Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

So much for summer -- Fall has arrived in all it's glory. It's really my favorite season with all the great colors and the chill in the air. Ok, the chill in the air never really left this year except for a couple weeks in September, but who's counting?

This "summer" I've been busy doing lefse classes and making lefse for the farmers market in Bemidji, but a couple weeks ago, I thought I should make something with some fall flavors, so I thought pumpkin. And I found these great cupcake papers online (I know, most people don't get excited by cupcake wrappers, but that's just me) so I made some pumpkin cupcakes and I thought I'd use my tried and true cream cheese frosting, but this time with some orange zest thrown in. Well, they were a big hit at the market and have been every week since.

The recipe is really pretty easy and you can use fresh (baked and mashed) or canned pumpkin.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

(Makes about 18 large or 24 regular cupcakes)

Mix dry ingredients together:

3 cups AP flour

1 Tbls. Pumpkin Pie Spice (I mix up my own version using cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and ginger, but you can buy it pre-mixed)

2 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Salt

1 1/2 Cups Sugar

In another bowl, mix wet ingredients together:

1/2 Cup buttermilk

About 2 cups mashed pumpkin (or one 15 oz can)

4 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

Combine wet and dry until completely mixed.

Scoop into cupcake papers and bake at 350 for 25 mins. or until toothpick comes out clean.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

1- 8 oz package Cream Cheese, softened

2 sticks butter, softened

1-16 oz bag powdered sugar

Zest of one orange, plus a tablespoon juice

Mix well until creamy

Frost cupcakes when they are completely cool. (I use a pastry bag with a large round tip.)

Never Fail Marshmallow Frosting

I made some vanilla cupcakes the other day and tried a new frosting recipe. It doesn't say it's '7 minute' frosting, but it looks very much the same as other recipes I've seen. It's also very similar to how to make marshmallows, but they have gelatin, but this frosting doesn't. This is very easy and like the recipe says, it's 'never fail' -- always a good thing in my book. For these cupcakes, I used a piping bag.

Fluffy White Marshmallow Frosting

(makes enough for 18-24 cupcakes)

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/3 cup water

Pinch of salt

2 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix first four ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over egg whites, add vanilla and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. (It may seem to take a long time, but keep beating and you'll notice the change.)