Cream Cheese Pound Cake

...or Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pound Cake ...or White Velvet Pound Cake ...or The Best D@#% Pound Cake I've Ever Eaten! Any of these could be proper titles for this blog post. Seriously, this is THE pound cake to end all pound cakes. It's moist, rich, dense, flavorful, silky, delicious! The texture alone is what sold me on this pound cake recipe. It has no chemical leaveners, so it relies on whipping the batter up into a fluffy, sweet cloud in order for it to get a nice lift in the oven. And since cake flour is used instead of all purpose flour, each bite feels like silk on your tongue. It's pretty darn incredible! Tomorrow I'm going to get some juicy strawberries and make strawberry shortcake with it. Heck, I might even get a little crazy and use it to make a nutella-banana panini à la Amanda of Is This Thing On? Either way, I'm going to be in heaven for the next couple of days. And I can say that with confidence because I made TWO of these suckers!!

Whipping the fats, sugar, and eggs thoroughly will give you a light and airy finished batter.

A scale comes in handy for making sure you fill both pans equally.
Look at that crumb... yummy!

I originally came across this recipe on AllRecipes.com, but after further investigation, I noticed it's nearly identical to Smitten Kitchen's recipe. The following is an adaptation of ingredients and methods from both recipes, as well as some improvisation.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Makes 1 large bundt, 1 10-inch tube cake, or 2 standard loaves

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter a 10-inch tube pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Alternately, you can use 2 loaf pans. (I used 2 9x5" loaf pans and my cakes were somewhat short. I recommend using 2 8x4" pans.)
2. Place the butter, cream cheese, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture. Gradually increase speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds. Beat in the extracts. Add the remaining flour and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl thoroughly.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and shake lightly to even out the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5. Place the pan(s) on a cake rack and cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Ina Garten's (Toasted) Coconut Cupcakes

UPDATE: I wrote this entry when I was the only one who had tasted the cupcakes. The concensus from the wing-nighters is that these are the BEST cupcakes so far! One wing-nighter had this to say: "Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!" :D If that's not proof enough that this is a winning recipe, I dunno what you want... a sacrificial lamb? No thanks.

Strawberry cupcakes won the poll... but as you can see this post isn't about strawberry cupcakes. Well, what had happened was... It started raining before I had a chance to go out and find local strawberries. And the strawberries at the grocery store were from Florida. This time of year I can get beautiful strawberries that were grown only 10 minutes from my house. I wasn't going to settle. No offense, Florida. Anyway, if you voted for strawberry cupcakes, please direct your complaints to The Rain. Thanks!

On the other hand, if you voted for coconut cupcakes, feel free to direct all your exuberant exclamations to ME! Thank you! Thank you! *Takes a bow* You like me! You really like me! (Am I too young for that joke??) Excuse me, let me get myself back together. These cupcakes are the SHIZZ! They are sort of a re-imagining of Ina's coconut cupcakes. I made them with toasted coconut (for Josh! Am I a good girlfriend or what!). I also used buttermilk powder instead of buttermilk. I cut the recipe in half, but I used 3 eggs instead of 2 1/2 (the original recipe calls for 5 eggs). These are fantastic! The toasted coconut flavor really comes through. The almond extract is a good co-starring flavor, but it doesn't steal the spotlight. And the cream cheese frosting... well that needs no added explanation. These are definitely a 5 all the way across my ratings board! :D

Can you smell that yummy toasted coconut?? My favorite step...
...Creaming the butter and sugar until FLUFFY!
After the last addition of flour, I like to finish mixing by hand.
The recipe says to fill the cups to the top. I NEVER do that, but I decided to try it on 4 cupcakes...
The cupcakes I did not fill all the way to the top came out looking nice.
The full cups overflowed a bit and looked like mushrooms.
Ohhhhh yeah......
I urge you to add this to your "to-bake" list. The toasted coconut sends you straight into nirvana!

Ina Garten's Coconut Cupcakes (halved and with minute changes)
Makes about 16 (The original recipe says it makes 18-20, half would be 9-10... umm who are they kidding?)

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
3 eggs (original recipe calls for 5, half would be 2 1/2...)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 2 tablespoons of buttermilk powder mixed into the dry ingredients and substituted 1/2 cup of water here)
7 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut (toasted, if you like; to toast, preheat the oven to 375F. Spread coconut evenly on a cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Stir the coconut and bake for 5 more minutes. Keep an eye on it because it burns quickly.)

Frosting
1/2 pound (1 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, room temp (I prefer to make mine with cold cream cheese)
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 3 1/2 ounces of coconut (I took into consideration that my toasted coconut would have less moisture and therefore weigh less. I only added 2 1/2 ounces of it to the batter. And I crushed it with my hands to allow the flavor to spread more evenly throughout the batter).

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes (Mine were done at 19 minutes), until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 5
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 5

The Cake Slice presents: Chai Cake w/ Honey Ginger Cream

I am so glad I joined The Cake Slice! Last month's Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake was fabulous, and this month's cake is even better! For April, we made this delicious chai spiced cake with honey ginger cream cheese frosting. Whoa! The cake is so soft and jam-packed with flavor. The honey and ginger flavors in the frosting are a perfect compliment to the warm spicy flavors in the cake. The recipe actually calls for cardamom, but have you seen the price of that stuff? I dunno if it's the same everywhere, but it was OUTRAGEOUS at my local grocery store. I substituted a little extra cinnamon and some cloves, and it tasted great! This cake would've been really perfect for Thanksgiving, but I'm glad they waited until I joined to bake it! I'll definitely be using this recipe as my go-to for spice cake! The frosting was extremely soft, so my cake is less than beautiful. I think when I make the cake again, I'll frost it with honey ginger SMBC!

Steeping the tea... Ohh I wanted to drink that so bad!Baking the layers...
Cooling time!
My sub-par cake...
...WAS FREAKIN DELICIOUS!
And what do you do with leftover cake scraps? Make cake truffles, of course!

UPDATE: Lots of you asked how to make the cake truffles. When you level the tops of your cakes, save the scraps. Mix it with a few spoonfuls of the frosting until you have a smooth, even mixture. Roll the mixture into bite-size balls and place them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Freeze the balls until firm, about 10 minutes. Dip them in melted chocolate or candy melts. I like to keep mine in the fridge so the centers stay firm! Left at room temp, the centers will be extremely soft.

Chai Cake w/ Honey Ginger Cream (from Sky High Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
Makes an 8-inch 3-layer cake

1 1/3 cups milk
6 chai tea bags, without added sweetener, such as Tazo (I used Stash)
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups cake flour*
2 cups sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom**
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
[*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.]
[**Cardamom substitute is an equal amount of brown cardamom OR equal parts ground nutmeg and cinnamon OR equal parts ground cloves and cinnamon]

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of 3 8-inch round pans and line with parchment paper. Grease the paper as well.
In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the tea bags, careful not to let the paper tag fall into the milk. Remove from heat and allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and squeeze out the milk. Let the chai milk cool completely.
In a medium bowl mix the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/3 cup of the chai milk. Whisk together.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining chai milk, on medium-low speed. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy (If you're using cake flour, don't worry about over beating. If you're using all-purpose flour, beat just until mixture looks almost even). Add the egg mixture in three additions scraping the between additions. Divide the batter evenly among the pans.
Bake the cakes for 26-28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean (My cakes were done at 22 mins). Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and peel off parchment paper. Cool completely.
To assemble the cake place one layer flat side down a serving plate and top with 2/3 cup of icing. Spread to the edge and repeat with second layer. Place third layer on top and spread the remaining ginger cream on top allowing it to drizzle down the sides of the cake like icicles.

Honey Ginger Cream
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup honey (any kind as long as liquid)
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to blend together, then scrape the sides of the bowl and pulse until smooth (I mixed mine with a hand mixer on medium speed).

Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes

In honor of January 27 being National Chocolate Cake Day, last week's poll featured all chocolate cupcakes. The winner with 206 votes is Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes! First, I just wanna say THANK YOU to everyone who voted. I'm so glad the majority of you picked this one! Two summers ago, my cousin and I made Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor. They were freakin awesome. I've been dying to make them again ever since! This time I made the cupcake part from scratch instead of using a box mix. I also wanted it to be chocolate. The batter needed to be thick in order to support the big ball of frozen cookie dough, but all of my favorite chocolate cupcake recipes are really thin. I remembered that the chocolate batter from the Neapolitan Cupcakes was very thick, so I went with that one. Keep in mind that these cupcakes need to be refrigerated. Cupcakes made from scratch, especially those made with butter, tend to become hard when refrigerated. In my opinion these cupcakes are best when they're cold. Just something about biting into that cold, chewy cookie dough sends me through the roof! So if you want your cupcakes to stay soft in the fridge, I recommend using cake mix. However, these cupcakes seemed to work really well with the cookie dough, even when cold. They did become hard in the fridge, but they were still moist. So it was almost like eating a brownie with cookie dough inside! And the frosting... oh the frosting... it's a light, whipped cream cheese frosting with bits of homemade (eggless) cookie dough. This whole cupcake is to die for. The Cookie Dough Cupcake definitely wins my vote as the best cupcake ever invented!

Ingredients...It's so strange how something can go from this...

...To this in 22 minutes! :D

Isn't that just insane??

You know it's good when you sacrifice nutrition to have this for breakfast!

Now for the recipes....
I couldn't find a roll of cookie dough smaller than 1 lb. so I just used half of that. You need 8 oz. of frozen or refrigerated cookie dough. Cut it into 12 pieces. Roll them into balls and freeze them for 1 hour. Then make the cupcakes...

Chocolate Cupcakes (from MarthaStewart.com)
Makes 12
Ingredients
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan (I increased this to 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I reduced this to 1/4 cup; Use original amounts if you want a really chocolatey cupcake)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla, and mix until combined. On low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, followed by milk; end with remaining flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Place a ball of frozen cookie dough on top of each cup (do not push it in). Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center of a cupcake (but not in the cookie dough) comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cookie Dough Frosting (I found this recipe on a message board that has since been erased; This makes enough for 24 cupcakes, so I halved it)
For the cookie dough
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup brown sugar, plus 2 tbsp
2 tsp water
½ tsp vanilla
½ cup flour
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

For the frosting
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
8 ozs cream cheese, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar (I reduced this to 2/3 cup)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

For the cookie dough, cream the butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add water and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and salt and stir to combine. Stir in 1/3 cup Mini Morsels. Wrap the dough in waxed paper and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Break dough into 1/4 teaspoon sized chunks and place the chunks on a plate or in a plastic container, separating layers with waxed paper.
Store them in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make the frosting, in a medium bowl (a cold bowl with cold beaters) beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat); set aside. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. Fold the frozen cookie dough chunks into the frosting and immediately frost the cooled cupcakes.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 4
Tenderness: 4 (Before being refrigerated)
Frosting: 5
Deliciousness: 100!!!

IronCupcake_004: Pear Cupcakes w/ Cranberry Orange Filling

Iron Cupcake:Earth
Theme: Cranberry
My entry: Spiced Pear Cupcakes w/ Cranberry-Orange Filling
Voting begins: Sunday, November 30 at 8 pm Central @ http://mkecupcakequeen.blogspot.com and will be open through Friday, December 5 at 12 noon Central.




After some major brainstorming and some careful consideration, I came up with an entry for this month's Iron Cupcake:Earth challenge! My mom brought some pears home from a roadtrip and they became my initial inspiration. I really wanted to stick with seasonal flavors, so I wanted to do a spiced pear cupcake. I'm a huge fan of cranberry and orange. I decided to use those flavors in the filling and frosting. My frosting came out a bit softer than I wanted (because I'm retarded and added a few tablespoons of heavy cream for some reason...???) But if you make it sans heavy cream, the frosting will be thick and gorgeous! These cupcakes are fantastic! They're perfectly moist. All of the flavors go well together, and how can you go wrong with cream cheese filling? They taste just like Thanksgiving! Here are my photos and the recipe.

Start by soaking your cranberries in fresh orange juice.Peel and core your pears.

Scoop the batter into the cups.

Here are the cuppies cooling!

Making the filling...

Mmmmm creamy cranberry-orange goodness!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a visial runthrough of "The Cone Method."

After filling your cupcakes, you should have about 1/2 leftover to use in the frosting.

Then voila! Delicious Thanksgiving cupcakes!

How about an inside view!

Voting will begin Sunday, November 30 at 8 pm (Central) at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, http://mkecupcakequeen.blogspot.com/, and will be open through Friday, December 5 at 12 noon (Central).

Recipes were created by yours truly!

Pear Cupcakes with Cranberry Orange Filling
Makes 16-18

CUPCAKES
1 1/2 cups finely diced pears (1 1/2 - 2 pears)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
Pinch of orange zest
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, fresh ground if available
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

FILLING
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup dried cranberries
Juice of 1 orange
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

FROSTING
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup leftover filling
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Prep for filling: Combine cranberries and orange juice in a measuring cup and heat for 30-40 seconds in microwave, just until mixture is warm. Let sit until cupcakes are baked and cooled, at least 30 minutes.

Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with 16 paper liners. In a large bowl sift together flour, spices, salt, and baking soda. Combine milk and vanilla in a measuring cup. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix until well incorporated. Add flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Add pears and mix just until incorporated. Divide batter into muffin cups. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Make the filling: Drain the plumped cranberries and reserve the juice. In a food processor, pulse cranberries until finely chopped. With an electric mixer, combine chopped cranberries, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 teaspoon of reserved orange juice, 1 teaspoon orange zest, and 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar. Cut a cone out of the center of each cupcake, keeping the top. Fill each cupcake with 1-2 teaspoons of filling. Replace top.

Make the frosting: With an electric mixer, combine 4 oz cream cheese, 1/2 of leftover filling, and 3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar. Mix until smooth. Keep frosted/filled cupcakes refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 5
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 4

Prizes provided by:
LOLLIPOP WORKSHOP
COOKIE SUNSHINE
A pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
Also, IronCupcake:Earth is excited to welcome back CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice!
As an added bonus for November only we have a delicious apron complements of SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY.
Corporate prize providers:
HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS
HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
JESSIE STEELE APRONS
CUPCAKE COURIER
TASTE OF HOME books
Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers

If you want to be a part of Iron Cupcake:Earth, visit http://ironcupcake.blogspot.com/!

Apple Cider Cupcakes

This recipe was submitted by Jennifer Buter. The recipe comes from epicurious.com and was printed in the October 1991 issue of Gourmet Magazine. Jennifer has this recipe on her "to-bake" list, but asked that I try it out first. Here is my opinion...

I love it when recipes come with reviews. I trust reviewers more than I would trust some random recipe. So when I read one review that stated, "Overall this is an atrocity of a recipe," I knew there would have to be some tweaking involved. I relied on my instincts mostly. I substituted butter for half of the shortening (This was my first time ever using shortening in a cake; I probably won't do it again, mostly because it has no flavor. But also because shortening for real just wierds me out!). [[EDIT: Umm holy crap, I'm an idiot. I just noticed in the picture I took of the ingredients... I totally used 3/4 cup of shortening AND 3/4 of a stick of butter. Hahaha, okay screw this whole recipe!]] I doubled the amount of baking soda. I also reduced the amount of sugar, as I do with a lot of recipes. Most reviewers said that the apple cider flavor was very minimal, so I boiled the cider down to less that the recipe called for, hoping to end up with a more concentrated flavor. I made up for the extra liquid by adding some whole milk. Also, when I boiled the cider, I added a tablespoon of mulling spices to enhance the flavor. It wasn't noticeable in the cupcake, however. I recommend upping it to 2 or 3 tablespoons of mulling spice.

The resulting cupcake was a dull, wierd flavored, yet moist and tender cupcake. The frosting had a nice twang to it, but it was very soft. The temperature stated in the recipe was too high. I was thinking to myself as I was preheating the oven, "When was the last time I baked cupcakes at 375 degrees??" The cupcakes got very brown and almost tasted like the crust on white bread (freakin ew!). You would have no clue these were made with apple cider unless you were told. In that case, you'd still be lying if you said "Oh yeah, now I can taste it!" In the words of Mythbusters, this recipe is busted!

Ingredients Notice I have 3/4 cup shortening AND 3/4 stick of butter. I'm a retard, thanks.

At least the batter was yummy!

I hate spending extra $$ on cute liners that wrinkle when you put them in the pans!

They even look like bread crust, don't they!

Making the frosting... reduced cider + sugar...

Mixed until it's smooth. (This picture is before the addition of cream cheese. Don't worry, the frosting isn't that runny!!)

The end...

You can get the mulling spices as Williams-Sonoma. They smell so good!

For the cupcakes
3 cups unpasteurized apple cider (I added 1 tablespoon of mulling spice; I recommend 2-3 tablespoons)
3/4 cup vegetable shortening (I effed up the amount of fat in this recipe. I accidentally added 3/4 of a stick of butter instead of substituting it for half of the shortening!)
1 3/4 cups sugar (I reduced this to 1 cup)
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I reduced this to 1/2 teaspoon because I used spices in the cider)
1 teaspoon baking soda (I used 2 teaspoons)
Pinch of salt (I used 1/4 teaspoon)

For the icing
2 cups apple cider
6 ounces cream cheese, cut into bits and softened (I used 8 ounces)
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar (I used 1 cup)

Preparation
Make the cupcakes: In a large saucepan boil the cider (and mulling spices) until it is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups and let it cool (strain the spices). In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together the shortening and the sugar until the mixture is fluffy and beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Into the bowl sift together the flour, the cloves, the cinnamon, the baking soda, and a pinch of salt, stir in the reduced cider, and combine the mixture well. Divide the batter among 18 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the cupcakes in the middle of a preheated 375°F (I'd reduce the temp to 350°) oven for 25 minutes (check them about 5 minutes early just in case), or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a rack, let them cool in the tins, and remove them from the tins.
Make the icing: In a saucepan boil the cider (and mulling spices) until it is reduced to about 1/4 cup and let it cool (strain the spices). In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together the cream cheese, the confectioners' sugar, the reduced cider, and a pinch of salt until the icing is smooth (I omitted the salt, and mixed the sugar and cider together first before adding the cream cheese).
Spread each cupcake with some of the icing.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 4
Flavor: 1
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 3 (too soft and kinda boring)