Pumpkin Spice Cupcake

Cake
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 package Pumpkin Pie Muffin Mix
4 large eggs
1/2 cup mini-diced crystallized ginger
3/4 cup cinnamon chips
3/4 cup diced pecans or walnuts (optional)
3/4 cup water

Orange Cream Cheese Icing
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 drops orange oil
1 tablespoon orange zest
3 cups glazing sugar or confectioners' sugar, sifted

Cake: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place cupcake papers into 24 muffin cups; lightly spray the insides of the papers.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the butter until soft and fluffy. Add about half the pumpkin muffin mix, and beat until well-blended. Beat in the eggs, and stir in the crystallized ginger, cinnamon chips and nuts. Add the water 1/4 cup at a time alternately with the remaining mix, beating until well-blended after each addition.

Spoon the batter into the cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a rack for 5 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the baking pan. Return them to the rack to cool completely before icing them. Add decorations, if desired.

Icing: Beat together the cream cheese and butter. Add the orange oil and zest, beating well. Finally, add the sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until fluffy. Spread on the cupcakes, and then sprinkle with chopped nuts and ginger, or sugar decorations. Yield: 24 cupcakes.

Chocolate Filled Golden Cupcakes

These golden-yellow cupcakes feature chocolate-filled centers and a crown of creamy chocolate icing. If you're a fan of hazelnut, there's the added the option of scenting both the cakes and the icing with hazelnut flavor. Chocolate and hazelnut are naturals together; in Italy, the combination has its own name—"gianduia"—a 50/50 mixture of chocolate and hazelnut paste.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup (8 ounces) yogurt, regular or low-fat, plain or vanilla
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Creamy Hazelnut Flavor or hazelnut flavor, to taste, optional

Filling and Icing
12-ounce can chocolate frosting filling
3 cups (12 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon Creamy Hazelnut Flavor or hazelnut flavor, to taste, optional
chocolate sprinkles or jimmies, optional

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 1 1/2 muffin tins (18 wells) with paper cups or silicone cups; spray the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray.

Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until they're well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Once all the eggs have been added, beat the batter at high speed of your electric mixer for 5 minutes, till it's light-colored and fluffy. Stop once, midway, to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, beating briefly to combine. Gently stir in the flour alternately with the yogurt. Add the vanilla and hazelnut at the end.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, using a muffin scoop (a scant 1/4 cup) of batter for each. Dip your fingertip in water, and make a deep indentation in the center of each muffin cup of batter; twirl your finger around a bit, to widen the hole.

Scoop out about 7 tablespoons of the chocolate filling, and set it aside. Drop the remainder, in 2-teaspoon-sized (3/8-ounce) balls, into the holes you've made in the cupcake batter. A teaspoon cookie scoop is the perfect tool for this job. Just drop the filling on top of the hole, and gently push it down a bit; it'll look like a partially submerged iceberg in the batter. Don't worry, it'll sink in as the cupcakes bake.

Bake the cupcakes for 22 minutes, until they spring back when you press lightly on their tops, and they're just barely starting to brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and take them out of the pan as soon as you're able, setting them on a rack to cool. While they're cooling, prepare the icing.

To make the icing: Combine the remaining chocolate filling with the confectioners' sugar, cream, salt, and hazelnut flavor, beating until smooth. Frost the cooled cupcakes, and sprinkle with chocolate jimmies, if desired. Yield: 18 filled cupcakes.