Now that the word about my food blog has started to spread, it has become an expectation that I will bring food with me everywhere I go. It’s not really a bad thing, because it gives me a good excuse to get rid of some of the baked goods that I love to make but really shouldn’t eat!
So, last week when I was heading to the salon to get my hair cut, I knew I couldn’t go empty handed. I’ve been meaning to make some festive fall cupcakes for Halloween, so I decided they would be the perfect treat for my favorite stylists! I adapted my pound cake recipe to make pumpkin pound cake cupcakes. I wasn’t in the mood for the usual cream cheese icing that I would typically pair with pumpkin, though. So I whipped up a quick cinnamon brown sugar buttercream icing instead. The cupcakes were good, but the icing was fantastic (I did save a few for the hubby and I).
I love holiday foods, so I decided that it would be fun to use some Halloween candy to decorate the cupcakes. One of my favorites is the autumn mix of candy corn, Indian corn, and mallowcreme pumpkins. So, I topped half of the cupcakes with candy and sprinkled them with some additional cinnamon. They were fun, festive, and even got me a marriage proposal from one of the men at the salon. Sorry, I’m already happily married!
Pumpkin Pound Cake Cupcakes
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
Combine all of the ingredients (yes, I said all of the ingredients) in the bowl of your stand mixer (or just a large mixing bowl if you are brave and have a hand mixer). Beat on medium speed for 20 minutes (that’s why I said you must be brave… or at least energetic).
While the mixer is doing all of the work, preheat the oven to 350°F, line two standard muffin pans with cupcake papers (for 24 cupcakes). I found cute pumpkin ones at the store, so I used those for my festive cupcakes.
Once the batter is smooth, fill each of the cupcake liners about 2/3 full with batter. Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the pans for a few minutes, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Cinnamon Brown Sugar Buttercream
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 cups powdered sugar (varies based on temperature/humidity)
- 3 tablespoons half and half (varies based on temperature/humidity)
In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and shortening. Whip together with the whisk attachment until light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and whisk until well combined.
Gradually add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Alternately add the half and half, whipping the icing on medium-high speed after each addition, until the desired consistency is reached.
Fill a pastry bag with the icing and pipe the icing onto the cupcakes. I used a round tip to pipe spikes and swirls of icing. Top the cupcakes with Halloween candy and a sprinkle of cinnamon, if desired.
What perfect cupcakes! Love these!
Beautiful cupcakes! I love all your pictures.
I love holiday baking too. Halloween isn’t even past and I’m already jazzed for Christmas baking! Your pumpkin cupcakes are cute and sound delicious. Lucky salon folks (including the marriage proposal guy…lol)
Wow, these are pretty AND sound yummy! Your pics are wonderful too, by the way.
I used to eat those sara lee pounds cakes like there’s no tomorrow. It’s been a while since I’ve had some. I think I’ll have to try making my own one of these days. I love the buttercream on top. Cinnamon and brown sugar, you can’t go wrong with that.
I LOVE THESE! Those pictures are to die for.
Wow, those look SO good! I’m going to make these this weekend. Yes I am. I’ll let you know if I screw them up…
They look very festive and creative. I haven’t been baking for awhile so this would be a great giveaway next time.
These are so cute! And so scrumptious! How sweet you are for doing that!
oh wow these look wonderful. I”m addicted to pumpkin everything right now! And your pictures completely drew me in – great job!
These are amazing! You are such a talented cook. I need to make these right away. I love how fluffy your frosting looks
I have been searching for a pumpkin cupcake receipe that did not have cream cheese frosting – this sounds yummy! Just one question….why must you mix it for 20 minutes? That seems like a long time…however, I do not bake much.
would i be able to turn this into a square cake?
ngs – I have not yet tried it, but I think this recipe would work fine as a cake. The original pound cake recipe was for a bundt cake, so I imagine it would make two 9 inch cakes (round/square) or one 9 by 13 inch cake.
Sharon – Honestly, I don’t know why the cake must mix for 20 minutes. It is based off of my grandmother’s pound cake recipe, and that’s just how she always made it. I have wondered that myself a few times, but have never been daring enough to try mixing for a shorter amount of time. It is a long time, but it creates a wonderfully smooth batter.
OK – just curious, as I always hear not to over-beat a cake batter. I will try it! It sounds super-easy and delicious! Thanks for posting.
hi jen,
i halved the recipe and tried the cake, it made 1 square cake… thanks for the recipe.
Yummmmm…. Love this. And they are so pretty! Love the decorations! Love the buttercream recipe, I so want to try it.
Fantastic! I used this recipe as a 9×13 cake for work today. It was gone before noon!
The frosting rocks!
Thank you for sharing it!
This is a fantastic recipe! And as for why the recipe says to beat it for 20 minutes, I think that’s just how pound cake goes. You’re supposed to activate the gluten in the flour (which takes some time) and also make sure that the butter is evenly distributed, otherwise you don’t get a dense cake. For fluffier cakes, you should avoid over mixing. I didn’t beat for 20 minutes, however; more like five. And it still worked out fine!
Also, I hate people who say that the recipe was great but they changed X, Y and Z, but I have to be one of those people. I was feeling like a cream cheese frosting when I made these, but not too creamy, so instead of the shortening (which I’m not fond of using anyway), I substituted cream cheese. It came out to a beautiful consistency, and absolutely heavenly! I did however add about twice as much cinnamon to the frosting than suggested. I’m just a big cinnamon fan.
Anyway, great recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Julie – Thanks for weighing in on why to beat for so long. It does make sense that you would beat pound cake batter and not other cakes because the pound cake is supposed to be dense (also why you don’t have to cream the sugar in advance).
Glad you liked the recipe… and I don’t take offense to changes. I rarely follow a recipe (even my own!)… I think the cream cheese would be delicious. I often use shortening just to make sure the icing is stiff enough for piping cupcakes and because it doesn’t need to be refrigerated right away.
I was looking for a nice pumpkin cupcake recipe to make some cupcakes for a bake sale. I found yours and tried it and everything was perfect. Everyone kept raving about them. The frosting is so amazing I kept licking the bowl and utensils. I would definitely use this recipe again and recommend it to all my friends.
Just one thing, i really was not comfortable throwing everything in the bowl and mixing for 20mns (it goes against everything I learned about making a cake, plus it was already after midnight!) so I mixed it following a regular pound cake method. It still came out perfect.
Thanks for sharing!
Nerlande – Thanks for your comment… I’m glad the cupcakes turned out well for you! As for the mixing method, I’m glad it worked for you without mixing for the 20 minutes. I will have to try it differently next time. As long as I can remember, everyone in my family has always mixed the pound cake recipe (that this was based off of) for 20 minutes, so I never really questioned it!