Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

If you’re looking for a fall dessert that includes all of the best flavors of the season – pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger – and that just so happens to have a healthy dollop of cream cheese frosting on top, then these cupcakes are definitely for you. Warm, spiced, sweet and utterly addicting. In the oven for only 5 minutes and I could have sworn that time had been thrust forward a few weeks and it was Thanksgiving day. The aroma from the cupcakes was heavenly. I almost said, “I wish I could bottle that smell!” but then realized that I could, in fact, go out and buy a pumpkin pie-scented candle 

I owe another nod to my Chief Culinary Consultant for this one, as I was trying to think about what to make to bring to a little Halloween gathering that we were going to and he suggested pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Brilliant, of course! The cupcakes were every bit as scrumptious as I suspected they would be.

The original recipe for these cupcakes includes topping them with little marzipan pumpkins. I was thinking about making some little fondant pumpkins to put on top, but didn’t quite have enough time to do so. I think they would be a perfectly festive addition to the cupcakes! Instead I left some cupcakes plain with just the icing, topped some with candy corn and some others with chopped walnuts. I am thinking that the next time I make these (and there will be many, MANY next times) I will add some maple syrup to the cream cheese icing to bump up the autumn flavors even more.

Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe?

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

yield: 32 cupcakes

 

prep time: 30 minutes

 

cook time: 18 minutes

 

total time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cupcakes:
4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2½ cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1½ cups canned pumpkin (not pie filling)

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

To Make the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until just combined. Add pumpkin; beat until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers.

4. To finish, use an offset spatula or a pastry bag fitted with a decorated tip to top the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

To Make the Frosting:

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, ½ cup at a time, and then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container; before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.