Food Time: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Such a mouthful name.

So this is it. My first Recipe entry. I had so much fun making this, to the point that I forgot to get my camera and used my iPhone 4 instead. So forgive for my picture taking skills.

Anyways, it was during the Halloween-going-to-Thanksgiving weeks where I decided to browse around like a maniac (for about 2 weeks!) to find some Pumpkin Cupcake recipes and incorporated to my version of it. I always have fun in the kitchen by myself, I felt like I was in my Zen Mode. I love Yoga, but screw that, the Kitchen is my Zen. I probably will need a Bonsai Tree in my Kitchen.

The smell of all the spices as the cupcakes were in the making was so awesomely delicious, I kept on staring at my oven window like a hungry cat waiting for the mouse to come out (mkay, Tom & Jerry?). After I got the cakes out of the oven, I was literally like Homer Simpson when he thinks about beer and donuts.

The cupcake was pretty dense, but the combination of the frosting and cake in your mouth, yum-fest.

First of all, as a novice baker, I recommend a good & solid mixer. Mine is the KitchenAid 5 qt one. It's my mum's but lately I've been using it a lot. For this kick, I used the Paddle attachement.



Let's start with the frosting.


Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting aka Party in my Mouth, part 1.

What you need:

• 1 1/2 Stick of Butter (My fav is Unsalted Sweet Butter), room temperature
• 8 oz of Cream Cheese (if you want to lower the fat, try the Neufchatel Cream Cheese), room temperature
• 3 - 4 cups of Confectioners Sugar
• 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla

Make sure you attach the Paddle to your Mixer before starting! First, you mix the butter and cream cheese on medium high speed until it's smooth and fluffy, I usually go about 5-7 minutes... Then, add the Confect. Sugar 1 cup at a time on the same speed, until you see it fluffing up (yay!)... Switch to the Low gear and add the Cinnamon & Vanilla. By now you want to dip a finger in it and lick it. Oh yum. You may refrigerate the frosting while waiting for the cupcakes to be baked. Once you are ready to frost, whip it for 1 min to fluff it up, and ready to frost :)

Pumpkin Cupcakes aka Party in my Mouth, part 2. (approx. 34-35 cupcakes)

Make sure you preheat your oven to 350F and have your pretty cupcake papers lined up in your muffin pan! I use an ice cream scoop to fill in each hole.

What you need:

• 4 cups of Cake Flour, sifted please
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Soda
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• 2 teaspoon of Cinnamon (love)
• 1 teaspoon of All Spice
• 1 teaspoon of Nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon of Clove
• 1/4 teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice

Sift and mix all of these dry ingredients in to a Medium Bowl and set aside. Party of Spices, huh? Spice Girls Rules.

• 1 cup of Butter, melted and cooled
• 2 1/2 cup of Brown Sugar
• 4 Eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup of Buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cup of Canned Pumpkin

Now let the work begin. Still using the Paddle attachment, mix together the Melted Butter with the Brown Sugar until they blend/mix well on Medium High Speed. Add 1 Egg at a time until each egg blends with the mix on Medium Slow Speed. Add 1/3 of the Flour mix to the batter, followed with Buttermilk, and repeat. Occasionally you can stop the mixer and mix it manually with a Spatula and scrap some flour that linger around the bowl. Make sure no flour is left in sight! Now, set the mixer to Low/Stir Speed and add the Pumpkin until incorporated. 

Using the Ice Cream Scooper, fill 3/4 full of Batter to each Cupcake Liner. Bake for about 18 minutes, and please do a cake check with a toothpick! Make sure no sticky batter comes out on the toothpick when you lift it!

Once your room smells like Autumn after you remove the pan from the oven, let the pretty cupcakes cool on a wire rack with the pan for about 3 minutes, and then transfer the cupcakes on to the wire rack until completely cool.

Now, with that in mind, go grab your frosting from the fridge, do some whip-whaps, and start frosting!!

Go creative. For this time, I used a Spatula instead due to the time. And I believe I ran out of Pastry bags. 

I probably ate like 2 right off the bat, and thought, "there goes my dinner!" (I still ate dinner that night) I had left over frosting that I whipped on top of those King's Hawaiian Rolls, and I died in to Yummy Heaven.

I encourage you to try and make these. Super fun to make and easy. Drop those chips, kick ass in the kitchen, and eat the homemade cupcakes. Everything is better homemade. For reals.

moonbeams and bunny kisses,
Rima