Holly's 101 Cuppycake Challenge: #13 Pumpkin Butter Cupcakes

Finally pumpkin time is here! Time for pumpkin pie, butter, puree and of course cupcakes! I have a few recipes in mind, but I wanted to start out with a basic spiced pumpkin cupcake first. So I went with Pumpkin Patch cupcake by Martha Stewart. Unfortunately I found that the cupcakes tasted nothing like pumpkin. Don't get me wrong they were still good, but I was really disappointed. Not sure if it was my pumpkin puree (the how to is below) that I made or not enough spices, but there was no pumpkin presence to be found. Since I was already making pumpkin butter I thought it would be a great idea to stuff the centers with a little butter goodness. So here's my take on Martha's recipe.

Before I even set eyes on the cupcake recipe I knew I wanted to use my own Pumpkin Puree(courtesy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

The Goods

2 whole Sugar Pumpkins unless you want more.....

The How To

Cut the pumpkins in half. With a spoon or a scoop, scrape out the seeds and pulp from the center.

Place all the seeds in a bowl unless you don't want them... They were amazing with brown sugar and cinnamon. Repeat until all the pumpkin pieces are largely free of seeds and pulp.

Place pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet and roast at 350 degrees for 45mins or until pumpkin is fork-tender. They should be nice and golden brown when done.

before

after

Peel off the skin from the pumpkin pieces until you have a big pile of stuff. If you have a food processor, throw in a few chunks at a time. A blender will work too, just add a little water. Or you can mash it up with a potato masher.

bullet was perfect for this job!!

Pulse the pumpkin until smooth. If it looks to dry, add in a few tablespoons of water during the pulsing to give it the needed moisture. Looks just like baby food. If the puree is overly watery, you should strain it over a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer.

Dump into a bowl, and continue pureeing until all the pumpkin is done. You can freeze it or use immediately.

no straining needed here

I used it immediately in the following pumpkin butter recipe and cupcakes.

Pumpkin Butter(courtesy of grouprecipes.com)
This is what was used for the center of the cupcakes

The Goods
8cups pumpkin puree
2cups brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1teaspoon ground ginger
1/2teaspoon ground cloves
1/4teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 lemons-needed for the juice

The How To
This is the hard part!!! ha ha just kidding :)
Place all ingredients in slow cooker; cook on low for approximately 5 hours. Pour into small jars, refrigerate or freeze.

I mixed up the stuff before putting it in the crock pot

Turned out perfect!!! You've got to give this a try.

Now on with the cupcakes!!!

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes(Courtesy of Martha Stewart)

If you don't have her cupcake book I highly recommend it!!

The Goods

4cups cake flour(not self-rising) sifted

1teaspoon baking soda

1tablespoon plus 1teaspoon baking powder

1teaspoon salt

2teaspoons ground cinnamon(more the merrier! You can never have too much of this!)

1tablespoon ground ginger

1teaspoon grated nutmeg (it says to use fresh but I used the stuff in a jar-I know I'm a big time slacker)

1/4teaspoon ground cloves

1cup unsalted butter at room temp

2 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar

4lg eggs

1cup buttermilk (I substituted sour cream)

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree-not pie filling! (this is where i used my puree came in handy)

The How To

Preheat oven to 350degrees. Sift together dry ingredients.

My dry ingredients and my puree

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream(or buttermilk), and beating until just combined. I also added butterscotch chips too at this point.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.

Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown. 15-18mins.

Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10mins; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3days in airtight containers.

After cupcakes have cooled down start drilling out the middle of the cupcakes save the top part for later.

I see my butterscotch!

Spoon in the pumpkin butter until the hole is full to your liking.

Cover up the pumpkin butter with the part you drilled out.

For the frosting I decided to mix it up a bit and made the Cream cheese frosting orange and white.

The Goods
1cup unsalted butter room temp
12oz cream cheese room temp
4cups powdered sugar sifted
1/4teaspoon vanilla extract

The How To
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2-3mins. Reduce speed to low and slowly add sugar 1/2cup at a time. Then add vanilla and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. If you want to color the frosting then split the frosting evenly among two bowls. I added the orange to one and leave the other white. Try to stack or layer the frosting on top of each other in the frosting bag.