Pumpkin Cupcakes Revisited

I'm truncating two posts that have combined to make one amazing Pumpkin Cupcake. This time, trial and error more than paid off!

I don't mean to be getting all "Cooks Illustrated" on everything, but when I don't have a base recipe to start from, I tend to go to Taste Spotting in order to research other recipes that people have used. I judge based on looks, and then compare a few recipes.

Pumpkin cupcake recipes were all over the place, though. Some yielded around 14 and contained 2 cups of pumpkin, but another one yielded 24 yet only contained 3/4 cup pumpkin! Spices were actually pretty consistent throughout (1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp cloves were used pretty regularly).

Flour was fairly consistent with all-purpose. One used cake flour, but I'm not exactly sure why. Sugar was... interesting. It seems like the caramel notes of brown sugar would work well with the pumpkin, but only a couple recipes contained any at all. So, with all of that in mind, here's what I want out of a Pumpkin cupcake, and here's what that led to:

Caramel goodness = brown sugar
Toasty warmth = browned butter
Tenderness = buttermilk
Pumpkin like woah = 2 cups pumpkin puree

And here is what I've cobbled together from a few websites (more than one of which cited Martha Stewart's recipes as starting points). Additionally, I've truncated a later post containing my favorite buttercream frosting paired with these cupcakes: brown sugar-cinnamon. It's a perfect combination!

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Yield: 20 - 24 cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Whisk dry ingredients together. Set aside.

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups pumpkin puree

pumpkin butter (store bought or homemade)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

Place butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Swirl until fragrant and milk solids are beginning to brown. Remove from heat (browning may continue). Transfer to bowl of stand mixer and let cool.

Add sugars to browned butter and cream until wet, sandy mixture forms. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add in vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk (3:2 ratio). Finally, mix in the pumpkin, just until combined.

Scoop batter into muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes until turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting
Yield: Enough frosting for about 2 dozen cupcakes

1 cup of butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups confectioner's sugar, divided
3 tbsp half and half, divided

Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cinnamon and vanilla. Add two cups of the confectioner's sugar and beat until smooth. Add in about 2 tbsp of the half and half. Add in the remaining confectioner's sugar until spreading consistency. Add half and half if needed to make it more spreadable.