Pumpkin Cupcakes
I’m feeling a little inferior today. One of my biggest fears about starting this blog was taking food photos. People have to eat with their eyes on a food blog since you can’t smell it cooking or lick the bowl. The photos have to make you imagine that you are there in the room with the food and you so want to devour it.
There’s so much to learn with food photography. Lighting, props, background, colors, timing. Did I mention lighting? Do you know how hard it is to get natural lighting shots when it gets dark at what seems like 3:30 in the afternoon here in Wisconsin during the month of November? I know I’m exaggerating but for a rookie, I need all the help I can get. See there’s so much to learn!
So I ask that you bear with me as I’m trying to learn how to use my super duper camera and shoot food shots that you’ll actually want to eat. But just in case some shots don’t turn out like the magazine spreads (hee, hee – that’ll be the day) take my word for it, the food tastes good and that if you could smell it or lick the bowl, you’d be devouring it with us.
Print RecipePumpkin Cupcakes
I found this recipe over at the Joy of Baking. It was easy to make but made more than the recipe called for. They were moist and would taste wonderful with a cream cheese frosting on them!
Yield: 18 cupcakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 18 - 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature – if you only have salted butter in the house, go ahead and use it, just omit the ½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup solid packed, canned pumpkin puree
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non stick vegetable spray.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add pumpkin puree. Mix well. Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Stir in flour and mix well.
Fill the muffin cups evenly with the batter using an ice cream or cookie scoop. Place in the oven and bake for about 18 - 20 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.
The original recipe said it would make 12 cupcakes, I got 18 out of my batter.
Recipe from the
Wife, mom, business owner, volunteer, lover of chocolate, procrastinator of cleaning, experiencing life in my 40’s and not putting off to tomorrow what I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I stop lookin’ and get cookin’ in all areas of life.
OH, they look yummy! (Kudos to the photographer!) Love the way you iced them, also.
Pure pumpkin puree – I’m guessing you don’t mean Libby’s? Seriously, I felt devastated when I found out Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin wasn’t pumpkin at all, but squash. I love that stuff! Hey, I’m not a purist – if it tastes good, to-MAY-toe, too-MAH-toe. What do you think?
(http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-pantry/canned-pumpkin-what-is-it-really-made-of-069123)
Kendra replied: — November 22nd, 2011 @ 3:11 pm
I did use Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin that lists the ingredient as pumpkin and only pumpkin.
Love the frosting ideas.