Pumpkin Cupcakes (November)

Yay! This month's "cupcake of the month" entry is here. I made pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. This batch was made for a mom's group luncheon this week and they turned out GREAT!

I have to thank Bridget and Kelsey for turning me on to this recipe by David Leite. I'm not even a huge fan of pumpkin but these are really, really good. Bridget has a great pumpkin cupcake comparison in her blog, so be sure to check that out.

Yum!

Ready for the oven.

All packed up and ready to go. I made some minis also.


Ingredients
makes 18 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pans
1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
⅓ cup granulated sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla
1¼ cups canned solid-pack pumpkin

1. Preheat the oven to 350° (175°C). Line a cupcake pan with 18 liners.

2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.

3. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth. Divide the batter equally between the cups. (They’ll be about ¾ full). Tap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese,softened
¼ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon good vanilla
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 (1-pound) box confectioners’ sugar (more if stiffer consistency is needed)

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Blend in vanilla. Sift powdered sugar. Gradually beat together. Add cinnamon and continue to beat till frosting is smooth.