Thursday 13 October 2011

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

    






 Apparently it's fall. Fall is usually associated with a change in the weather, brown and yellow and red leaves, acorns, apples, Thanksgiving, pumpkins, scarves, Halloween, hot chocolate, pies and bonfires. Yet I don't see any of these. Why? Because I'm living in Chennai, where there is only one season - Summer. Yeah, there's the occasional month of ''monsoon''. But for the most part of it, it's just hot. I can't wait to go abroad for college, to a place that actually has 4 seasons. Don't get me wrong, Chennai isn't bad at all. It's just that sometimes I'd like to actually experience autumn and winter and bake a pumpkin pie and drink hot chocolate. Anyway, I decided not to let the lack of fall in the air stop me from baking something that screams ''Autumn''. As I was looking for something pumpkin-y to make, I stumbled across this recipe from one of my favorite blogs. I took one look at the name and was sold. This was definitely my next baking venture. :D I've got to say, my first baking experience with pumpkin turned out to be pretty darn amazing. The cupcake is to die for (literally). They're moist and packed with flavor. The frosting is sweet, but the cinnamon really shines through and tops these cupcakes off perfectly. I'd really urge you to take some time off to bake these. It'll be worth it! I made 6 standard size cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes with this recipe. 






Ingredients:


1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I didn't have it, so I left it out)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
7.5 ounces pumpkin puree






Method:


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit (about 180 degrees celcius). Line cupcake tray with liners, or grease the tray.
2. In a bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and the pumpkin pie spice. 
3. In another bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar and granulated white sugar. 
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. 
5. Mix in the pumpkin puree. 
6. Pour batter into the cupcake tray and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. 
7. Cool, then frost with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.






Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:


Ingredients:


5 ounces cream cheese
1/6 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/2-1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract


Method:


1. Use a mixer to mix the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
2. Slowly add the icing sugar until completely incorporated.
3. Add the cinnamon and vanilla extract. 







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