Pumpkin love...

(Amended: *Recipe included, below*)

Two things come to mind when I come upon fall - apples and pumpkins... Aside from how beautiful each is in their own right, I absolutely LOVE baking with them, as you probably figured by now. Apple and pumpkin pies, breads, cakes... Mmmmm, just the thought. Well, I've eagerly started fall baking for this year and am bringing to you, this week, an absolutely heartwarming pumpkin cupcake. It's warm and cozy especially with a warm beverage - a hot latte, steaming mug of hot chocolate, or a comforting cup of tea.
The cupcake is a ginger pumpkin cupcake with little nuggets of crystallized ginger suspended throughout. I've topped it with a delicious spiced cream cheese buttercream - it's a buttercream because I've significantly cut back on the amount of cream cheese added to the frosting, so it's just got a hint of cream cheesiness. It's my new favorite cream cheese frosting! It's spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. I've topped the cupcake with a hit of butterscotch. Together, these flavors round out the season! It's a taste of Autumn in each bite..

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes & Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

(Adapted from Elinor Klivans' cupcakes!)

Cakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

4 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled

4 T canola or vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup crystallized ginger, small dice

Frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter

1/4 tsp salt

3 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

2 T milk or cream

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Set oven to 325F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl. Using an electric or handheld mixer, blend the butter, oil, vanilla, sugar, and pumpkin until the mixture is fully combined. Add the eggs and crystallized ginger. Once incorporated, slowly add the dry ingredients until just combined.

Fill each cupcake liner with 1/4 cup of batter and place in the center of the oven for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and uniform. Add the salt, vanilla, spices, and 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Adust the consistency of the frosting with the milk or cream. Beat for 2 minutes.

When the cupcakes come out of the oven, leave them to cool completely. Then frost them with the frosting.