Pumpkin spice cupcakes are a simple sponge. Cream 150 g of butter with 150 g of light brown sugar, beat in three eggs, fold in self-raising flour and 1½ tsp of pumpkin spice, and bake at 180°C for 18 to 20 minutes. That's how to make pumpkin spice cupcakes, and the baking is the easy half. The half that catches most Irish bakers out is the spice. Pumpkin pie spice is an American blend that rarely sits in an Irish cupboard, and without it you've baked a plain bun with a vague smell of cinnamon.
You get twelve cupcakes that smell of cinnamon and clove as soon as they leave the oven, quick enough to bake the afternoon before Halloween.
What Ingredients Do Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes Need?
Pumpkin spice cupcakes need butter, light brown sugar, eggs, self-raising flour, vanilla extract, instant coffee and pumpkin spice mix (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice), plus icing sugar for the frosting. Apart from the spice mix, most of that is already in a well-stocked Irish baking cupboard.
Soft butter comes first. Butter that dents under your thumb creams into the sugar and traps air, which is what makes the sponge light, while butter straight from the fridge leaves greasy pockets. A block of Connacht Gold Butter left out for an hour is ready to cream.
Salted or unsalted both work here, and the spices cover the difference.
Caster sugar can't match the caramel depth of light brown sugar, which also keeps the crumb soft. If you bake with Billington's light muscovado sugar, it works here too and adds a slightly deeper caramel note.
There's no baking powder to measure, because the sponge rises on self-raising flour. No self-raising in the cupboard? Use 150 g of plain flour with 2 tsp of baking powder.
A teaspoon of vanilla extract in both the sponge and the frosting rounds off the spices. A tablespoon of instant coffee, dissolved in a little hot water, adds a roasted depth that deepens them.
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes Recipe Card
Makes 12 cupcakes. Prep 15 minutes, bake 18 to 20 minutes. Oven 180°C (160°C fan).
For the cupcakes
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150 g butter, softened
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150 g light brown soft sugar
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3 medium eggs
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150 g self-raising flour
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1½ tsp pumpkin spice mix
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1 tsp vanilla extract
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1 tbsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbsp just-boiled water
For the spiced buttercream
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150 g butter, softened
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300 g icing sugar, sifted
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½ tsp pumpkin spice mix
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½ tsp vanilla extract
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1 tsp milk, only if the frosting is too stiff
To decorate
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Pumpkin or ghost marshmallows, if you can find them
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Bright sprinkles
Can You Use Mixed Spice Instead of Pumpkin Spice?
Yes. Mixed spice swaps in at the same amount. It's the same jar that flavours many an Irish Halloween barmbrack, so there's a fair chance it's already in your press. Blends vary in how sweet and how peppery they run, so taste a pinch before you commit.
Pumpkin spice itself is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. It's the mix that goes into pumpkin pie, and pumpkin pie gave it its name. In America it sits on the shelf beside the cinnamon.
If you want it ready mixed, McCormick pumpkin pie spice is stocked at Kate's Kitchen. These cupcakes need only 2 tsp in total, 1½ tsp for the sponge and ½ tsp for the frosting.
To mix your own, stir together 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, ½ tsp of ground ginger, ¼ tsp of ground nutmeg and a small pinch each of ground cloves and ground allspice. More ginger makes the blend warmer, less clove makes it softer, and the jars will cover plenty of other bakes through the autumn.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes Step by Step
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Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
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Stir the instant coffee into 1 tbsp of just-boiled water and leave it to cool while you mix.
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In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and light brown sugar with an electric mixer or stand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes, until pale and light and fluffy. The air goes in now, so don't rush it.
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Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. If the mixture starts to curdle and looks split and grainy, stir in a spoonful of the flour with the next egg.
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In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and 1½ tsp of the pumpkin spice mix together so the spices spread evenly through the dry ingredients. Sift them over the batter and add the vanilla extract and the cooled coffee. Fold with a large metal spoon, cutting down through the middle and turning the batter over, until no streaks remain. Stop as soon as the mixture is smooth, because over-mixing makes tough cupcakes.
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Spoon the batter into the cases, or use an ice cream scoop for even portions, filling each about two-thirds full.
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Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cupcakes are risen and golden and a skewer in the centre comes out clean.
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Leave them in the tin for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Warm cupcakes melt the frosting.
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Beat the 150 g of softened butter on its own for 3 minutes until pale. Sift in the icing sugar in two or three goes, beating on low first so it doesn't puff across the kitchen. Add ½ tsp of the pumpkin spice mix and ½ tsp of vanilla extract, then beat for another minute until fluffy. Loosen with 1 tsp of milk only if it's stiff.
That gives you twelve spiced cupcakes and a bowl of frosting.
Do Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes Contain Pumpkin?
Not in this recipe. Pumpkin spice describes the blend, not an ingredient, which is why these bake into a light, fluffy sponge instead of the heavier, moister crumb you get when pumpkin goes into the batter. It also means there's no tinned puree to track down.
Search for pumpkin spice cupcakes and you'll see both kinds mixed together. Check whether a cupcake recipe lists tinned pumpkin before you start. If you'd like to bake with the real thing, the guide to pumpkin puree explains what it does in a batter and how to tell it apart from pie filling. That keeps the wrong tin out of the bowl.
How Do You Decorate Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes for Halloween?
Pipe a swirl of buttercream on each cupcake and press a pumpkin or ghost marshmallow into the top if you can find one. No marshmallow? Spoon some marshmallow fluff onto the swirl and pull it up into a peak for a little ghost. Finish with a scatter of bright sprinkles.
A swirl makes a cupcake look bakery-made, and it takes about a minute once you've done it once. Fit a piping bag with any large star piping tip, fill it with the frosting, and pipe from the outside edge inward in one spiral, finishing with a small lift. No piping bag? The back of a spoon gives a rustic swirl that looks just as deliberate.
If you'd rather have tangy cream cheese frosting, which is what most pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese get, beat 150 g of softened butter with 150 g of icing sugar until smooth. Then beat in 300 g of full-fat cream cheese just until it comes together. Add ½ tsp of cinnamon and you have cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Beating too long loosens it, so stop early and chill it for 15 minutes before piping.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Far Ahead Can I Bake Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes?
Up to two days, unfrosted, in an airtight tin at room temperature. Frost them on the day. If you've used the cream cheese frosting, keep them in the fridge and take them out 20 minutes before serving.
How Much Frosting Do 12 Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes Need?
150 g of butter and 300 g of icing sugar covers all 12 with a generous swirl.
Can You Make Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes Without Instant Coffee?
Yes. Leave it out and the sponge tastes a little lighter.
Why Did My Cupcakes Turn Out Dense?
Nearly always the mixing. Stop folding the moment the streaks disappear, because every extra turn toughens the crumb. Cold eggs and cold butter are the other usual cause, so take both out an hour before you start.
Ready to Bake Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes?
If you'd rather not mix your own spice, a ready-made pumpkin pie spice sits in the American Foods collection with the other autumn baking staples. Seasonal lines tend to sell through fast, so ordering a week ahead is easier than hunting for it the night before you bake.
Sort the spice first, then take the butter out an hour before you bake.
