Adapted from Ina Garten and Martha Stewart’s pumpkin cupcakes, this recipe has always been a favorite for me. Amazingly enough I even prefer it to pumpkin pie because it’s so moist, delicious and easy to make!
The cupcake recipe is kid-friendly, just a few bowls and a whisk is all you’ll need.
I was thrilled to have them featured in a local magazine, Good Life Magazine, and thank Katherine Elphick for the lovely article, and Ellie Kistemaker for the fantastic photographs!
It was fun to watch Ellie work and am grateful for the photography tips and tricks she shared with me!
The topper is also inspired by Martha’s version here. So quick and easy to make, they’re perfect for anything autumn or Halloween themed. If you’d like to make them, the recipes are below and here’s a little pumpkin how-to:
How to Make Pumpkin Toppers
You’ll Need:
- fondant
or gum paste - orange and brown gel paste coloring (green optional)
- toothpick
- royal icing (optional)
or 
and 
gel paste coloring (green optional)Here’s a quick visual summary for you:
And in more detail…
Instructions:
1. For the pumpkin garnishes, color a small amount of fondant orange.
You can vary the amounts as not all pumpkins are the same size, but as a guideline, I used approximately 10 g or 0.30 ounces.
2. Between the palms of your hands, roll the fondant into a ball.
3. Poke a hole in the top of each with a toothpick and rotate in a circular motion, creating an opening for the pumpkin stem.
4. Score lines into each pumpkin with a toothpick from top to bottom.
I go around a few times until I’m happy with the shape.
The batch on the left, below, was made with a little less food coloring. Make yours as bright or pale as you like by playing with the amount of color you add.
5. If the hole in the pumpkin is deep enough and the stems narrow enough at the base, the stems will stay inserted into the pumpkin, but for some added security, add a dab of royal icing inside the hole to act as a sweet glue.
6. Color a small amount of fondant brown. Roll tiny bits into stem shapes, score a few lines into the stem with a paring knife or toothpick and insert into the tops of the pumpkins.
7. Pumpkin Leaf – {Optional} Pictorial summary above and for detailed instructions click here).
Enjoy the recipe!
Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin purée
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger, into a medium bowl.
- In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
- Divide the batter among the muffin tin and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set pumpkin cupcakes aside to cool completely. These are delicious frosted with cream cheese icing or just as is!
Notes
Maple Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
- 254 grams 1 block) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tbs real maple syrup
- 1 lb icing sugar
Instructions
- Cream the cream cheese, butter and maple syrup in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Slowly add the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
- Once your cupcakes are cool, ice them with a butter knife or large piping bag and tip of your choice. (I used a large round tip – Ateco #809).
Hope this inspires you to try a new pumpkin recipe or do some fall baking. Do you have any pumpkin recipe favorites?
Share your thoughts with me here in the comment section below, or you can share them on Facebook or twitter.
Happy decorating!
xo,
Marian
These are adorable! Congrats on having them featured in a local magazine 🙂
I’m not seeing the recipe for these yummy sounding cupcakes. It may just be that I’m up too late! 🙂
Do you think marzipan pumpkins would work with the cupcakes?
Is there a recipe for these cupcakes?
Congratulations on the magazine feature Marian 🙂
Is there a recipe for your Maple Cream Cheese Frosting?
@ Kelly:
if you click on the link to The Good Life magazine, it brings up a digital copy of the issue and it opens to the article shown above where you can see the full recipes for the cupcakes and frosting. looks yummy!
Ohh i love these!! The cupcakes look really delicious, Marian.
And you know, those pumpkins you made out of fondant, can be easily made as Cake Pops too I think 🙂
Congrats on the The Good Life Magazine article..thats soo awesome.
Thanks for another sweet blogpost from you, my dear.
Happy Monday 🙂
xoxo, niner
Thanks for the comments guys!
There’s an issue with the recipe plug-in @ Kelly, @ Jean, @ Judy: I’m trying to figure it out, but hopefully will be fixed by the end of today. For now, thanks @ jodi, you can click through to the article.
For sure, @ Marian N: would be a nice texture with marzipan!
I can’t get over how easy those toppers are to make!
Oh my gosh so cute! I had pumpkins like that on my wedding cake:) Are you going to the redpath sugar show this month? I am counting down the days.
very cute pumpkins.. you make it look so simple to do!
ML
Perfectly plump little pumpkins sitting atop puffy clouds of frosting! Congratulations on the Good Life magazine feature. These are deliciously adorable cupcakes.
@ Kelly, @ Jean, @ jodi: The recipe is fixed now! 🙂
I am @ sue @ cakeballs, cookies and more! I’ll be posting about it this week. Can’t wait to meet you!
These are gorgeous! Can’t wait to try them.
@ marian:
I think I will be great, I am so looking forward to all the cool things I will want:)
by icing sugar do you mean confectioner’s sugar?
Hi @ bekki: Yes, that’s right. 🙂
Those pumpkin cupcakes look amazing! Great job on the pumpkins on top!
Marian, these are so incredibly cute!!! If I can get my act together my neighbors will get these sometime around Thanksgiving!
CONGRATULATIONS to be featured on the magazine. YAY!!!
What a cute tiny little Pumpkins. The cupcakes is perfection. Sooo delectable.
We dont have cans of pumpkin puree here in Australia so can you tell me how much mashed pumpkin I need to put in as a substitute please these sound awesome. Thanks
Hi @ Cheryl: The same amount in mashed pumpkin works, I’m guessing! 🙂
These look amazing. It is my son’s first birthday on Thanksgiving so I want to make these to celebrate both occasions.
Not a huge baker so I have two questions. Can you use table salt over kosher salt? And can you use dark brown sugar?
I have these items already in my pantry so I am just wondering! Thanks!
Thank you for this tutorial! They look so sweet! I will surely try out to make these!
Love all things “pumpkin” and it IS that time of year here in Ontario! I will definitely try this recipe and make some of those sweet pumpkin toppers. Thanks Marian, and congratulations on being featured in Good Life magazine!
HI @ Carly: Yes to both! 🙂 Have fun baking!
These are lovely! So clean and simple..perfect! 🙂
Love how these look. How much is 1lb of cream cheese, is it equal to 1 pkg ? Thanks in advance!
Hi @ Jen: If I’m remembering correctly, it was 2 packs. 🙂
Yummy! This’ll be great for Thanksgiving!
I made these cupcakes yesterday and they are fabulous! Simple, moist and delicious. I’m not a huge pumpkin fan and truthfully, cupcakes are often just a more polite vehicle to deliver frosting to my mouth than scooping it out of the bowl with my fingers. But these cupcakes are so good I actually put less frosting on the second batch. Good thing I bought the BIG can of pumpkin puree so I can whip up some more of this tastiness!
Thank you, Marian, for sharing the step-by-step of how to make cutie pumpkins including the specific weight! Sooo helpful =)
Marian, What size can did you use for the pumkin puree’?
Yay @ Tracey@Sugar Pixie Sweets! I’m so glad you like it!
Hi @ kathleen: I bought the larger can; I don’t know the volume right now as I don’t have any cans, but the larger can was enough to do 2 batches.
Just tried these and I am in love! They are so good we didn’t even wait to cool completely or frosted. Just warm from the oven!! Yummy thanks for the recipe!
Yay, @ Tammie Tornow: I’m so glad you like them!
Just made these and they are SO delicious. I found I had twice as much frosting as I needed so I’m freezing the rest. I drizzled extra maple syrup over the top. Thank you very much for a fab recipe!
Can pumpkin pie filling be used instead of pumpkin puree?
Yay! @ Lesley (Royal Bakery), SO glad you like them! I need to try drizzling the maple syrup too.. fab idea! xo
@ Shannon Leger: You sure can.
Hi, it’s Shatia! These cupcakes look AMAZING! I’m a cupcake and pumpkin fanatic and I can’t wait to try these out for Thanksgiving. I’m glad the recipe is really simple to follow. I love how cute they look too! Thanks for posting the recipe and the pictures. They really help!
I love the way you decorated these pumpkin cupcakes. So simple and elegant. Thanks for posting the recipe. The photography is awesome but I could have sworn it was taken outside until you showed a photo of the photo shoot. What setting did you have your camera on?
My pleasure, @ Shatia! Thank you for your lovely comment!
Hi @ buttercream bakehouse: I’m sorry, I didn’t take the photos so I don’t know; a professional photographer did… She’s in the photo above and her watermark is on the photos.