Pumpkin Blackberry Cupcakes
Mom and I made another entry for the Iron Cupcake Earth: Berries Challenge. They are SO delicious! These are definitely in my top five cupcakes... Mmmmm.... These cupcakes are a moist ginger pecan cupcakes, their texture and flavor are unbeatable. We filled them with a fresh blackberry sauce. Since mom and I couldn't agree on what flavor to top them with, some were frosted with anise buttercream and others had maple buttercream. (Both of them turned out spectacular, but I preferred the anise.) To dress them up a little we added a few more pieces of candied ginger and a drizzle of extra blackberry sauce.
Although we had a lot of fun making these, we did run into a little trouble along the way... My mom was going to roll up some cute miniature diplomas to put on them since they were going to be eaten by some high school graduates. She was sitting up at the bar and I was making the buttercream on the counter space just below the bar. She accidentally knocked her spool of string in to the bag of powdered sugar. I darted to try to catch it before it fell in, and in the meantime I spilled the bottle of maple extract all over the counter. Some of the extract even splashed on to a wall! I guess maybe we were both subconsciously trying to sabotage each other's attempt to make a different flavor of frosting than we wanted. Oh well, in the end, everything was cleaned up and we made great cupcakes! :)
INGREDIENTS FOR THE GINGER PECAN PUMPKIN CUPCAKES:
3 cups flour
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups pumpkin purée
2 cups pumpkin purée
2/3 cup melted butter
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup water
1-2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1-2 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 teaspoon ground cloves
1-2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
4-5 Tbsp candied ginger (in small pieces)
1/4 cup candied ginger (reserve for decorating the tops of the cupcakes)
DIRECTIONS FOR PUMPKIN CUPCAKES:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the pumpkin, melted butter, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, until just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Fold in the 4-5 tbsp. of candied ginger and chopped nuts. Spoon mixture into a lined cupcake pan. Bake for apx. 20 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake. If it comes out clean, it's done. Allow to completely cool. If adding the blackberry filling, puncture the center of the cupcake with a large frosting piping tip and discard the "plugs."
DIRECTIONS FOR PUMPKIN CUPCAKES:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the pumpkin, melted butter, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, until just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Fold in the 4-5 tbsp. of candied ginger and chopped nuts. Spoon mixture into a lined cupcake pan. Bake for apx. 20 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake. If it comes out clean, it's done. Allow to completely cool. If adding the blackberry filling, puncture the center of the cupcake with a large frosting piping tip and discard the "plugs."
INGREDIENTS FOR BLACKBERRY SAUCE:
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 cups frozen or fresh black berries
1-2 tsp. cornstarch
DIRECTIONS FOR BLACKBERRY SAUCE:
Melt the butter in a heavy pot, add the sugar and stir. Add in the blackberries and gently but continuously fold until a sauce has formed. Add the cornstarch and allow to cool. Fill the cupcake holes with the sauce. Reserve some for topping the frosting.
INGREDIENTS FOR ANISE OR MAPLE BUTTERCREAM:
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. anise extract
1 tsp. maple extract
DIRECTIONS FOR BUTTERCREAM:
Mix the butter and powdered sugar together until fluffy in the mixer. Split the buttercream in half. Add the anise extract to one batch and the maple extract to the other batch (unless of course, you want to do only one of these flavors.) Frost the cupcakes and then top with candied ginger pieces and blackberry sauce.
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Contact
- Stephanie "keckie"
- Englewood, Colorado, United States
- Want to buy my cupcakes? Email me at keckie.swenson@gmail.com
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