Pumpkin Cupcakes

On Monday I shared my thoughts on long distance friendships.  Now here is the glue that holds that friendship together...cupcakes!  Not really but they do help.  Pumpkin flavored cupcakes was the request of my friend Kellie.  Now, most pumpkin cupcake recipes I found were topped with cream cheese frosting.  I knew Kellie would refuse to put her lips anywhere near anything topped with cream cheese so I searched and searched until I found a great recipe, minus the cream cheese frosting.  Oh, but this recipe called for espresso, they were actually pumpkin spice latte cupcakes, every one's favorite seasonal Starbucks treat!  We ended up making just pumpkin without the latte part but they were still very delicious.  The recipe had a link back to original pumpkin with a little more spice to replace the espresso.


yeah, we even paired them with some pumpkin beer!

 



Pumpkin Cupcakes (from Annie's Eats)

For the cupcakes:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners (makes 24).  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend together the pumpkin, both sugars and oil.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until incorporated.

Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full.  Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.  Let cool before frosting.

For the frosting:
2 1/4 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Place the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-low speed at first, gradually increasing to high speed.  Blend in confectioners' sugar gradually.  Whip until stiff peaks form, being careful not to over-beat.

For cream cheese frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
6 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/4 tsp. vanilla

In an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until creamy.  Gradually add confectioners' sugar to butter/cream cheese mixture on low until it begins to incorporate.  Add vanilla and beat on medium to high speed until fully incorporated.

Pipe frosting onto cupcakes. In this case I was lacking my usual supplies so we used a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Work with what you have. We used this whipped cream frosting for only half of the cupcakes. The other half we frosted with cream cheese frosting, most everyone loves cream cheese frosting. We couldn't not do some with cream cheese frosting.  Sprinkle frosted cupcake with cinnamon and you are finished.  A great fall treat that everyone will enjoy, as long as you have frosting options to please all :)

I have a few more pumpkin treats I've been finding, pinning and making.  Look for those next week.  So if you don't like pumpkin, don't read my blog next week but you might miss out on cute pictures like this...

 

 

So I guess you better come back.  How could you not love that sad pitiful face?  She really isn't a fan of wearing clothes but I could not pass up this shirt at Target.  I'm a big football fan so this can work as her Halloween costume and her jersey for cheering on the Packers! 

 

 

Sharing this post at Heavenly Treats Sunday, Serenity Now, and Crumbs and Chaos.