Pumpkin Cupcakes with Buttermilk Icing
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 1 hr 10 mins
Active: 35 mins
Makes: 30 cupcakes
Adapted from Brigid Callinan
All the spice and sweetness of pumpkin pie is wrapped up in these cupcakes. A tangy Buttermilk Icing gives them a grown-up touch, but they’d also be great with Cream Cheese Frosting if you’ve got a real sweet tooth.
What to buy: Make sure to pick up puréed pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.
Game plan: These cupcakes are best the day they are made.
This recipe was featured as part of our 2007 Fruits of Fall story.
- 4 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups canned pumpkin purée
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Buttermilk Icing
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange the rack in the middle. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners. Sift together dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Whisk together pumpkin and milk in a separate bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating and then scraping the bowl down after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with pumpkin-milk mixture, mixing on low speed, and scraping the bowl down between additions. When all ingredients have been added, mix batter 30 seconds on medium-high speed until uniformly combined.
- Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter and bake until a tester inserted in cupcake centers comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before removing from the pans. Let cool completely on a rack, decorate with icing, and serve.
COMMENTS | ADD YOUR OWN
I made these subtly sweet cupcakes for a potluck last weekend, and they were a big hit.
can u detect the butter in the cupcakes? or could i just sub with non-hydrogenated margarine (i.e. becel) and do just as well?
Do I have to use canned Pumpkin Puree for this? Couldn't I purchase pumpkins @ 'Union Sq', steam em, Mash em with a lil' Stock and Utilize that?