Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

Hello! It's going to be full-on FALL over here for the foreseeable future. For the last three years beginning in September, I would start travel for work until November. To give you a good idea of what this week looked like last year, I left on Sunday for Northern Virginia, was home for a weekend and then left again for 4 solid weeks. While it was fun to eat my way through Virginia for 3 months, I'm happy to say that I now have the ability to do some fall baking, go to my barre class, and GO ON VACATION! It's going to be a great fall and I am prepared to take full advantage. 

What better way to start off fall baking than with the most basic of fall treats: a PSL cupcake! Now, lets talk about PSLs.....for years I refused to get in on the PSL trend mainly because (don't tell anyone) I don't really like Starbucks' version of the PSL. Dunkin' Donuts Iced Pumpkin Macchiato on the other hand is something I can get behind. It's not overly sweet and it is extra creamy with a hint of spice and pumpkin. What more could a girl ask for? 

Actually, what a girl could ask for is an iced Toasted Graham Latte from Starbucks. Does anyone remember those? I drank 456 of those over three months as I was traveling in 2015. That drink is my favorite Starbucks drink of all time. Please bring it back! 

Anyway, back to these cupcakes. What we have here is a deliciously dense, spiced, pumpkin cake topped with the fluffiest coffee buttercream of all time. Seriously. I gave one of these to a friend and he thought it was whipped cream. So. Fluffy. 

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

recipe from The Whole Bite

For the cakes

3 cups flour

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon ginger

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 15 ounce can pumpkin

1 cup oil

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill 2 cupcake pans with liners. 
• In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients and set aside. 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer combine eggs brown sugar, pumpkin, and oil. 
• Add dry ingredients to the mixer on low speed until wet and dry ingredients are totally incorporated and smooth. 
• Using a medium batter scoop or spoon evenly distribute batter between the 2 prepared cupcake pans and bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 
• Remove cupcakes from pan and place on a wire cooling rack until ready to frost.

For the Coffee Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules 

pinch of salt

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat room temperature butter until smooth and creamy.
• Add powdered sugar and beat until just combined.
• Add vanilla and salt and beat on high until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• In a small measuring cup combine coffee granules with 1 tablespoon water and stir until the granules have dissolved. 
• Add coffee mixture to the buttercream and mix on medium speed until just combined. 
• Bump mixer up to the highest speed and beat until frosting gets lighter in color and super fluffy, about 2 - 3 minutes.
• Frost completely cooled cupcakes and top with cinnamon before serving. 

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caramel corn cupcakes

I blame these cupcakes on last week's weather. 

Last week was absolutely wonderful. The air was warm, but there was a crisp breeze to cut through all the humidity. Perfection. Plus, it seems like everywhere I went I smelled fried food and I automatically started craving fall. 

I love summer, but I'm definitely ready for football games, crunchy leaves, apple desserts, pumpkin lattes, bath and body works candles, and craft fairs. For me, fall is all about caramel and I always equate the season with caramel corn. I guess it's because the scent is so warm and inviting. All these things inspired me to put the flavors of caramel corn into a cupcake. 

So, these cakes start with boxed white cake mix, but we aren't going to follow the directions on the back of the package. We're adding whole eggs instead of egg whites, salted butter in place of oil, and substituting milk (with a little something extra) for the water. My goal was to make the cake itself taste more salty, buttery, popcorn and top it all off with a sweet puff of caramel-y frosting. Mission accomplished thanks to a few tricks!

 

Caramel Corn Cupcakes

makes at 24 cupcakes

For the Cake

1 16.5 ounce box Duncan Hines Classic White Cake

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup salted butter, melted

2 cups caramel corn plus more for decoration ( I used Cracker Jack but homemade would be good too)

1/8 teaspoon butter extract

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put caramel corn in a large bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan on medium-high, heat milk until tiny bubbles appear around the edge and immediately remove from heat. Pour scalded milk over the caramel corn and allow to steep and cool for about 10 minutes.

Once the milk is cool add it to the bowl of a mixer along with the cake mix, eggs, and melted butter.Mix until just combined and the cake mix is fully incorporated. Add in the butter extract and salt. Mix until just combined.

Spoon batter into 24 lined cupcake tins and bake for 13 - 15 minutes. Or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before removing cupcakes from the pan and cooling completely on wire racks.  

For the Frosting

2 sticks butter
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup caramel (either store-bought or homemade)
Pinch of salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter on medium speed. Once the butter is light and fluffy add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing completely before adding more. Add in caramel and salt and mix until well combined. Turn mixer on higher and whip until frosting is light and fluffy. 

Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with caramel corn and more caramel if you want!

Bring on the apple pie floats!

chocolate peppermint cupcakes.

I guess we have officially entered the holiday season! While most people are going crazy over the pumpkin spice lattes, my go-to holiday flavors are chocolate and mint. I've always put mint in my hot chocolate and I will be ordering peppermint mocha's for many more months to come.I find the flavor combination so festive and decadent I put them in a cupcake!

I cheated a little bit with these and used boxed cake mix, but the shining star of these little cakes is the peppermint icing. Soft chocolate cupcakes topped with cool peppermint frosting are a perfect sweet treat for this time of year.

If you want to make your cupcakes from scratch I recommend these from Joy the Baker. They are so freaking soft…I think I even made a comment about wanting a mattress made out of those cupcakes once. I still stand by that statement.

Peppermint Buttercream

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
splash of milk or cream, if needed

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together softened butter and cream cheese. 

Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time with mixer on low speed. When the sugar is incorporated mix on high for a minute or two.

Add in the peppermint extract and mix until combined.

If your frosting is too thick add in a splash of milk until it's creamy. 

Pipe onto your cooled cupcakes, top with crushed candy canes and chocolate syrup.