Lychee and Rose Cupcake

I found a can of lychees at the grocery store a couple weeks ago and I’d read they were great to bake with so I decided it was time to try something exotic. I absolutely love a cream cheese rose frosting so I decided this was the perfect frosting for this exotic cupcake.Everyone raved over these cupcakes. They were so surprised by the use of two odd ingredients that made amazing cupcakes. I even had one person ask me how in the world I’d heard about lychees since they’re not commonly known. If you’re interested  in making these cupcakes  you can find the canned lychees in the oriental food section of your local grocery store.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:210]Source: Adapted from Fine Dining Lovers

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

These cupcakes got rave reviews from everyone who tasted them. They have a wonderful blend of fall spices and the cake itself is super moist. But in my opinion, the best part of these cupcakes has GOT to be the frosting. The frosting is super creamy and the cream cheese and cinnamon pair perfectly to give just the best possible compliment to the cupcakes.Normally I don’t much like my desserts without chocolate in or on them but these seem to be an exception.  If you really wanted to include some chocolate, this recipe would lend itself to a nice chocolate glaze over the top of the cupcakes before frosting them. I however, wouldn’t suggest doing this since you could easily overpower the fall flavors.This recipe only makes a dozen cupcakes. However, it is super easy to double or triple if you need more. When I made these, I made them with canned pumpkin so I can’t really say how they will turn out when you use fresh pumpkin puree. I would suggest having a little bit of extra flour on hand if the dough seems super wet.I’ve decorated them with nonpareils which are completely optional. You could sprinkle them with a little bit more cinnamon or even a tiny bit of nutmeg. Nonpareils were just my easiest option since I already had them on hand.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:106]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss My Bundt – Chrysta Wilson

Cream Cheese Wontons

We love to go to the Chinese place down the street from our house, but unfortunately it’s not in the budget to go more often! However they don’t have a good cream cheese wonton which is one of my favorites. I’ve made these several times at our house and they are a huge hit. This batch I made when we had a couple of friends over for dinner and they were gone pretty quickly. No one can resist a crispy wonton filled with fried cheese.Unfortunately these are not gluten free as-is. If you want to make them GF, I know Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread by Nicole Hunn has a recipe. However, if you make that substitution these are gluten free.

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Cream Cheese Wontons:20-25 Wonton Wrappers8oz Cream Cheese (softened)2 Green Onions (chopped)½ Teaspoon Garlic PowderOil (for frying)Set your oil on medium heat in a large saucepan.

Cream together the cream cheese, green onion and garlic powder until fully combined.

Carefully put about a teaspoon into the center of a wonton wrapper.

Using water to make the edges stick together, close the wrapper.When the oil is boiling carefully fry them, approximately 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Set on a plate covered with a couple paper towels to drain out some of the oil and enjoy!

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