It’s finally fall! I have waited a whole summer for fall, and it has not been easy. But we made it. It’s here. It. Is. Fall.
Ok now that we know that its finally fall, lets talk about why that’s the best. Fall is awesome. Examples: Halloween, Sweaters, Leaves, Thanksgiving, and most importantly: Pumpkin. I love pumpkin. Like, I love, love pumpkin. I might even go as far to say I love, love, love pumpkin. I love it in everything, from savory to sweet, cake to cookie, drink to dinner, and everything in between! In my opinion, one of the best ways to eat pumpkin is in a pumpkin spice latte. The warm coffee, mixed with the fall spices and sweet nutty pumpkin, topped with buttery cream, it just makes you feel all cozy inside. So I thought, why not turn this classic drink into a cupcake? Why, you ask? Because cupcakes are cool. It’s a well known fact.
Describe these cupcakes to me
Ok let’s talk about the flavors in these cupcakes. You get a sweet nutty flavor from the pumpkin, and a slightly bitter taste from the coffee. It just makes you feel all warm and cozy inside. The fall spices bring out the sweet flavor of the pumpkin, and just happen to compliment the coffee as well. It really just tastes like somebody took the “essence” of fall, threw it into some cupcake liners, and tossed it into the oven. And it is delicious.
As for the texture, these are very moist and light. Thank you whipped egg whites! You get a moist crumb with every bite and it is just wonderful.
And finally for difficulty levels, these cupcakes are pretty simple. However, both the frosting and the cake have multiple steps, but none of them are too difficult. You can easily knock out a batch of these in the afternoon after work or school.
The frosting
So, I had a hard time choosing what frosting to use for these cupcakes. My first thought was cream cheese, becuase the tangyness of the cream cheese compliments the sweetness of the pumpkin spice. Classic combo. But then I was thinking whipped cream, which would symbolize the cream on top of a latte. So I decided to do a mash up. We start by making a simple cream cheese frosting with coffee and spices. Then we whip up some heavy cream and partially fold it into the cream cheese. I like to leave a few streaks of whipped cream because visually, it makes it look more like a latte, but also you can get some buttery creamy pockets of flavor in every bite.
How do we get our flavors?
When I was in the working on this recipe, I got the flavors right away, but it was difficult to balance the texture with the flavor. In order to get our flavors, we need to use pumpkin puree and brewed coffee. These both add a lot of moisture and dense-ness to the cupcakes. Baking powder and baking soda help the cupcakes rise and get fluffy, but the whipped egg whites turned out to be the key. Whipping egg whites adds a lot of air to the batter, which will make the cupcakes tall and fluffy.
Success tips
Let me just say that these cupcakes are best enjoyed with a cozy fall sweater by the fire. That’s my number one tip. But here are a few technical tips to ensure success when making these cupcakes.
1. Blot the pumpkin. This is a very important step to creating a balanced texture in the cupcake. Blotting is when you squeeze some of the moisture out of the pumpkin. This will make it so our cupcakes are not dense.
2. Make sure your melted butter and brewed coffee are cooled. If either of these are too hot when added to the rest of the wet ingredients, then you run the risk of cooking the egg yolks. Both ingredients should feel warm, but not be too hot to touch.
3. Add the espresso powder to the wet ingredients. When I was formulating this recipe, I tried adding the espresso powder to the dry ingredients, but I found it gets better mixed in when you whisk it in with the wet ingredients.
4. Fully whip the egg whites. You want medium-stuff peaks. This means when you lift your whisk out of the bowl of whipped whites, a peak will stand up on its own. If you under whip the egg whites, then the cupcakes will fall apart. If you over whip them, they will be heavy and dense. Also, be mindful when folding the whites into the batter, you don’t want to deflate them!
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 3 large egg yolks at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup brewed coffee at room temperature
- 3 large egg whites at room temperature
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces full fat cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (plus more for optional decoration.)
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- A few coffee beans For optional decoration
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 count muffin tin with cupcake liners. Set aside.
Blot the pumpkin puree
- Place the pumpkin purée in a bowl lined with paper towels. Press on the top of the puree with a paper towel. The paper towels will soak up some of the moisture from the pumpkin. Place the blotted pumpkin puree in a separate bowl and set aside.
Make the cupcakes
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the blotted pumpkin, unsalted butter, brown sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, espresso powder, and coffee. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined.
- In a medium bowl whip the egg whites on medium high speed until medium-stiff peaks form. You can do this with a handheld or stand mixer. You can also do it by hand but It may take longer, and will be a lot harder. You have medium- stiff peaks when a whisk lifted out of the bowl will leave a peak that stands by itself.
- Slowly and carefully, fold the whipped egg whites into the batter. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites. Try not to over mix.
- Pour/scoop the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin. I like to aim for filling them ⅔ of the way. Bake the cupcakes for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting
- In a large bowl, using either a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until combined and creamy. Add the vanilla, confectioners sugar, pumpkin pie spice, espresso powder, and salt. Beat on medium low speed for 30 seconds and then turn up to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whip the heavy cream with a whisk until stiff peaks form. If you are doing this by hand, it will take around 5 minutes, and if you do it with a mixer (handheld or stand) it will take around 2 minutes.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese frosting, trying not to deflate it. I like to leave a few streaks of the whipped cream because I think it resembles the foam on top of a latte.
- Frost the cupcakes. You can just use a spatula and smear the frosting on top, or you can put the frosting into a piping bag and pipe it on. I use a Wilton 4B piping tip to create a swirl. Top with a sprinkle of pumpkin spice and a few coffee beans if desired.
Notes
In a small bowl whisk together:
•1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves