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Quick!  What is the first flavor that comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving?

Is it turkey?

Ok, now put that in a cupcake.  Not as easy as you think, huh?

Of course there are many, many other Thanksgiving-y flavors and the November’s IRON CUPCAKE challenged us bakers to put those traditional Thanksgiving flavors into a cupcake.

I went with cranberry hoping it would be a less obvious flavor choice.  I had finally perfected my version of my dad’s wine cake, so my final creation was a cranberry-orange wine cake, or Tipsy Cranberry-Orange Cupcakes.  The cupcakes were topped with a sugared cranberry, which played down the tartness of the raw cranberries.

There were some very creative creations.  There was only one savory cupcake that included all of the traditional Thanksgiving sides and was aptly named ‘All the Sides’.  It won the Most Creative category by a landslide.  And surprisingly, there were no pumpkin cupcakes.  I’m guessing most thought that was way too obvious.  So instead, there were quite a few sweet potato cupcakes.  Boy was I glad I didn’t choose sweet potato!

Twelve mini cupcakes later the votes were in.  And guess what?  I placed second!  It was completely unexpected and very humbling to know that so many others really enjoyed my cupcakes.

The best part about it is that I created a super simple holiday cupcake that I get to share with you.  Enjoy!

Tipsy Cranberry-Orange Cupcakes

Adapted from my dad’s wine cake

3 cups cake flour, sifted

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light-brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

4 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup sherry wine

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon grated orange zest, from one large orange

2 cups chopped fresh cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the granulated sugar and orange zest in a food processor and mix until the sugar is pale orange and fragrant.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugars, baking powder, and nutmeg.

Add the eggs, oil, sherry, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and beat with a hand mixer until combined, about 3 minutes.

Fold in the chopped cranberries.

Fill lined mini cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Makes 72 mini cupcakes.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

Using an electric stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese and brown sugar on medium-high until smooth.  Use immediately.  Can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Makes 2 1/2 cups.