A dozen of these cupcakes were casually carted off to a friend’s house last night as dessert for six kiddies, and another near-dozen vanished straight down the cake holes of immediate family members and sleepover pals, before I fully appreciated their appeal. So, here’s the recipe for these moist and luscious babies.
Those of you who enjoy amassing your pumpkin puree via slaving over a stove (ie. cubing and baking the squash, then whizzing in a food processor) may do so. Without sacrificing much in taste, those of you who struggle to find a minute to yourselves may enjoy my preferred puree-obtaining method for baking – via can opener!
After nearly hacking off a finger for the second year in a row, you may as well enjoy our Halloween squash handiwork too 🙂
- pumpkin puree, 2 1/4 cups
- plain unbleached baking flour or wholemeal flour, nearly 2 cups, sifted
- eggs, 2
- dark brown sugar, 1 cup
- butter, 1 1/2 sticks (or use 3/4 cup vegoil)
- orange zest, of 1 orange
- ginger, 2 tsp, fresh grated
- cinnamon, 2 tsp
- mixed spice, 1 tsp
- baking soda, 1 tsp
- Cream the eggs till fluffy and add sugar and butter
- Sieve all the dry ingredients together, then fold into the egg batter
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop into cupcake liners till 3/4s full
- Bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 20 mins. Touch the middle gently to see if it dimples; if it does, give the cupcakes an extra few minutes.
- Cool and top with cream cheese frosting
Frosting
- cream cheese, 1 cup
- butter, 2 sticks, softened
- icing sugar, 2 cups
- cream, 1 tbsp
- lemon juice, 1 tbsp
- Cream butter till fluffy, about 5 mins, add cream cheese and continue processing a few minutes
- Add other ingredients, scoop into a piping bag and frost as you please 🙂
Diva Indoors: Food, with love 
These carvings are great!! And great recipe too!
I making these for thanksgiving!! do they need to be refrigerated because of the frosting? Do you have a paticular brand of puree you recommend?
You can freeze or refrigerate the cupcakes without the frosting, then thaw overnight in the fridge, remove in the morning and allow to come to room temperature. The cupcakes may be damp at this point and to make them look appetizing and less glossy, lightly dust with icing sugar first, then frost as you planned 😉 Thanks for trying them out!