Pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting: our Autumn cupcake quartet

The days are getting shorter and the leaves are slowly starting to change. I am trying to force myself into an Autumn mood and thought these pumpkin spice cupcakes might work. They are the best Autumn cupcakes, and the maple cream cheese frosting elevates them.

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Mum loved pumpkin

Mum loved pumpkin, especially roasted pumpkin. She claimed that she passed this love onto my brothers and me because she ate so much of it when she was pregnant. However, she hated pumpkin pie.

While that may mean that she would hate these pumpkin spice cupcakes, I never met a cupcake she would not try. She also loved maple syrup and cream cheese frosting. The two together is just yum!

I guess the jury will have to stay out on whether she would like these cupcakes or not.

Our Autumn cupcake quartet

Dad, on the other hand, favours a different Autumn vegetable. One of our upcoming cupcakes is based on a cake that he recommended and that features this vegetable. Still, you will have to wait a couple of weeks for that one.

This Autumn, we will be sharing not one, but four seasonal cupcakes. You read it correctly: FOUR Autumn cupcakes. These pumpkin spice cupcakes are just the first in our Autumn cupcake quartet. I don’t want to reveal the other flavours now but each uses the best of fall smells and flavours.

We’ll be doing a lot of baking over the next week and a bit to be able to share them with you. I hope you find one to make your favourite.

Tips for the perfect pumpkin spice cupcakes

Pumpkin pureé is often very difficult to find in Germany. We used to have a British-American foods store in Düsseldorf, where we could find some things, but it closed a couple of years ago. This time, one of the discount supermarkets had some on sale in a weekly special and I snapped up 4 cans.

If you can’t get any, you can find pumpkin cubes at most supermarkets in Autumn, e.g. Spreewald pumpkin cubes (in the tinned food aisles). If you are using pumpkin cubes, drain them very well and puree them before adding to the mixture. Be careful not to get the sweet and sour pumpkin!

Make sure you use real maple syrup for the frosting and not imitation maple syrup!

Of course, these are fantastic for Thanksgiving, for harvest festival or for any special occasion in Autumn. Last year I made them for the kindergarten harvest festival celebrations; this year we will be in Munich at the Oktoberfest.

Make these pumpkin spice cupcakes and get in the Autumn mood

Nothing quite says “Autumn” like pumpkin spice and what better way to try it than pumpkin spice cupcakes. Teamed with maple cream cheese frosting, these are not just perfect for Autumn but are simply delicious.

Try these pumpkin spice cupcakes or others from our Autumn cupcake quartet and get into the fall mood!

Pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting

Pack full of taste and Autumn vegetables (that makes them healthier, right?), these pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting are super easy and a perfect treat to have with a cup of tea of coffee. 

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Cuisine American/Australian

Servings 15 people

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• patty pans
• Mixing bowls
• wooden spoon
• Hand-held mixer
• Piping bag
• Piping tip

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the cupcakes

• 1 cup plain all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking bi-carb soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2/3 cup brown sugar packed
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

For the frosting

• 150 g cream cheese
• 75 g butter softened
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups icing sugar

Instructions

 

For the cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 180°c. Line a cupcake pan with patty pans.
• Sift the following dry ingredients into a bowl: four, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves and ground nutmeg.
• Place sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, canola oil and vanilla essence in a bowl and stir until well combined.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, first half and then the rest and stir until well combined.
• Spoon the mixture into the cupcake forms, filling until 2/3 full.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

For the frosting

• Place the cream cheese and butter in a bowl and beat until creamy. Add the maple syrup and salt and stir to combine.
• Add the icing sugar, little by little, and stir until the right consistency is reached. It should be light and fluffy, but still retain shape when the beaters are removed.
• Place the frosting in the fridge for 20 minutes to cool before frosting the cupcakes.
• Add

Notes

If you are lucky enough to have access to pumpkin spice, use 1 tsp pumpkin spice and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon instead of the 1 tsp cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground cloves.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 267.67kcalCarbohydrates: 37.96gProtein: 2.57gFat: 12.21gSaturated Fat: 2.84gCholesterol: 33.38mgSodium: 162.48mgPotassium: 96.29mgFiber: 0.77gSugar: 29.57gVitamin A: 2716.19IUVitamin C: 0.69mgCalcium: 57.65mgIron: 0.87mg

Keyword autumn cupcakes, maple cream cheese frosting, pumpkin cupcakes

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