Pumpkin Cupcakes!

Easy Halloween cupcakes in pumpkin form… orange sponges, orange and green buttercream, and more = pumpkin cupcakes! 

Hello October!

So say hello to spooky season… it’s October, and I am here for all of the spooky bakes that I can get my hands on. Honestly, I love it. I never go into enough effort when it comes to Halloween, so I am trying my best to rectify that this year!

I wanted to do something that would be obviously October themed… and how could it be anything other than pumpkin-themed?! Yes, I know, you can buy them earlier than October… but when I see pumpkins, I think Halloween. 

I have a few decent Halloween bakes on here, such as my spooky spider web cake, and my pumpkin spice latte cake.. but I wanted to do an easy Halloween themed cupcake! These beautiful little pumpkin cupcakes were born.

Pumpkin cupcakes

These are definitely what I would call an easy fun bake – and you can customise the flavour so much! You can make these plain flavoured, lemon, orange, or even almond… it’s completely up to you! These are basically for the look, so do what you want with the flavour. 

I decided to go completely orange for the base – I used some orange muffin size cupcake cases for the ‘containers’ so that they were a solid orange, and then filled them with a simple orange coloured cupcake mixture. 

Sponge

Unsalted butter or baking spread, caster sugar, eggs and self-raising flour. That’s all you need to make this pumpkin cupcakes sponge mix! I beat my baking spread and caster sugar together until light and fluffy with my stand mixer, with the paddle attachment. 

I then add in my eggs and self-raising flour in one go. Mix these together until they are combined. It’s obvious when the mixture comes together as it’s thick, smooth and beautiful. This is where you can add the flavouring of your choice, and then the orange food colouring. 

Food colouring

You need to use a strong orange food colouring so that the pumpkin cupcakes work – supermarket own colours do not work, so I recommend using this orange food colouring. There are a few out there that work, but not supermarket ones! 

I really recommend investing in good quality food colouring, a little goes a long way and they do last quite a while. For the little green tendrils, I use this food colouring however you can use whichever shade of green you are trying to achieve. 

Bake

Bake the pumpkin cupcakes in the oven for 18-22 minutes, I did these for 20 minutes on the day of baking – until they are baked and a skewer comes out clean. You can also test if they are ready by using your hearing

If the cupcakes are making a bubbling/crackling sound when you carefully go near them, they need a bit longer baking – try not to burn your ear or the side of the face please!

Buttercream frosting

Once baked, cool them and make the frosting. For ease, I did a simple American style buttercream frosting. Unsalted block butter, NOT BAKING SPREAD, and icing sugar. I use a simple 1:2 ratio for American buttercream frosting. 

I then use the same flavouring I used in the bake, and then the same orange food colouring as well! How much colouring or even flavouring you need, depends on the brand. I use extra strong colours so need a small amount, and I love using Nielsen Massey flavourings such as this vanilla extract. 

Before you colour all of the frosting oranges, however, take out 1tbsp of buttercream, and colour this green – you will then use this for your little tendrils. This part is optional, but I think the green tendrils really adds to the bake. 

Decoration

To decorate, I use 2d closed star piping tip to pipe the swirls of the orange buttercream frosting. I then used a small round piping tip, to pipe the green onto the cupcakes. Finally, I use a small piece of a matchmaker for the stem, but you can leave this out or use something else. 

These pumpkin cupcakes are an easy and delicious way to have fun baking this Halloween – and you should definitely give them a go. Any questions, leave them below in the comments! Enjoy. Jane x

Pumpkin Cupcakes!

Easy halloween cupcakes in pumpkin form... orange sponges, orange and green buttercream, and more = pumpkin cupcakes! 

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Category: Cupcakes

Type: Cupcakes

Keyword: Halloween

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cooling & Decorating Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 Cupcakes

Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 200 g unsalted butter
• 200 g caster sugar
• 200 g self raising flour
• 4 medium Eggs
• 1 tsp flavouring (I used vanilla)
• 1 tsp orange food colouring

Buttercream/Decoration

• 200 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 400 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp flavouring (I used vanilla)
• 1 tsp orange food colouring
• 1/4 tsp green food colouring
• Matchmakers/pretzels/fingers

Grams - Ounces

Instructions

Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan and prep 12 larger muffin size cupcake cases or regular size baking cups.
• In a large bowl, beat the unsalted butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Add the self raising flour and eggs to the mixture and beat again until smooth and combined.
• Add the flavouring, and orange food colouring to the mixture, and beat until its a smooth orange colour.
• Split the mixture evenly between the 12 cases, and bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes.
• Let the cupcakes cool fully on a wire rack.

Buttercream

• Add the unsalted butter to a large bowl, and beat for about five minutes to really soften.
• Add in the icing sugar and flavouring, and beat again for another five minutes so it's combined.
• Remove one tablespoon of buttercream and put into a small bowl. Colour this small amount of buttercream green.
• Colour the rest of the buttercream orange.

Decoration

• Pipe the orange buttercream onto the cupcakes using a 2d closed star piping tip.
• Pipe small amounts of green buttercream onto the cupcakes for a tendril, using a small round piping tip.
• Insert a small piece of matchmaker/pretzel/finger for the stem and you're done!

Notes

• I used this orange food colouring in this bake for the sponges and buttercream.
• I used this green food colouring for the 'leaf'.
• I used this 2d closed star piping tip for the orange buttercream.
• I used this small round piping tip for the green. 
• I used this muffin tin!

ENJOY!

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J x

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