Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Cupcakes

So, I hope you liked my Hallowe’en pumpkin soup recipe from earlier in the week! The second recipe I want to share with you this week, are my mouth watering pumpkin spice chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting!

Ingredients (gluten free)

For the cupcakes (makes 12)

• 125g butter
• 135g brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (UK) or 1 sachet Vanillinzucker (Germany)
• 100g gluten free flour (e.g. Dove’s Farm in the UK or Schär in Germany)
• 1 heaped teaspoon gluten free baking powder
• 2 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1-2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
• a pinch of salt
• 25g ground almonds
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

To make your own pumpkin spice, mix together 2 parts ground cinnamon, 1 part ground ginger, and half a part each of ground allspice and ground nutmeg. I usually make up a little tub full to have on hand for baking (e.g. 2 tablespoons/1 tablespoon/0.5 tablespoon/ 0.5 tablespoon). For a subtle pumpkin spice flavour add 1 teaspoon to your cupcake mixture, for a more intense flavour add 2 teaspoons.

For the icing

• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g smooth peanut butter
• 300g icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

• Pre heat your oven to 180°C.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs.
• If you’re using vanilla extract, stir it into your mixture now. If you’re using the vanilla sugar, add that during the next step.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, pumpkin spice and salt (and if you’re using vanilla sugar sift that in too), then stir in the ground almonds.
• Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture with a large metal spoon.
• Add 3 – 4 tablespoons of milk until the mixture drops off the back of your spoon.
• Spoon the mixture into a 12 hole muffin tray lined with paper cases until the cases are half full.
• Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes (check after 10) until the cupcakes are golden-brown on top.
• Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them from the tin (they’re so soft when they come out the oven that they could otherwise fall apart), then leave to cool completely before icing!
• For the icing, beat the butter and peanut butter in a bowl until soft, then add half the icing sugar until you have a smooth mixture.
• Beat in the other half of the icing sugar, then add 1 tablespoon of milk.
• If you feel the icing is still too thick, you can add another tablespoon of milk, but since icing sugar is involved proceed with caution as you icing can quickly become to runny.
• Fill the icing into a piping bag (if you don’t have a piping bag you can use a sandwich bag with a corner cut off) and pipe a swirl of icing onto each cupcake. Remember, the cupcakes need to be completely cooled – otherwise the icing will melt!

You can decorate your cupcakes with some sprinkles if you like, but be sure to check the ingredients if you need them to be gluten free, as many sprinkles are made with wheat flour!