Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

A couple of weeks ago I was in the mood to make cupcakes, I think I partially wanted to try out piping some more but I also wanted to try doing something a little different with the frosting. I had some of the raspberry filling left over from making Alexia's Birthday Cake and was wondering if it would be good mixed into the frosting. It was a huge success! I had leftovers and didn't want in the house so it took to work for the Halloween party and then my boss took the rest home, she told me that her husband loved my frosting and her daughter even commented on it the next day. I had never thought about flavoring cream cheese frosting before but now I'm excited to try other variations. I used the cream cheese frosting from the Melt In Your Mouth Pumpkin Cookies.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe Came From The Girl Who Ate Everything

Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter

1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 lb powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 cups)

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Raspberry Cake Filling (to taste)

Melt In Your Mouth Pumpkin Cookies

These cookies are soooooo good! I may or may not have made two batches in two days :) (the first one I ran out of time and made them without frosting so then of course I had to try another batch WITH frosting when the cookies were already all gone). I love that they are soft and they aren't over-kill sweet even with the frosting (and even better they are still good a several days later, if they make it that long :D). 

Melt In Your Mouth Pumpkin Cookies

Recipe Came From The Girl Who Ate Everything

Melt In Your Mouth Pumpkin Cookies

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 4 cups all-purpose flour 
Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 lb powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ground cinnamon sprinkled on top (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat 2 cups butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Add the flour slowly until combined. Dough will be very wet.
2. Drop dough by the tablespoon onto parchment lined sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.
3. For the frosting: Beat all of the ingredients until soft and whipped. Frost cooled cookies and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Notes

Note: These have a very mild pumpkin spice flavor. If you like a lot of spice double the cinnamon and nutmeg in the dough.

Root Beer Float Cake

Kayla started not drinking soda (and I've since joined as well) but was really craving root beer so when I saw this recipe using root beer extract without the carbonation (which I think is really what she was trying to avoid) I wanted to make it for her to help satisfy her missing the root beer. The cake and frosting didn't really have a strong root beer flavor to me so I added more root beer extract to the frosting then was called for, it definitely made a difference! I liked how moist this cake was but it was a little over the top sweet for me. 

Root Beer Float Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe from Reluctant Entertainer

Root Beer Float Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package white cake mix (18.25 ounces)
• 1 cup root beer
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. root beer extract (McCormicks)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 tsp. root beer extract (McCormicks)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, root beer, water, oil, extract, and eggs. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes or stir by hand for 3 minutes.

Pour into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and extracts. Gradually fold in the powdered sugar.

Beat until soft peaks form. Frost the cooled cake. Store in a refrigerator before serving.