Recipe: Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes from Peggy Porschen

This spiced pumpkin cupcake recipe by the award-winning cake designer Peggy Porschen tastes just like a traditional pumpkin pie – perfect for autumnal days, Halloween and Thanksgiving…

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

Makes 24

Ingredients

• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 280g pumpkin purée
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 115g buttermilk
• 325g light brown sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 240g plain flour
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¾ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cloves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C/Gas mark 4 and line two 12-hole muffin trays with cases.
2. Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly. Place the pumpkin, salt, buttermilk and sugar in a large bowl and, by hand, use a balloon whisk to mix well. One at a time, add the eggs, whisking well between each addition.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and the spices. Lightly whisk the flour mix into the pumpkin mixture in two batches. Add the melted butter and gently incorporate until just mixed. Using a piping bag or tablespoon, fill the cases until two-thirds full.
4. Bake for 15–20 minutes, depending on your oven. The cupcakes are cooked when the tops are golden brown and spring back to the touch. If in doubt, insert a clean knife or skewer into each sponge; it should come out clean.
5. Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes in their trays before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

TO DECORATE

Use cinnamon cream cheese frosting and top with a sugarcraft pumpkin.

• 250g full-fat cream cheese, slightly softened
• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 625g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

1. Place the cream cheese in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
2. Place the butter and a third of the sugar into a separate bowl and cream until very pale and fluffy. Add another third of the sugar and repeat. Add the remaining sugar and beat again, scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure no lumps remain. Add the cream cheese, a little at a time, and mix at a low speed until combined. Add 1½ tsp ground cinnamon. Chill until firm enough to pipe.

Cupcakes by Peggy Porschen, Quadrille £6.99, waterstones.com

Photos © Georgia Glynn Smith

peggyporschen.com

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