Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!!

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So I am happy to announce that these cupcakes turned out perfectly!! After the too "cake-y" Amaretto cupcakes I was a tad bit bummed out. These delightful pumpkin cupcakes totally cured that! And it's all thanks to Annie's Eats again!

I always believed that I was not a pumpkin fan, but these completely override that. I love them!



Here is the recipe, and as always Happy Baking!

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes
from Annie's Eats

Yield: about 24-30 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract (I prefer clear)
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
With the mixture on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until incorporated.

Fill the cupcake liners about three-quarters full.
Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.
Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans and let cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
Mix in the vanilla extract.
Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.
Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.



I decorated these with candy corn pumpkins and used these adorable halloween themed cupcake papers (that I bought back in September! lol!).



I added a little something extra to the cake batter (something I learned from Grace, the cake specialist I have been interning with), but I am keeping it a secret! ;)

What did you all do for Halloween and what did you dress up as?? I dressed as my hero Tina Fey!!