PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Hello.

Yesterday I shared with you a lovely fall inspired baby shower that was hosted by my friend Brenda for her daughter-in-law.  Brenda asked me to prepare fall inspired cupcakes for the baby shower.  So, this is what I came up with.

Ina Garten has a great recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting, perfect for the fall-inspired baby shower.  So, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, I used Ina’s wonderful recipe, except for a couple modifications.  Because my friend Brenda is super health conscious, I replaced the all-purpose white flour with whole wheat flour and the white granulated sugar with brown sugar.  I also substituted olive oil for the vegetable oil and eliminated the candy bar topping Ina uses in her recipe in favor of the fall decorations you see on my cupcakes.  And because there were 30 people expected at the shower, I tripled the recipe.  However, the quantities I will quote here are for a single recipe that makes 10 cupcakes.

So, let’s get started and I’ll show you how to make these delicious Pumpkin Cupcakes.  First, preheat your oven to 350º F and prepare your muffin tins by lining them with 10 paper liners.

The photos below shows all the dry ingredients you will need.

Measure the following ingredients into a sifter or medium sized bowl:

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

Sift or mix with a whisk to combine.

Below is a photo of the additional ingredients you will need.

Start by adding 2, room temperature eggs to the bowl of your standing mixer and beat them up.  Remember, I tripled the recipe so I used 6 eggs.

Add 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) to the eggs.

Next add 1 cup light brown sugar.

Pour in 1/2 cup of light olive oil, turn on the mixer and beat to combine.

Finally, add the mixture of dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.

Using a 2 1/4″ scoop, divide the batter among the prepared tins.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Then set the cupcakes aside to cool while you prepare the maple cream cheese frosting.

Here is what you’ll need to prepare the frosting.

Into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add:

6 Ounces Cream Cheese, (at room temperature)

4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter, Softened

Whip the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth.

To the cream cheese mixture add:

Dash of Salt

1 Teaspoon Maple Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Then scoop the frosting into a large zip lock bag.  Snip off a tiny corner of the bag and pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

For the cupcake decorations I used these fall colored sprinkles as well as glitter gold colored sugar.

To make cupcakes that look like apples I used stick pretzels for the stem and cut a leaf shape out of sour candy tape.  On others I simply sprinkled them with sugar and added a candy corn for decoration.

I placed the finished cupcakes in brown polkadot cupcake liners to add a little pop.  I find that if you use the pretty cupcake liners to bake in they get moist and end up looking poorly.  So, my trick is to bake my cupcakes in plain white liners and add a decorative liner after baking.

If you’d like to see Ina Garten’s original recipe it was featured in House Beautiful magazine here.

So, there you have it:  PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

These cupcakes are moist and delicious with a not-so-sweet maple frosting. The maple is a perfect compliment to the pumpkin and spices.

Author: Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com

Serves: 10 cupcakes

Ingredients

• Cupcakes
• 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• ½ Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• ½ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
• 2 Eggs, Room Temperature
• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin Puree
• 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
• ½ Cup Light Olive Oil
• Frosting
• 6 Ounces Cream Cheese, (at room temperature)
• 4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter, Softened
• Dash of Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Maple Extract
• ¼ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 2 Cups Sifted Powdered Sugar

Instructions

1. Cupcakes
2. Preheat your oven to 350º F and prepare muffin tins by lining them with 10 paper liners.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a medium sized bowl.
4. Beat the eggs in the bowl of a standing mixer.
5. Add the canned pumpkin puree, brown sugar and olive oil to the eggs and beat to combine.
6. Add the mixture of dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.
7. Using a 2¼" scoop, divide the batter among the prepared tins.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Set the cupcakes aside to cool while you prepare the maple cream cheese frosting.
10. Frosting
11. Add the cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a standing mixer and whip on medium speed until smooth.
12. Add salt, maple extract and ground cinnamon to the cream cheese mixture.
13. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
14. Scoop the frosting into a large ziploc bag, snip off one tiny corner and pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.
15. Refer to my blog post for decorating ideas and instructions.

Notes

This recipe is an adaptation of one by Ina Garten published in House Beautiful magazine.

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