pumpkin muffin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

I am going to ignore the fact that the thermometer has lingered around the 80 degree mark for the past four days and tell you a little story about pumpkin.  And fall.  And how the two come together to create some magical things, including some that are more difficult to name than others.


This is the first fall in my life that I've ever enjoyed.  There have been an incredible amount of changes in my life, including the falling leaves, which makes me feel like I've been given a fresh start in a lot of ways.  One of which is my official promotion at work, which has been long awaited and much needed.  In short, I'm busier now than I've ever been in my life, and although sometimes it makes me crazy, I'm loving it.


One of the many great things in my life at the moment is Einstein Bagels' Autumn Roast coffee.  Sense no sarcasm here.  The joy I get from every sip of this heavenly, chestnut-y, cinnamon-y caffeinated beverage is incomprehensible to most.  It's best if you just try it yourself and report back.  It's kind of like a Jeep thing: if you don't have one, you just wouldn't understand.


And you know what pairs perfectly with fall-in-a-cup?  Pumpkin things.  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin scones, and pumpkin muffin cupcakes.  Why am I calling them muffin cupcakes?  Just look at them.  Several famous philosophers bloggers have long since debated the difference between cupcakes and muffins.  I would argue that frosting alone does not a cupcake make, nor does density a muffin make.  But these things turned out to characterize both of these wonderous food groups.  Hence the name.  No arguments.


This recipe comes from my Dad, who has always made pumpkin cake during the holidays.  My grandma used to specifically request it at every Christmas gathering on his side of the family, and most of the people I know who have tried it always love it.  It's super flavorful, rich, and moist.  It's pumpkin.  And cream cheese frosting.  Few things make more sense in the world than this combination.

But, the thing is, this story has an interesting background.  My original intention with this particular baking extravaganza was not actually to make Pumpkin Muffin Cupcakes.  What I was going to do was make pumpkin truffles to take to Dustin's place while we watched the Michigan game on Saturday.  What ensued from this idea was purely an epic disaster.  But luckily, as I was pouring the lovely pumpkin cake batter into my sheet pan, a thought popped in my head: maybe I should set some of this batter aside, and see how this batter would work in cupcake form!  I can't explain why I only had one good thought that night, but nonetheless, it truly was my only smart move the entire night.


I'll start with the positive, though.  The first thing about this recipe: a lot of spices go into it to make it as flavorful as it is.  I love the depth of flavor that goes into this, rather than just a store-bought pumpkin spice mixture.  

So, once you make your batter and place it in your baking dish (my dad usually uses a bundt pan, but since I was just going to have a field day with my childish pleasure of breaking the cake into smithereens, I figured there was really no point in making it look fancy just for my horrible oven.)  Here it is fresh out of said oven.  Baked well.  Looks normal, if not delicious.

Then came the disaster.  I started tearing the cake apart and putting it into the bowl with the frosting.  But I didn't have enough cream cheese to make my normal batch, so I didn't have the appropriate frosting:cake ratio.  But would I give up here?  Never.  It'll be okay, right?

Wrong.  That's the key to making these truffles: you have to have enough frosting to make them sticky and pliable.  In my ever-logical mind, I figured I was saving myself some calories and that it would be fine.  The cake has a cup of oil in it, Melissa.  Try that thought again.

I know, you totally want to submit this to Bon Apetit on my behalf right now, don't you?  But I still had shreds of optimism.  I made my cake balls.  I was lightheaded and a bit shaky, but I formed that whole bowl into what could be argued as ball formation.  Or rather, cake-balls-that-look-terrifyingly-similar-to-meatballs.

I know, I KNOW.  But, in my own defense, they actually taste pretty great, once you get past the appearance.


The next step is to dip them in chocolate.  Simple, right?  It's not like I haven't melted chocolate in a double boiler before.  It's also not as if I don't know how to do this.  Or that I just didn't care at this point because the cake balls were just so pretty as they were.  It's just that I was tired, and it was Friday night, and Morgan was over, and I just wanted to get these done before I passed out after a long week, and a long weekend of more work ahead of me.


I burnt the chocolate.  I tried "dipping" the balls in the grainy burnt chocolate mess.


Okay...I can't continue.  I couldn't bring myself to document this portion of the disaster with a photo.  Let's just call it a disaster (and me an optimist turned imbusile) and just focus on my success of the whole endeavor: four [yes, four. I told you how glad I was that I had one smart thought all night and saved some batter while pouring it into the sheet pan] Pumpkin Muffin Cupcakes.


All things aside, though, these turned out pretty well.  I wouldn't say they make the best "cupcakes", since the cake has always been known to yield a pretty firm outer layer that is more well-done than I would prefer my cupcakes.  Also, I decided that I don't like my muffin/cupcake pan - the cups are far too wide and far too shallow.  But nonetheless, this recipe still makes for an excellent bundt or sheet cake if you desire.


Pair with a great cup of Einstein's Autumn Roast.  I am adamant that no other beverage will compliment this dessert as beautifully.

Pumpkin Muffin Cupcakes
from my dad

Cake:
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups white sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 lb pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Beat eggs and sugar together on medium speed until well incorporated. 
3. Beat pumpkin into egg and sugar mixture for 30 seconds on medium speed. Stir in oil.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix well to combine. 
5. Pour batter into a 9x13" pan or a regular size bundt pan, and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1. Beat cream cheese and butter together for 3 minutes until fluffy. 
2. Stir in vanilla. 
3. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, while beating on low speed. Add more or less powdered sugar until desired consistency is achieved.