I love autumn. The promise of a new season is in the air – sunlight washed out and casting long shadows, cool evenings, misty mornings, and lots of jumpers and scarfs. These cupcakes are autumn, perfectly encapsulated in cake. The warming spices of cinnamon, ginger and clove and delicious warmth of the pumpkin cupcakes pair with the cool tangy taste of the cream cheese frosting so well.
This is an easy, straightforward recipe – simply mixing your dry ingredients and then combining with the wet. It produces an amazingly moist cupcake that a friend of mine described as the best cupcake she’s ever eaten – they really are bursting with flavour. I topped mine with sprinkles, a dash of cinnamon, and some crumbled pumpkin cupcake – you can also leave them bare – whatever makes you happy.
You can buy canned pumpkin online or at Ocado or Waitrose if you happen to do your shopping with them! This cupcake recipe would also be delicious with maple spiked cream cheese frosting such as this one by Ina Garten. I’d recommend using my cream cheese frosting recipe given below, and then adding a tablespoon or so of pure maple syrup and topping with some chopped roasted pecans. Mmmmm!


- 300g plain flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 150g light brown sugar
- 200g caster sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 240ml vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 can pumpkin puree
- For the frosting: See my foolproof cream cheese frosting post (link below)
- First, preheat your oven to 180C/gas 4/350F and prepare two cupcake tins with liners. I used a mixture of autumnal/Halloween colours.
- Then, in a large bowl, sift in your dry ingredients, including the flour, salt, and spices. In another bowl or jug, measure out your oil and whisk in the four eggs until they're combined. Add the vanilla bean paste.
- Combine your wet and dry ingredients in a large bowl until just mixed - don't overbeat. Resist the urge to eat all of the batter (if you can!). Scoop around 2 heaped tablespoons of mixture into each cupcake case, and pop into the oven for bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and spring back to the touch.
Here’s the recipe for my foolproof cream cheese frosting!
Please make these one windswept autumn day…
x Kerry
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I also wanted to ask you what recipe app you use! (Or maybe it’s not a plug in?) I love your recipe format!
Thanks Liz!! It’s called recipecard, it’s a free wordpress plugin – I really like it!
Yummy! Can’t wait to start baking with pumpkin again!
Oh wow, the perfect fall treat!
Yummy. I could eat one right now.
PS I adore cupcakes made with oil rather than butter.
Thank you! Yes I love the oil thing too – SO moist!