Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes with caramel drizzle in brown muffin cups on a black cake stand.

5 from 2 votes

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These chocolate pumpkin cupcakes are a perfect fusion of fall flavors. They soft and fluffy, flavored with warm spices and pumpkin, and filled, frosted and topped generously with gooey caramel sauce, luscious cream cheese frosting and dark cocoa dusting. Simply irresistible!

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Decorating time30

Total Time1 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 452.1kcal

Author: Priya Maha

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

180 g self raising flour
20 g cocoa powder
100 g butter (salted)
200 g granulated sugar
2 eggs
200 g pumpkin puree
100 ml milk
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Salted Caramel Sauce

160 g white sugar
200 ml heavy cream
80 g butter (salted)
¼ teaspoon salt flakes

Cream Cheese Frosting

600 g powdered sugar
220 g cream cheese
30 g butter (salted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Others

2 tablespoon cocoa powder (for dusting)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Bake the cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 175°C and line a cupcake pan with muffin liners (or cupcake liners).
In a mixing bowl, whisk together self-raising flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin spice powder, baking powder, and salt. Sift and set aside.
In a separate bowl, cream together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl half way through.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Each time, beat until all the traces of the eggs are no longer visible. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl half way through (see Note 1).
Next, add the pumpkin puree and beat well. The creamed mixture will appear curdled after adding the pumpkin puree and that is fine.
Gradually add half of the flour mixture (dry ingredients) into the wet ingredients and fold until well combined.
Add the milk and fold again, followed by the remaining flour mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well folded in.
Finally, add the vanilla extract and mix well.
Pour the batter into the cupcake liners, filling each about two-thirds full (see Note 2).
Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out without any wet batter sticking to it. You can also test by pressing the top of the cupcakes. They should spring back when pressed lightly with a finger.
Transfer the cupcakes onto a wire rack. Let them cool to room temperature before decorating.Keep the cupcakes covered with a kitchen towel to prevent them from becoming dry as they cool down.

Make the frosting

In a large bowl, beat together room temperature cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Sift in the powdered sugar and mix with a spatula (see Note 3) until the sugar is lightly moistened with the butter and cheese.
Continue with the mixer, and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix well.

Make the caramel sauce

In a saucepan, heat sugar over low heat, stirring constantly until it melts and turns amber. Keep close watch on the sugar as it has a tendency to burn very quickly as soon as it turns amber (see Note 4).
Add butter and stir until completely with a hand whisk until melted and combined (see Note 5). Use low heat.
Pour the cream slowly while whisking continuously until the caramel sauce becomes smooth and glossy.
Continue to cook the caramel until it thickens (see Note 6). Remove from heat and add the salt flakes. Mix well.

Assemble the cupcakes

Transfer the cream cheese icing and salted caramel into piping bags for easy piping.
Use a cupcake corer or the back of a large piping tip to make a hole in the center of the cupcakes.Keep the cored top as you will need it to cover the hole after filling with caramel.
Snip the tip of the piping bag filled with salted caramel (see Note 7) and pipe the caramel generously into each cupcake hole.
Cover the holes with the cored tops (set aside in the steps earlier).
Using a large star tip (tip #1M), pipe the cream cheese frosting into a layer of shells all around the cupcake. And then top the first layer with a second layer, this time in a smaller circle.
Finally, add a large star at the top.
Dust the frosted cupcakes with a cocoa powder by sifting it over the top of the cupcakes with a fine sieve (see Note 8).
Drizzle the top if each cupcake with caramel sauce and serve.

Notes

Scraping the bowl will ensure there are no ingredients left unmixed at the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Using a cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop (with a spring release) will help achieve consistently sized cupcakes.
Mixing with a spatula by hand before using the mixer will help avoid the sugar from flying all over as you turn on your mixer.
Caramel sauce made with overly caramelized sugar will have a bitter taste to it. You can regulate the heat by turning it on and off if some parts of the caramel is browning too quickly.
The caramel will start bubbling rapidly as you add the butter and that is fine. Also, the sugar and butter sometimes stay separated even after the whisking and that is fine too.
The caramel will thicken further after it has cooled down completely. Remove it from the heat while it is still slightly runny and wait until it cools down completely. If you find it not thick enough, return it to the heat and cook again for a few more minutes. Alternatively, you can use a candy thermometer. Cook the caramel until it reaches 105°C (or 220°F). At this temperature, the caramel will have a drizzling consistency.
You will be using the salted caramel to drizzle the top of the cupcakes after frosting as well so it helps to keep the hole in the piping bag to a small one.
Arrange all the cupcakes in a tray before dusting for easy cleaning. It also helps to dust all the cupcakes at once rather than one by one.
Use a light colored pan when making the caramel. Dark colored pans will make it difficult to see the color of the sugar as it caramelizes.
This recipe makes slightly more caramel than is required for the recipe. You can keep the remaining caramel refrigerated and use it for other desserts like these mini salted caramel cheesecakes, Snickers cheesecakes, chocolate peanut butter cheesecake and salted caramel pumpkin cupcakes. You can also add it to your teas and lattes as a sweetener.
Do not overbake the cupcakes. Test for readiness about 2 to 3 minutes before the recommended baking time is up by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcakes. If it comes out clean without any wet batter, they are ready.
These cupcakes are baked in muffins liners measuring 4.5cm in diameter at the bottom, 5.5cm diameter at the top and 3.5cm tall. and the recipe makes approximately 14 cupcakes. If you use large or smaller liners, adjust the baking time accordingly.

Nutrition