Tomato Soup Cupcakes with Brown sugar cream cheese frosting

I made these awhile a back and just found the photo of the cupcakes on my camera so I thought I'd share.  I was watching Food Network (surprise, surprise if you know me) and twice in one day (yes I watch a lot of it) these were mentioned.  I take that as a culinary sign if there was one. I love making cupcakes and I thought this one would be fun.  I found many similar cupcake recipes for this one, but most called for a basic cream cheese (or mascarpone frosting).  Mascarpone being well not cheap, I decided to stick to the cream cheese frosting but change it up a little bit.  I had seen recently on Beantown Baker's (a blog I am a huge fan of and that also was a inspiration behind my own) a post she had done about red velved cupcakes with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting recipe.  I decided to use this to top my cupcakes with. 


 The frosting did not dissapoint.  It did make quite a bit, as Beantown Baker's blog warned but I always seem to run out of frosting mid-way through icing them finding myself in an extremely frustrated spot that requies a second trip to the grocery store. This time though, I actually ended up having extra (as warned) so froze the leftover frosting to be used at a later date (you can't go wrong with extra frosting laying around in your fridge).

These cupcakes had a wonderful spice cake resemblance.  Everyone who tasted one of these cupcakes said they were delicious. I also refused to tell them what was in it until after they tasted it.  Some swore AFTER I told them the cupcakes were made with tomato soup that they thought they could taste it.  The mind is a powerful thing. Either way, they really were delicious.

Tomato Soup Cupcakes
Makes 24

Ingredients
2 (10¾ oz.) cans condensed tomato soup, preferably low sodium
1 tsp. baking soda
3½ c. all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. cinnamon*
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*
½ tsp. ground allspice*
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
¾ c. (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs



1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line two twelve-cup cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sprinkle baking soda over the tomato soup and stir well. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and baking powder.
4. Beat butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy, three to four minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat for a few seconds. Turn the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with tomato soup, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl again, and mix on low speed for a few more seconds.
5. Fill the prepared cupcake pan about three-quarters full. Bake the cupcakes 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting (from Beantown Baker- originally from Joy the Baker)
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4-6 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
depending on desired consistency

Cream the cream cheese in an electric mixer for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and add the butter, beating for 1-2 minutes, or until incorporated. Be sure that the two are at room temperature. Cold cream cheese or butter can make your frosting lumpy

Add the brown sugar, pinch of salt and vanilla extract, and beat until incorporated.

Turn off mixer and add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Turn the mixer on a low speed so the sugar doesn’t fly out of the bowl. Slowly add more sugar alternately with the milk until you reach your desired consistency