This
Dish
Pumpkin cake is a typical autumn cake in America. It’s amazing because the mashed pumpkin provides the cake batter with ultimate moisture, giving it an amazing texture. Add to that warming pumpkin spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves) and a maple syrup frosting, and you’re in pumpkin heaven!
I’ve been making this cake for many years, and I’ve tweaked it so that by now it really has become the perfect pumpkin cake. This time I’ve decided to turn the loaf cake into mini cupcakes! The result is great, as you get more frosting in each bite than if you bake it in a square tin.
The challenge for making mini cupcakes of this cake is the unmolding. The pumpkin cake is super soft, so that it risks breaking when you take it out of a metal muffin tin (and they might stick to the sides). So to prevent any sticking and breakage, I used a mini muffin mold from Flexipan – made from silicone that can withstand temperatures up to 240°C. The muffins came out perfectly, with no breakage or sticking at all. I was very impressed.
I had actually been sent some Flexipan molds to celebrate the launch of my newest book, which will this time only focus on baking. And, Flexipan have decided to give you a discount too. Simply use the code ANNESKITCHEN20 at checkout, and you’ll get a 20% discount on any purchase from Flexipan.
You
Hungry
To
Make
Mini pumpkin muffins
220g butter, room temperature
100g sugar
100g brown sugar
3 eggs
425g pumpkin purée*
240g flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
4 tsp pumpkin spice**
For the maple frosting:
120g butter, room temperature
55g brown sugar
40ml maple syrup
160g cream cheese
Chopped pecans, for decoration
Makes 28 mini muffins or 14 regular muffins
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan.
In a bowl, cream the butter with the sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat between additions. Add the pumpkin purée and mix again.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice. Briefly fold through the wet ingredients, making sure not to overbeat the batter.
Grease a muffin tin and fill the holes with the batter. Bake the mini muffins for 20 minutes or the normal sized muffins for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave the muffins to cool in their tin for 15 minutes, then turn them onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Once cool, prepare the frosting: cream the butter and the brown sugar in a bowl and mix until pale. Add the maple syrup and the cream cheese and mix for about 3 minutes until the sugar crystals have melted and you’re left with a smooth frosting.
Spread the frosting all over the muffins, sprinkle with chopped pecans, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
*You can make your own pumpkin purée, but I would urge you to seek out the tinned version – most shops sell it in Luxembourg these days. Homemade pumpkin purée tends to be more watery than tinned, which can have an impact on your cake.
**If you don’t have pumpkin spice at hand, you can use spekulatius spice mix or make your own: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1⁄4 tsp allspice or Lebkuchen spice, a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of ground cloves.
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