It's a Retro Thanksgiving Cupcakes!

Thanksgiving always makes me long for home. My world growing up was decorated with laughter and deliciousness.  On Thanksgiving no matter how poor we were or what life was throwing our way my house was overflowing in the smell of home cooked food and sweet honey and sugar. The cooking began three days before and continued all day into Thanksgiving. On Sunday I get to meet my Boyfriends Parents for the first time and I am super exited about that. My Hero Ryan was born in 1978 and I was born 1979. He talks often about his Parents and how much he loved growing up in Yankee Michigan. I often wonder what my parents Thanksgivings were like when they were kids. I would give anything to be able to see my Parents for just one day when they were children. To see them laugh without the worry of bills. To see them smile with out the cares of world on their shoulders. That got me inspired. Instead of the traditional I would go RETRO! Since almost everyone will have a pumpkin something of some kind already (and thank goodness they will I adore pumpkin everything) I decided to make carrot cake cupcakes and paint them orange. Not the traditional orange but he orange of the couches I see in all my parents photos when they were children. These are for great Parents and amazing Holidays.

Everyone get out your Martha Stewart Cupcakes: 175
Inspired Ideas for everyone’s favorite treat .

Turn to page 25 and we are going to use her carrot cupcake recipe as our base. (Because really who does it better then Martha?)


Instructions:
1 pound carrots, peeled and finely grated
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 cup sugar
11/2 cups vegetable oil
1 vanilla bean, halved length wise, seeds scraped and reserved
(or 11/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)
½ cup golden raisins
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Cream Cheese Frosting

1.     Preheat oven to 325deg. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
Whisk together carrots, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, oil, vanilla-bean seeds, and raisins.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.
2.     Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarter full. Bake,
Rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 23 to 28 minutes. Remove and let cool on cooling rack 10 minutes.

(My side notes: I am a cook book junkie as you know and here are the alterations I used for this recipe: I used the vanilla extract because really vanilla bean halving is for people who don’t work full time for a living and raise a disable daughter). I skipped the raisins because there are many people who don’t like raisins (I love them as a side note) and added dried cranberries instead. I also sipped the cloves because I am just really not a clove fan. Everything else was spot on.





First we make our cream cheese vanilla frosting and break out the orange gel dye!
  



Letting our Carrot Cupcakes cool for some
Retro dress up!
  


Lava Lamp Cupcake
  
 


Lava Lamp Cupcake
All Dolled Up for Dinner
   




Pie Cupcake
  



Pie Cupcake all Dolled up
 




Grandmother Cupcake
  


Grandmother Cupcake
All Dolled Up
 




Time for Dinner Cupcake

  


Time for Dinner Cupcake
All Dolled Up
 




All we need is Love Cupcake
 




All We Need is Love Cupcake
All Dolled Up




I hope you and your family have a wonderful Holiday season and remember if you have children
let them see the joy in Holidays not the Hassles. They will cherish those memories for life.
 


18 comments:

  1. Hi there! Came to check you out since you found me on blogfrog! Very cute blog!! Love the carrot cake cupcakes! Very pretty!

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  2. these look awesome! love the vintage theme...great idea, and they look delish!

    -michelle

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  3. First of all let me wish you good luck with your boyfriend's parents. Second, these cupcakes are so pretty they look like dolls. They are adorable.

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  4. Thank you all! And Thanks Katerina I am nervous but hoepfully it goes great! And thanks for stopping by to look Nicole and Sugarwings. It is great to meet you!

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  5. How lovely! It looks so retro and yet so modern too!

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  6. Holy Cow the Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes look amazing and I am making them instantly. http://www.creative-cupcake-recipes.net/pumpkin-pie-cupcakes.html

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  7. Thank you Indie.Tea. You food photography is amazing. I am a point a click kind of girl. Some of you pictures are pure art.

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  8. Have fun meeting your boyfriends parents! I have to say that these cupcakes are so creative and fun!

    Thanks for stopping by Oh My! Sugar High and hope to see you around again soon. :)

    Emilie

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  9. These really are gorgeous. I'm new to your blog but having browsed through some of your earlier posts can guarantee that I'll be back often. I love your recipes. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary.

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  10. Love your Blog! Gorgeous cupcakes!
    I'm a new follower from blogfrog.

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  11. Hello Mary. Hello Amy! I love blogfrog. It is a great community. Thanks for stopping by. Your blogs are great. I love meeting people and learning from them. Amy my goodness the snow is soooo much lol. I am frozen just looking at the pictures.

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  12. The cupcakes look amazing.. I enjoyed just scrolling through and just looking at the spectacular pictures. It is my first time on your blog and I love it. I'll be back.

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  13. Thank you so much for visiting Judee! I have been trying really hard to prefect a gluten free cake pop recipe I really like and your blog is wonderful and full of great gluten free ideas. Thanks for sharing them.

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  14. love your blog, now to figure out how to be a follower.....hope your thanksgiving is all you dream it will be!

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  15. Wish I saw these beautiful cupcakes BEFORE Thanksgiving...will have to "Christmasize" them, they are lovely. Thanks for following my, I will now do the same for you.

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  16. How did you do the "lava lamp" look on the cupcake...I love it!!! And BTW, I live in Michigan :)

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  17. Hello Thank HEaven for Little Swirls! I got one of the largest flower/piping tips I could find and then touched the edged of the tip to the cupcake and pulled straight out while I pushed on the bag. So much icing comes out it fell and wobbled what ever way it wanted which I thought gave it a cool lava lamp effect. I then just stuck sprinkles/pearls on the ends with tweezers! Go Michigan!

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