
I love where I live, it’s a real neighborhood which in NYC is not that easy to find. I feel very lucky to live here. Thanks so much, wish I could give you a cupcake.
Those Cupcakes look Awesome!!! Love the Halloween Decor as well!!!!! 🙂
Thanks Amy I really love this time of year,
They look delicious!!
Thank you so much.
Your yellow cake is the best yellow cake recipe out there!! I like it with your Chocolate Caramel Ganache Frosting which is absurdly divine. 🙂 The cupcakes look great!! I bet everyone loves to Trick-or-Treat at your house! I would!
Thanks Em, everyone loved the cupcakes. Thank you for the kind words. I haven’t made that frosting in a while, need to do that,
Those cupcakes look yummy. I hope you had a fun Halloween!
Thank you, yes Halloween was wonderful had a great time.
Lovely cupcakes 😀
It’s so cool how your neighbourhood looks like 😀
I wish Belgium was a bit more fanatic when it comes to Halloween. We do celebrate and the kids go from door to door in costumes but we don’t usually decorate our houses like that. Well, we do put pumpkins at our front door but that doesn’t count because it’s decoration for fall xD
Thank you Sarah, I think it’s wonderful that you have trick or treating or children going door to door. Yes, pumpkins are a sign of fall they are so festive I love how they give the homes such a feeling of Autumn,
I LOVE all of these photos. And I don’t think I need to tell you how much I’m in love with these cupcakes because they have chocolate on them 🙂
It was such a fun day here, perfect weather and lots of people in the Halloween spirit. Thank you.
And now we have to make cupcakes! Thanks for the tour!
Those cupcakes look so yummy, and I love your Halloween photos!
Such an adorable neighborhood! Our local area only had about 2 houses with decorations for Halloween. It’s those houses with the simple touches that really make a holiday feel like a special day. ^_^ Your cupcakes look amazing- you have a special talent for decorating!
Thank you, yes I totally agree. Seeing houses decorated for the holiday really makes it special. You are too kind, really I am not a talented decorator, I just had the proper tip for those. Thank you again.
Love your spirit! What a great neighborhood you live in to be able to hand out cupcakes without suspicion; just like the good ol’ days. You must have a lovely community. Thanks for the tour.
Well I only gave the cupcakes to people/children I knew and that know me. I had literally hundreds of kids ring my doorbell on Halloween, It’s never been that busy before. I went through a huge amount of candy. It is a great community, love it here. Thanks Stacey.
Wow, my bell only rang twice.
Great recipes, awesome photos! I know I am very late, but I hope you had a lovely Halloween and Thanksgiving 🙂
I did thank you so much. Hope you are well, haven’t seen you in a while. Thank you.