*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details!*

A delicious cupcake twist on the classic and popular pumpkin spice latte.. pumpkin spice cupcakes with pumpkin spice buttercream frosting!

Themed baking

I adore themed baking. I can’t help but get involved and making something cute and lovey for Valentines, chocolatey for Easter, spooky for Halloween, and festive for Christmas etc… more and more events keep cropping up throughout the year and I feel like I can’t keep up!

Halloween however, I like baking for Halloween SO much. Halloween means you can do things a little different. I will admit that I haven’t posted any truly spooky Halloween bakes as I want to make them easy, but I sure have experimented and I am already planning some whoppers for next year!

Pumpkin related recipes

And after the success of my no-bake pumpkin spice cheesecake last week, I KNEW I had to do another Pumpkin Spice treat. Halloween to me in pumpkins, is black and orange and is everything tasty, hence the bucket load of pumpkin related recipes such as cookies, latte cake and even pumpkin patch brownies!

Pumpkin spice

My homemade pumpkin spice mix is so easy, and the recipe can be found at the bottom of this page. 

One thing I thought I’d do with this pumpkin spice recipe in comparison to the cheesecake is to make it truly ‘PSL’ and use coffee in the bake as well. I decided to use coffee in the sponges as I love coffee flavoured cake more than frosting (personal tastes and all!) and I think it works better in general. 

A hint of sweetness

I still wanted the sweetness in comparison to the PS by using vanilla in the sponges and frosting as I find the taste of the PS a little strong and spicey without the hint of sweetness. Again this is a personal thing, but after doing a few taste batches of these cupcakes, the trusty taste testers definitely preferred it with the vanilla!

Cupcake cases and piping tips

I used simple brown muffin cases for these as they seemed to sit well with the colour of the frosting, and they were darker for Halloween, but you can buy some really cute Halloween themed cupcake cases at the minute that they would be ideal as well!

I love using a large star piping tip with large disposable piping bags to create a gorgeous swirl of buttercream – it also creates a nice sized ‘platform’ for your pumpkin marshmallows (or whatever decoration you fancy!).

I hope you guys love this recipe as much as I, and my trusty taste testers did… enjoy! Oh, and I hope you have a spooktacular Halloween!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes!

A delicious cupcake twist on the classic and popular pumpkin spice latte.. Pumpkin spice cupcakes with pumpkin spice buttercream frosting!
Print Pin Rate
Category: Cake
Type: Cupcakes
Keyword: Pumpkin Spice
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 12 Cupcakes
Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 150 g unsalted butter
  • 150 g Light Brown Sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 150 g self raising flour
  • 1.5 tsps pumpkin spice mix
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee

Frosting

  • 150 g unsalted butter (not stork)
  • 300 g icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice mix
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Decoration

  • Pumpkin marshmallows
  • Halloween sprinkles

Instructions

Cupcakes

  • Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan and line a 12 hole muffin tray with large cupcake cases/muffin cases
  • Cream together the butter and light brown sugar with an electric beater until smooth.
  • Add in the beaten eggs, flour, pumpkin spice, vanilla and Instant coffee dissolved in 1tbsp boiling water, and beat again for about 20-30 seconds on a medium speed
  • Using a cookie scoop, scoop your batter into your cases and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through! Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Frosting

  • Beat the softened butter until smooth – this can take a couple of minutes.
  • Add in the icing sugar, pumpkin spice, vanilla and beat fully making sure the sugar is fully incorporated! 
  • If it's a little still, add in one tablespoon of boiling water to loosen slightly, 1tbsp at a time. I use my KitchenAid with a paddle attachment for frostings as the machine can make it so much lighter and fluffier!

Decoration

  • Decorate your cupcakes how you like. I used a large star tip, pumpkin shaped marshmallows, and some Halloween sprinkles – ENJOY!

Notes

  • I buy my cupcake cases from Iced Jems – HERE!
  • You can use more or less pumpkin spice if you wish, but I felt that 1.5 tsps for the sponges and 1/2 tsp for the buttercream was ideal. The mix of the vanilla as well gives it the sweetness you need! If you want to try real pumpkin cupcakes however, try my pumpkin cupcakes!
  • My homemade pumpkin spice mix is so easy, and the recipe can be found at the bottom of this page. 
  • I found these cute little marshmallow pumpkins in Asda, as well as the sprinkles!
  • These cupcakes will last in an airtight container for 2-3 days!

And here is how to make a homemade pumpkin spice mix:

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Mix

An easy homemade pumpkin spice mix
Print Pin Rate
Category: baking
Keyword: Pumpkin Spice
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsps ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsps ground ginger
  • 2 tsps ground nutmeg
  • 1.5 tsp all spice
  • 1.5 tsp ground cloves

Instructions

  • Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves to a bowl and whisk until even and incorporated – store in a jar.

ENJOY!

Find my other Recipes on my Recipes Page!

You can find me on:
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Youtube

J x

© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.

15 Comments

  1. Leah on October 17, 2023 at 3:57 pm

    5 stars
    Honestly the best cupcakes ever ! Such an easy recipe to follow considering I don’t really bake. I missed out the nutmeg and ground cloves as I didn’t have any and the taste was still amazing. Will definitely be baking more from this website 🙂 xx

  2. Kate on October 5, 2023 at 8:10 pm

    5 stars
    EXCELLENT recipe! These turned out so well and made my house smell amazing. Will definitely be making again!

  3. Simone Norris on October 26, 2022 at 9:00 pm

    Hi Jane I can’t seem to get any ground cloves would it be ok to leave it out of spice mix do you think??

    • Jane's Patisserie on October 27, 2022 at 3:33 pm

      Hiya! It may change the flavour ever so slightly, but should be fine! x



    • Naomi on October 30, 2022 at 5:15 pm

      I managed to get mine from Amazon.



  4. Gemma on October 8, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    Hi Jane

    I love these! How would I make them vegan for a friends birthday?

    Thanks
    Gemma

    • Jane's Patisserie on October 13, 2022 at 3:03 pm

      Hiya! Take a look at my vegan vanilla cupcakes, and just add the pumpkin spice mix! Hope this helps! x



  5. Rachel Rose on October 1, 2021 at 8:05 pm

    Could I replace the coffee with Baileys Pumpkin Spice liquor?

  6. Anita on October 31, 2020 at 10:41 am

    5 stars
    I’ve never left a review on anything before but I’ve just made these and they are honestly the best cakes I have ever made!! The flavours are delicious and the house smells gorgeous! Just when you think it can’t get any better……the frosting is amazing!! I think I should have doubled the recipe as these will be gone in record time😋

    • Jane's Patisserie on October 31, 2020 at 1:16 pm

      Ah that’s so lovely!! Thank you so so much! xx



  7. Sarah on October 27, 2020 at 8:47 pm

    5 stars
    Hey Jane!!

    This sounds so good and I can’t wait to try it. I actually have some pumpkin purée I’d love to use – could you recommend any way of incorporating this into this recipe?!

  8. NIcola on October 7, 2020 at 7:49 pm

    Hi Jane,

    Im struggling to find pumpkin spice mix, but ive googled and it says its just cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. What quantities of each spice do you think i could use as an alternative? Thankyou!x

Leave a Comment

Recipe Rating








This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.