Pumpkin Chai Scones

I know it's been awhile since I've posted, so I decided I needed to come back with something really good to make up for the lack of posts.

For those of you who don't already know, I'm in the process of opening a delivery based bakery. I'll go into more details about that in another post when I'm closer to "opening" though. All of my days off from my day job have been spent doing legal work or perfecting new recipe ideas.

I decided to treat myself today as I finish up my business plan and cost confirmation layouts. It's a little gloomy outside-my favorite type of weather-so I'm spending all day in my pajamas in bed finishing some stuff up.

Since I'm going with a comfort theme today, I decided to combine two of the first foods that come to mind when I think of comfort: pumpkin and chai spice. Thus, my pumpkin chai scones were born!

(as always, click on the pictures to make them larger)

The recipe is super simple and you probably have most of your ingredients in your cupboard already. As for the chai spice seasoning, I got mine from a specialty spice store in town. If you can't find chai spice seasoning, you can substitute with cinnamon to still add a warm undertone to the scones.

Scones
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp chai spice seasoning
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/8 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter-diced

1 large egg
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3 tbsp half and half
1 tbsp honey
splash of vanilla extract


Glaze
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp+1 tsp pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp chai spice seasoning
splash of half and half

Preheat oven to 425F

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chai spice, brown sugar, and white sugar. Add in cold butter pieces and work in with your hands until the butter is completely incorporated and mixture resembles corn flour.

In a separate bowl combine egg, pumpkin, half and half, honey, and vanilla. Create a well in the middle of the dry mix and use a rubber spatula to get as much of the wet mix as you can into the larger bowl. Use the same spatula to combine the mixes by folding the dry mix into the wet mix while turning the bowl. After the mixes are completely combined, use your hands to knead a few times. You want to use the spatula at first to prevent yourself from getting pumpkin Hulk hands.

Put a decent amount of flour onto a clean, flat surface and place the dough on top. Pat a tiny bit of flour on the top of the dough and then press into an eight inch circle. Cut into eight pieces like a pizza and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 13-16 minutes until thoroughly cooked through. If you want the scones to be more crunchy than soft, just leave them in an extra minute or so.

While the scones cooling, combine all the glaze ingredients in a small pot with a whisk over low heat. Heat for about two minutes, but do not boil. Drizzle the glaze over the scones and enjoy!

I hope you all enjoyed this post and I'll try to make time for some more posts soon. Until next time...

Stay Stellar,
Paige Elise

Off With Their Heads, Pippi the Pumpkin Patch Princess, & National Dessert Day

I went to Portland again last weekend to do makeup for my cousin's homecoming dance and of course hang out with her, my aunt, and their dog.

On the way up, Bart and I stopped at the shelter we adopted Pippi from to drop off some blankets and treats since the weather is getting colder out here and they asked for donations. Seeing all of the doggies who need homes makes me so sad and I wish that I could bring all of them home with me but realistically the best thing for me to do right now is just drop off donations whenever we're in the area (it's an hour away from where we live).

When we arrived in Portland, we went to a McMenamins because we haven't been even though there's one in town. I got this amazing veggie wrap that was so filling I could only eat half of it and was completely stuffed. After that, we went back to Aunt Teri's and hung out watching Netflix and catching up on the last month while we waited for Elise to get home from her water polo tournament that was out of town. Of course I also took this opportunity to get in as many Libby (their dog) cuddles as possible.

Saturday was homecoming, and Aunt Teri and I made card corsages (which I forgot to get a picture of) for some of Elise's friends and finished up her awesome crown while Elise was getting her hair and nails done. The dance was Disney themed, and her and her friends decided to do a group costume based off of Alice in Wonderland. Elise was the best Queen of Hearts ever of course.

I did her makeup before we went to her friend's house, where I set up a little makeup studio in one of the bathrooms and did makeup for four of her friends. I forgot to ask them for pictures too because I was so worried about getting them all done in time, but three of them wanted silver and black smokey eyes and one wanted natural makeup with false eyelashes, so it wasn't anything too crazy exciting. Here's a picture of Elise being perfect though!

After I finished doing makeup on the girls, Aunt Teri took us out to her favorite Thai place and we got these Thai teas that tasted so good it should be illegal. I had yellow curry, Bart had a curry that tasted like Chai Tea (in all the right ways) and Aunt Teri had a mango chicken plate. She also ordered two appetizers because her goal is to send us home fifty pounds heavier every time we visit obviously...not that I'm complaining because FOOD.

Elise got me this absolutely perfect train case to thank me for helping out with homecoming stuff. No more lugging my stuff around in random boxes and bags when I travel!

On Sunday we went to Multnomah Falls, which was breathtaking. Aunt Teri and I went up about halfway and decided we wanted to go back to the bottom and get coffee while Bart decided to try and go all the way to the top. It was really crowded and the bridge you had to cross to continue on the path was so crowded it was essentially at a stop, which is why Aunt Teri and I decided to chill instead.

While we were sitting on a bench, every kid that passed by exclaimed "Mom! That lady has purple hair!" which my Aunt thought was a hoot, but I'm used to by now because I get it everyday at work and it never gets old.

After that, Bart and I went home and were greeted by a very happy Pippi who had clearly missed us. She turned six months old on Sunday and my mom brought her to the pumpkin patch with my little sister and her friend to celebrate. I got a text from my mom that said "Pippi got a pumpkin because she licked it and said 'I want this one' so I had to buy it for her." She also sent me some adorable pictures of Pippi having an awesome half-birthday (or should I say un-birthday to keep with the Alice in Wonderland theme?). This one is my favorite.

In honor of National Dessert Day on Tuesday, I baked cream puffs and sugar cookie sticks dipped in frosting. The cream puffs had a thin layer of boysenberry preserves (because they're pretty strong) and chocolate expertly globbed on top by my little sister. I'm really happy with how they came out.

That's basically how my week has been! I wanted to share it with all of you since it's been such a crazy but awesome week! I'm baking viking cupcakes tomorrow for my friend's daughter's third birthday which is How to Train Your Dragon themed and I'm really excited about it. Until next time...
Stay Stellar,
Paige Elise

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Carrot Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I was one of those weird kids that LOVED carrot cake growing up. But I always picked the raisins out (seriously, who decided that putting raisins in baked goods was a good idea?). It wasn't until my mom's friend graduated from college and had a carrot cake with pecans in it that I had ever thought of the idea, which was apparently just as popular as raisins. My mom can't stand nuts aside from almonds, and definitely doesn't like them in her baked goods, so I came up with a basic carrot cake cupcake that can be kept as is or have raisins, nuts, or whatever else you want added to them. Bear in mind that this recipe only makes 12 cupcakes, so if you need more it's really easy to double, triple, etc.

As always, click on the pictures to view them larger!

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED

*1 large egg (room temperature)

*1 cup golden brown/medium strength brown sugar (packed)

*1/2 cup of vegetable oil

*3 cups of shredded carrots

*1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

*1 tbsp ground cinnamon

*1/2 tsp baking powder

*1/4 tsp baking soda

(for the frosting-not pictured)

*4oz plain cream cheese (room temperature)

*1/2 stick butter (room temperature)

*1 tbsp ground cinnamon

*1/2 lb powdered sugar

*milk


LET'S DO THIS!

First off, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit and line a cupcake pan with liners.

You're going to whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl.

In another bowl (or a mixer if you have one) beat the egg, oil, and brown sugar together. It should look almost like a gooey caramel.

Once those ingredients are mixed together well, add the carrots in.

After the carrots are incorporated, slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides at this point to make sure all of the ingredients are evenly mixed in.

Next, fill the cupcake liners up evenly.

Bake until you can pull a toothpick/knife out without anything coming off it-it should only take about 15-20 minutes.

When the cupcakes are cool, make the frosting by beating the cream cheese, butter, cinnamon, and a small splash of milk (about 2 tbsps) together. Slowly add the powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. If you add too much powdered sugar, simply add milk about a tbsp at a time. I knew I wanted the frosting on these to look more rustic, so I added less powdered sugar than I would if I were going to pipe the frosting on.

As soon as these came out of the oven my mom was asking every thirty seconds when she could eat one. The kitchen smelled like a Yankee Candle store in the middle of October, so I don't blame her.

These babies are so moist that I seriously don't understand how they hold together when the cupcake wrappers are taken off.

They got a thumbs up from everyone in the house, so hopefully you'll like them too if you make them!

Until next time...


Stay Stellar,

Paige Elise