Eric's coworkers surprised us with wedding gifts--money for our honeymoon and a gift card to Bed Bath & Beyond. It was incredibly unexpected and thoughtful of them. As a thank you I baked 6 dozen mini pumpkin cupcakes and had Eric take them to work. Eric said everyone loved them--and they must have because not a single one came back home with him!
I used to make this recipe all the time as a cake with my pumpkin dip as a filling. It was my signature dessert, if you will. I always got compliments on it, and everyone wanted the recipe. Well, I ended up making this cake so much that I got sick of it and haven't made it in years. But when I was trying to decide what goodies I should send Eric to work with, my mind immediately went to the pumpkin cake. As a cupcake, I made it with buttercream and chocolate buttercream frosting. While delicious, it really is so much better with the pumpkin filling. So I will give you directions to both the mini cupcakes with buttercream and the cake.
I think this recipe originally comes from Kraft, but I've had it for so long that I no longer remember.
Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
Cake
Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Either line mini muffin pan with mini cupcake papers or grease and flour them (this is what I did).
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients together with an electric mixer until well combined. Fill the mini muffin pan 3/4 of the way full with the batter. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes come out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
3 cups powdered sugar
2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 to 6 tablespoons milk
(if you want chocolate buttercream frosting, add 1/2 to 1 cup cocoa powder, sifted)
Directions:
Place the the butter into a large bowl and cream with a hand mixer or standing mixer. Add vanilla and mix. Add 1 cup of sugar and blend on low speed until well incorporated. Then add another cup of sugar and beat until well blended. By now your buttercream is getting thick. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons milk and mix. Blend in the the final cup of sugar. Add a couple more tablespoon of milk if desired. (Beat in the cocoa powder, if desired). To get light, smooth buttercream you need to blend the buttercream for 15 to 20 minutes on low.
Frost your mini cupcakes. Store in an airtight container.
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| We got a standing mixer as a wedding gift and I am in love with it! Making buttercream has never been so easy! |
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| The stackable wire racks were also a wedding gift that I love! |
Ingredients:
Cake
1 yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Filling
1 8-ouce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup powdered sugar
1 8-ounce tub cool whip, thawed
1/4 cup caramel topping
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
In a large bowl, combine all the cake ingredients together with an electric mixer until well combined. Evenly divide the batter between the two cake pans. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until creamy. Add powdered sugar, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice. Combine well. Gently fold in the cool whip.
Once the cakes have cooled, cut each horizontally in half with a serrated knife so you now have four layers. Place one cake layer on your serving plate. Spread 1/3 of the filling on top of the cake. Continue to stack with remaining cake layers and filling. Drizzle the caramel topping over the top of the cake.
Store in the refrigerator.
Just typing out the directions to the pumpkin cake kind of makes me want to make it again. Maybe for Thanksgiving?
Enjoy!
~Krissy
More Pumpkin Recipes!
Cheese Tortellini in a Pumpkin Sauce
Cinnamon-Sugar Pastry with Pumpkin Dip
Pumpkin-Black Bean Stew with Spicy Sausage
Pumpkin Bread!
Pumpkin Butter
Pumpkin Caramels!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies
Pumpkin Fudge
Pumpkin Hot Cocoa
Pumpkin Lasagna Rolls
Pumpkin Oatmeal
Pumpkin Penne Casserole
Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
Roasted Pumpkin Chickpeas
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
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