Pumpkin Surprise Cupcakes

This week's BSI chosen by Gina was cranberries! I thought about making the Cranberry Chicken my mom makes, but that didn't happen, so I had to put my thinking cap on. I wanted a departure from muffins, so I decided on cupcakes--Pumpkin Cupcakes w/Cranberry Cheesecake Filling!!

The pumpkin muffins came from have cake, will travel, I halved the recipe to make 6.

For the filling... I mixed homemade cranberry sauce (see below) with smart balance light cream cheese in a 2:1 ratio. I had no idea how much to make, and how much would fit in my cupcakes, so I had extra of both mixtures. It's ok though, because they were both so yummy I can't wait to use it to top off yogurt or stir in oatmeal or top waffles or put on a turkey sandwich or... ok i'll get to the recipe :)

Cranberry Sauce
Yield: 1c

6oz (1/2 bag) fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2c maple sugar (I found this at a farmers market, and we already know i'm a sucker so I couldn't help trying it out! You could sub equal amts regular sugar, or cut back a little and throw in some maple syrup)
1T dried cherries, chopped
1T crystallized ginger, chopped
1oz orange juice (you could just use some zest instead if you have it)
3oz water
some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom in my just sprinkle some in there fashion

Combine in a medium pot and cook until berries have burst and alot of the liquid has been absorbed. Maybe ~10min?


Back to the cupcakes... I prepared the cupcake mix, and when the cranberry sauce was done added some to cream cheese (1/4c sauce +2T cream cheese would probably be fine for 6 cupcakes if you didn't want any extra). Into the cupcake liners (sprayed with nonstick) went some of the batter, followed by a little spoonfull of the cranberry cheesecake mix, topped off with more batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350deg for 18-20 min, or until top springs back when lightly touched. Let cool on a wire rack for as long as you can take it before digging in.


How'd they turn out?? Turns out I could've added more filling, but my taste buds are jumping up and down right now!!! I was full from dinner but couldn't help but eat the one that was sacrificed for the photo... Mmmmm :) Thanks for the challenge Fitnessista!!