Halloween Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

I had so much fun creating these cute pumpkin cupcakes!

These pumpkin cupcakes are a fun way to immerse yourself in the Halloween spirit! Plus, they're super simple, so they're perfect to do with little bakers!

Of course pumpkin would feature in the Caking It bakes! It's such a classic Halloween/ autumnal flavour and I love it.

I combined my soft spiced pumpkin sponge with a cinnamon spiced buttercream and the result is divine.

I wanted the spice to really pop and compliment the pumpkin, so I used a combination of cinnamon, mixed spice, and ginger. I think it's pretty fab.

If you can't get your hands on a can of cooked pumpkin (it’ll probably be in the American foods section), then buy a small pumpkin, de-seed and chop into chunks, and cook in the oven for around 30 minutes until soft enough that you can take off the skins and whiz in a mixer.

I countered the added wetness from the pumpkin with the addition of ground almonds and left out the sour cream.

I think that these would be a fantastic addition to any Halloween party, and it's so fun to go cray with the decorations - so go for it!

Happy Halloween and let's get Caking It!

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Recipe

180C (170C fan)

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Prep: 10 mins

Bake: 20 mins

Assemble: 10 mins

Ingredients

Sponge

150g unsalted butter

150g light brown sugar

4 medium eggs

250g cooked Pumpkin (or canned)

150g gluten free self-raising flour

2 tbsp ground almonds

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Frosting

150g unsalted butter

350g icing sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Orange gel food colouring

Green gel food colouring

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Method: Sponge

Don't forget to wait until all the ingredients are room temperature before starting.

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Fill 12 muffin holes with cases.

2. With a fork, cream the butter until pale, then add the sugar and cream together until fully incorporated.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing with an electric whisk between each addition. Add your cooked pumpkin.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, ground almonds, baking soda, and xanthan gum with a fork, and then add this to the mixture, mixing until fully incorporated.

5. Spoon 2 tbsp of the mixture into each muffin case.

6. Let the mixture sit in the cases for 20 minutes before placing in an oven for 20 minutes. A skewer or toothpick inserted into the cupcakes should come out clean.

Method: buttercream

Whip this delicious cinnamon buttercream up super quick to perfectly compliment the pumpkin sponge.

1. While they are cooling, move onto the buttercream.

2. Cream the butter until pale, and gradually add in the icing sugar until it is all incorporated. You can do this either with a standing mixer, an electric hand whisk, or a fork.

3. Add the cinnamon and incorporate. At this point the mixture should be a little stiff.

4. Slowly pour in the milk while beating until a rich pipeable mixture is formed.

5. Separate out a couple spoonful's and gradually add green gel food colouring until your get the green you desire for the pumpkin stem and leaves.

6. Add orange gel food colouring to the rest.

Assembly

1. Making sure the sponges are completely cool, you can begin to pipe.

2. Go crazy with your pumpkin designs!

3. Enjoy!