Pumpkin Cupcakes with Spiced Maple Frosting

Hi Everbody!
Welcome back to another autumn-inspired post. This year I was determined to get my hands on some pure pumpkin flesh without having to actually scoop it out of a fresh pumpkin. While canned pumpkin seems to be readily available in the US for about $2, this is definitely not the case here in Ireland. I took a trip to a specialised american sweet shop and got myself a can of Libby's Pure Pumpkin for a staggering €4.95!  However I think it was completely worth it for the baking and festive sake. The idea I had in mind was a pumpkin based cupcake topped with some appropriately spiced buttercream

So let's get started...




You will need:

• 280g self raising flour
• 2tsp mixed spice
• pinch of salt
• 115g soft brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 200ml milk
• 85g melted butter
• 425g (one can) of pumpkin flesh
• 175g butter 
• 350g icing sugar
• 4tbsp maple syrup
• 0.5tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a muffin tray with paper cases. This recipe makes approx 17 cupcakes depending on how big or small you make them

2. Shift the flour and mixed spice into a bowl

3. Stir in the salt and sugar and set aside

4. In a jug beat together the melted butter, eggs and milk

5. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients 

6. Mix until everything all the dry ingredients are covered but be careful to not over mix

7. Scoop out the pumpkin and stir it into the mix

8. Use an ice-cream scoop to place the mixture into the cases. I put one scoop per case and then added about a teaspoon more of mixture to each case

9. Pop into the oven for about 30 minutes. To check they're ready insert a cocktail stick to see if it comes out clean

10. Allow to cool on a wire rack and begin making the icing 

11. Beat the butter and icing sugar together until you have a smooth and creamy icing

12. Add the maple syrup and cinnamon and give a final mix

13. Fit a piping bag with a 6B tip and the icing

14. Feel free to do whichever design you like. I chose a simple swirl, starting in the middle and ending at the edge of the cupcake

15. An optional step is to sprinkle with some cinnamon and icing sugar 

And you're finished!

Thank you so much for checking out another one of my posts. I hope your autumn is going well and has been filled with delicious bakes! See you soon :)