Pumpkin and Chai Cupcakes

These pumpkin and chai cupcakes will very quickly become your favourite, seasonal treat! Beautiful and light sponge topped with creamy frosting packed with warming spices. Perfect company for your favourite cuppa!

Hello friends!

Hopefully by now, you all are enjoying beautiful Autumn and all of the fantastic produce it has on offer. I know I am! With pumpkin being the most obvious and popular one, I have a perfect recipe for you today to celebrate the return of this glorious ingredient!

Pumpkin and Chai Cupcakes

What’s better at this time of the year than a nice, hot cuppa and a cosy jumper? Well, it will be nice, hot cuppa, cosy jumper and utterly delicious pumpkin and chai cupcake if you ask me( also, my pumpkin cinnamon rolls or apple and pumpkin handpies will fit nicely). These beautiful and easy to prepare cupcakes are made with light and moist sponge topped with super creamy, smooth chai flavoured frosting.

They will make you feel warm and fuzzy from the inside, and once you tried them, you will keep making them again and again!

What ingredients do I need to make pumpkin cupcakes?

If you feel a bit discouraged by the long list of ingredients, don’t! It may look like a lot, but it actually isn’t much more than any other, classic cupcake recipe.

Let’s look at the cupcake batter ingredients first. There are two groups here, your dry and wet ingredients.

Dry ingredients consist of flour (I used plain flour, however spelt, wholemeal or buckwheat flour will also work well!), ground nutmeg, mixed spice and cinnamon. Rising agents- baking soda and baking powder, and essential pinch of salt.

The wet ingredients include softened, unsalted butter, light, soft brown sugar and golden caster sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, pumpkin puree and milk of choice.

Chai flavoured frosting ingredients

I’m a firm believer that chai flavour is one of the best flavours in the world! The combination of all these fragrant, aromatic and warming spices is heavenly and perfect for this time of the year.

To make the chai flavoured frosting, you will need unsalted butter, icing sugar, and the combination of spices. Cinnamon, ginger, mixed spice, black pepper, some salt and vanilla.

How to make pumpkin cupcakes

Start by sifting all the dry ingredients into a medium bowl. Mix them lightly to combine, then move on to the wet ingredients.

Using a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together. You can also mix it by hand, if you prefer.

Add the oil and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Tip in the pumpkin puree and keep mixing until smooth. Add half of the flour mixture followed by the milk. Mix until just combined and repeat with the remaining flour. Divide this batter into muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

To make the frosting, simply beat all of the ingredients until smooth and fluffy. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before you top them up with the frosting. You can use the piping bag or just simply spread some of the frosting into each cupcake.

Can I freeze these cupcakes?

Yes you can! You can freeze frosted or unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer for up to three months. To freeze them, firstly, ensure you have enough room in your freezer. Place cooled cupcakes on a tray or container and put them in the freezer. After about 6 hours, the buttercream will be frozen. Remove the cupcakes from the freezer and wrap each cupcake individually in cling film.

Transfer the wrapped, frozen cupcakes into a sturdy, airtight container, tall enough to accommodate the cupcakes and place again in the freezer.

Before you are ready to serve the frozen cupcakes, place them in the fridge for about 2 hours (still wrapped and in the container). This will allow them to slowly come to the room temperature. It will also prevent any condensation from forming inside the plastic wrap as well as keep the frosting from sweating.

Thanks for reading today’s post! As always, let me know if you try this, or any other of my recipes. Leave me a comment and a rating below!

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