October 19, 2015
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting!
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Perfect Spicy & Moist Pumpkin Cupcakes to celebrate the Halloween Season with – oh & not forgetting some Delicious Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting!
So everyone loves Carrot Cake right? I know you guys do after the success of my various Carrot Cake themed recipes – so I know you love a Cream Cheese Frosting just as much as I do! In fact, I have a whole blog post dedicated to Cream Cheese Frosting!
Anyway, to make things more seasonal and delicious I decided to play on the idea of carrot cake and the unbelievable cream cheese frosting… and these beauties were made! The principle is the same, and if you are really not a pumpkin fan, you can use butternut squash instead – it can be so versatile and delicious, and you’ll see the same results!
I do have a fair few Halloweeny recipes, like my Halloween Macarons, Pumpkin Patch Brownies, Gingerbread Mummies and Slime Cupcakes to name a few and you guys all seem to love the Halloween vibe coming from my blog – so here’s more!
One thing however that I know you have all been wanting for along time is another recipe using my Cream Cheese Frosting… so ta daaaa!
The spices in the cupcake mix are similar to a carrot cake, but has the little differences so that it suits the sweetness of the pumpkin perfectly – the sultanas make the cupcakes moist, and the walnuts give it the crunch you crave – so either one you choose you’ll love it, promise!
The orange really brings out a fresh, citrusy flavour that matches amazingly with the whole lot of other flavours incorporated.. there’s nothing not to love about these cupcakes – especially if you love cream cheese frosting. They’re PERFECT.
By the way…I found these lovely little halloween sprinkles just in my local supermarket’s baking aisle, and I couldn’t resist them – little orange balls, mini bats & ghosts, all things halloween! They’re so cute!
I am happy that halloween is being celebrated a lot more these past few years in baking and cooking – there used to be basically nothing, but now every single food store I go in has something to offer and its amazing!
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cupcakes
- 175 g self raising four
- 175 g light brown sugar
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- zest of 1/2 orange
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- 100 g unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 100 g sultanas or chopped walnuts (or 50g of each)
- 250 g pumpkin or butternut squash (grated)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 100 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 300 g icing sugar
- 2-3 tbsp whole milk or double cream
- 150 g full fat cream cheese
Instructions
Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan, and line a muffin tray with large cupcake cases or muffin cases!
- Prep your pumpkin (Or butternut squash) by peeling the vegetable, scraping out the seeds & stringy bits and then grating the flesh (like you would for a carrot cake), and squeeze the grated pumpkin with a towel so that a lot of the moisture comes out of the pumpkin - it releases a lot of water when baking and this will make it bake weirdly if you don't squeeze some of it out!
- In a large bowl, mix together the self raising flour, light brown sugar, mixed spice, bicarbonate of soda, sea salt, and orange zest!
- In a separate bowl, quickly whisk together the eggs, melted unsalted butter, and fresh orange juice.
- Pour this into the dry mix and fold together until combined well.
- Add in the sultanas and/or chopped walnuts, and then the grated pumpkin (or butternut squash) and mix so its all even - try not to overmix!
- Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases (I use a cookie scoop to make it even) and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes (check at 22-25 minutes with a skewer and if it comes out clean they're done - just like a cake!). Leave to cool fully on the side.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the unsalted butter for a couple of minutes so its really supple and smooth - gradually add in the icing sugar and milk so that it's a smooth buttercream.
- Loosen the cream cheese slightly with a spoon then add to the buttercream - whisk for a couple of minutes, so that it's smooth and creamy!
- Pipe your frosting onto your cupcakes and sprinkle with some halloween sprinkles! Enjoy!
Notes
- You can use a regular buttercream for the topping if you wish - but I find the cream cheese flavour works really well with the pumpkin/squash flavour.
- If you are not a fan of pumpkin, then the butternut squash will work out perfectly - the two are really interchangeable with each other so baking wise it doesn't make any difference - but it is VERY important to squeeze out any excess water before baking otherwise the sponge might not bake or will take a very long time!
- Be careful when making the cream cheese frosting that you don't beat it too quickly, otherwise you will over mix it and the mixture might split or be runny - don't whisk it too quick!
- These cupcakes will last in the fridge for 3 days, remove 30 minutes before eating so they're the perfect temperature, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months!
- I use this Medium 2D Closed Star Piping Tip
- I use this piping bag
- I use this Muffin Tin
- I use these cupcake cases from Iced Jems
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi Jane,
Would the cream cheese frosting work with your pumpkin spice latte cupcakes, or is it best to use the buttercream recipe you’ve given ?
Thank you so much for your amazing recipes and books !
Yes, it definitely would! x
Made these tonight. They turned out perfect 😋 thank u for the recipe x
Can you use philidelphia light for the cream cheese frosting or does it have to be full fat please?
Hiya! You need to use full fat to achieve the best results! Hope this helps! x
Could you use tinned pumpkin instead of grated? I have a tin in my cupboard that someone bought me and looking for something to use it for!
Hi, could these be made into one cake instead? Would you just change the coming time or would you not advise that? xx
Yeah that should work fine! x
[…] 3 Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting […]
Your such an inspiration, have made many of your items and they are so delicious, i just can’t get enough of trying your recipes
Thank you so much!
These sound lovely! Have you tried them with gluten free flour? Also, just wondering if the recipe would also work as a loaf (we’ll have a lot of pumpkin to use up once the lanterns are carved!)
I’ve never tried them with gluten free flour but its definitely worth a try! It’s meant to work in the same way so I don’t see why it wouldnt work!
Thank you. I’ll give it a go!
Hi Jane! Just wondering if this Cream Cheese frosting recipe could be used to ice your Carrot Cake recipe? Like, would the amount be enough? I don’t really want any icing to be left over, as I just want it to be used in the middle and top of the cake, not the sides, so please let me know as soon as possible. I’m making the Carrot Cake tomorrow, so hope it all goes well.
Hiya! Yes it would be perfect for it! Enjoy it! ❤️
Awww, thank you!!! Love your recipes ❤️
Thank you!!
These look lush! Pinned!
Hehe thank you so much!!
Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting…I certainly can’t think of a better combination. They were made for each other ?
I totally agree – such a yummy combo! Thank you!!
Yummy!!
Thanks Abby!!
these look absolutely delicious. My mouth is watering just looking at these.
Thank you so much! 🙂