elleCUISINIERS

I may sound like a broken record, because I've just posted this on my own blog, and will have this printed in a local newspaper, but I thought I would share anyway.

I had a kitchen epiphany the other day. I had doubled the Pumpkin filling recipe that I thought made enough for 1 pie. So, I had two pies, and enough filling for 4. It's delicious filling, no sense to make it go to waste, especially since I slaved all day over baking the sugar pie pumpkin. So with the ingredients on hand I made snickerdoodles, and combined the two. What a joy these little cupcakes are!! They're just like Thanksgiving and with perfect portion control. They're also (I found out later) fabulous for crispy Autumnal picnics.

For a printable recipe card click HERE. To see my original post, go here.

From Pumkin Pie & Pumperdoodle Cupcakes

Pumpkin Minicakes

Makes about 18

Dough:

• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Cream butter, sugar and egg. Beat well. Sift together dry ingredients and mix into butter and sugar mixture. Press about 1 large spoonful of dough into bottom of cupcake cups.

Filling:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree*
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch salt
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325º. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt and whisk until smooth. Add the cream, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla and whisk until just smooth. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of filling onto dough.
Bake cupcakes about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Chill and serve with maple whipped cream: 1 cup heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of maple syrup until soft peak forms.

*Notes: I used fresh pumpkin. To prepare, preheat oven to 425ºF. Cut the pumpkin in half and place it cut-side down on a baking sheet. Roast until tender, 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and puree in food processor or blender until smooth. Also, if you don’t have maple syrup on hand, a traditional pancake syrup works well, too.