Stout Pumpkin Chocolate Cake with Pumpkin Pie Frosting

Cake:
Adapted from Epicurious.com

Melt on simmer:
3/4 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cups unsalted butter
Scant 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

In a bowl, combine;
2 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup yogurt
1 T pumpkin pie spice
½ t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
2 t vanilla

Once the choco mixture is cooled add to the batter.

Bake at 350 until fork comes clean. Makes 9 full size cupcakes and 1-6 inch cake.

Frosting:
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, blend:
1 8oz package of cream cheese softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
½ and 1 T pumpkin puree
2 t vanilla
2 T pumpkin pie spice
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Maple Caramel Apples

Basic Maple Caramel Apples
Add the following to a heavy bottomed saucepan:
4 T dark brown sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
(3 T corn syrup) I added it to my first batch and didn’t add it to my second. I preferred the second.

Cook on medium heat until 265 degrees Fahrenheit. It should be thick and coat the back of the spoon. Dip apples, cool, and then redip if necessary. If caramel cools, simmer to warm. Does 6-10 apples depending on the size. (I did medium to small apples because they are easier to dip.)

Maple Caramel Cayenne Apples:
Add 1 tsp of cayenne and 1 whole chili pepper (I used a Hungarian belle) to the heavy cream and warm on the stovetop for 10 minutes. Remove chili pepper and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Spiced Nuts:
In a cast iron skillet warm olive oil, add cayenne, allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste. (I just kept shaking the spiced until it smelled good.) Next time I will add paprika for the color. Then add slivered almonds and toast until nuts brown slightly.

Curry-infused White chocolate:
In a skillet warm 2-3 T olive oil. Add curry powder and cayenne. Heat ¼ Cup white chocolate chips on a double boiler. Add olive oil 1 T at a time until white chocolate is viscous enough to drip onto the apples.

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