A quick word of caution to any picky, purist foodies out there… I cheated on these cupcakes! I love making things from scratch. I can control the ingredients (which also means the calories), and it is much cheaper than going with the boxed stuff or pre-made options. BUT, I decided to take the easy way out this time, and went with boxed yellow cake mix for this recipe. Even still, I am not going to give it the “Quick and Easy” classification though, because I did go the long route with the pumpkin purée and the frosting.

I roasted a pumpkin (from my garden), in the exact same manner as I prepared this acorn squash. I then carved out the flesh and puréed it in a food processor. We even made a pumpkin cream cheese frosting from scratch, so I guess it’s not all bad.

Pumpkins are going on sale now, so it is a great time to make all of those pumpkin recipes you have been seeing around the Internet and drooling over.

Check out the color the cinnamon and pumpkin add to the cupcakes!

On a slightly different note… Si tengo lectores Mexicanos, Feliz DÍia de los Muertos! (Happy Day of the Dead) For anyone unfamiliar, it is a holiday that focuses on getting together with one’s friends and family and remembering lost loved ones. I thought it fitting to share this, because one way the people honor their lost friends and family is by preparing the deceased’s favorite foods and offering them as gifts at the graves. In college I spent two semesters in Mexico, and I was able to attend some DÍia de los Muertos celebrations. This was truly an amazing experience, and I would encourage you to read more about this holiday. But, in the spirit of the day, let’s all take a minute to remember those we have lost and think back on the positive ways they touched our lives.

Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 box yellow cake mix (prepared as directed, but leave out about 3/4 cup of the water)
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups fresh pumpkin purée
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• food coloring

METHOD

1. Roast the pumpkin until the meat is tender. For further instructions on this step, see this acorn squash post.

2. Remove the flesh from the pumpkin, and purée in a food processor. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Combine 1 – 1/2 cups of the pumpkin mixture into the cake mix, and prepare the batter as directed, but leave out about 3/4 cup of the water. The pumpkin will add enough liquid to make up for this.

4. Pour the batter into cupcake liners and bake as directed on the package. Allow them to cool on a wire rack prior to applying the frosting.

5. To make the frosting, blend together the butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add in the rest of the pumpkin, and 1 cup of the powdered sugar at a time, blending well between each addition.

3. You could just go ahead and spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a knife, but Abby decided to be fancy, and added some yellow and red food coloring to make the frosting orange. After piping that onto the cupcakes, she added enough green food coloring to turn the whole batch green (for the pumpkin stems), and finally added some of each color to get it as close to black as possible (for the Jack-o-lantern face).

The frosting was fairly thin, but set up a little more by refrigeration. I would definitely recommend refrigerating these prior to serving.

What do you think, do you like the cute Jack-o-lantern faces?