Tasty Tuesday: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've really come to love pumpkin desserts these last few years. I'm still not fond of pumpkin pie though. I'd rather scoop out the filling and eat just the crust. 

But these cupcakes taste amazingly just like pumpkin pie . . . and I can't get enough of them. 

Maybe it's the texture of the cake. Maybe it's the cream cheese frosting on top. Maybe my tastes have just changed. But whatever it is, I like it. And so does everyone else.

The list of ingredients is of fairly respectable length. All those spices add to the yummy goodness that you see above. The cakes are simple to make though.

But just in case something were to go wrong, Super Girl was right there to help out.

I'm convinced she made the cupcakes even better using her special baking powers.

If you don't have any buttermilk, you can make your own substitute by putting 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice into a measuring cup and add enough milk to reach 1 cup. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes.

Cracking eggs is Jacob's favorite part. Seriously, if you're ever making a frittata or a quiche, he would love to save you some time and crack open all those eggs.

He might even pay you to do it.

My parents bought me this cute little spice grater and fresh nutmegs while they were on one of their elaborate vacations. The kids just love it. They wanted to grate the entire seed, but that would have resulted in dozens upon dozens of cupcakes, and that would not be good for my already-growing tummy.

You see this boy? He would live in footed pajamas if I let him. He wore holes in the bottom of the feet and needed patches. Then he wore holes in the patches. (Can you patch patches???) It's either footed pj's or just his undies. 

Boys.

Super Girl is quite adept with her baking skills. One taste of the batter, a face showing that something was not quite right, and a finger to her chin. "Hmm, it needs something," she informed us.

Oooh, I know! Frosting! (And I'm not even a super hero.)

Make sure to beat the cream cheese and butter until light and creamy before adding the powered sugar.

Unless you like the illusion of snow falling in your kitchen. I've done that a time or two. It's not as exciting as you might expect.

Cream cheese frosting is my absolute favorite. I could eat it on cookies. I could eat it on doughnuts. I could eat it off my finger. I could eat it off the spatula. It's the only reason I might eat a piece of carrot cake. (Now that's saying something.) 

This time we added cinnamon to half the batch to bring out the fall flavors of the cake. Oh. my. goodness. It tasted just like a cinnamon roll! That did not help my obsession with already trying to lick every last bit of goodness out of the bowl. Yum.

We used the handle of a spoon to drizzle caramel over the cupcakes with the plain cream cheese frosting. Wow. I really don't know which one I like better. I should probably test a few more. Or, I could drizzle the caramel on the cinnamon ones too. Wait, already tried that. 

Yep, no matter how you prepare them, this one's a keeper!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

4 c cake flour (not self-rising), sifted                         ¼ ts ground cloves

1 tsp baking soda                                                       1 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Tbsp + 1 teaspoon baking powder                         2½ c packed light-brown sugar

1 ts salt                                                                      4 large eggs

2 ts ground cinnamon                                                1 c buttermilk

1 Tbsp ground ginger                                               1½ c canned pumpkin (not pie filling)

1 ts freshly grated nutmeg

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature                  1 tsp vanilla extract

4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature                          1 tsp cinnamon

4 c powdered sugar

Directions 

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.

Frosting:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. 

2. Gradually add powdered sugar and cinnamon, mixing well until it’s all incorporated.  

3. Use immediately or refrigerate.  The frosting will harden in the fridge, so plan on bring it back to room temperature if you must refrigerate it before frosting the cupcakes.