Pumpkin Cupcakes + Chocolate Ganache + Cream Cheese Frosting.

Pumpkin has made friends ya'll. Their names are chocolate and cream cheese.

Watch out tongue. Coming through!

If you had a can of pumpkin sitting on your counter, just staring at you, what would you do? I looked at it, then at my kids, and then at it again. Cupcakes? Yep. What kid doesn't love cupcakes? What kid doesn't love pumpkin cupcakes!? So we got right to it. 

Piper loves helping. She was the first to ask to help. Here she is helping with some oatmeal raisin cookies. She gets paid in dough. Literally.

Pumpkin Cake:

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 + 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cups oil (canola or vegetable)

scant cup applesauce (psst i use cinnamon, but plain works too)

1 cup sugar

scant cup brown sugar

2 heavy tsp vanilla

3 large eggs plus one yolk

1 + 3/4 cups canned pumpkin

1/3 cup buttermilk

Ganache:

1 cup milk chocolate chips (the mini ones work well too)

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger

Make the Cake:

1. Preheat to 350.
2. Throw all the wet ingredients and spices in a mixing bowl.
3. Combine all the remaining dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet slowly, then beat for about 4-5 minutes. 

4. At this point, make either cake or cupcakes. Grease and flour the cake pans if you're baking a cake. Use cupcake liners for cupcakes. Use a 13x9 pan or two round/square pans, or even a bundt cake would be pretty!
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
6. Bake cake for 25 minutes. Bake cupcakes 20-25 minutes. Check with toothpick. There should be no "goo". Crumbs are fine. This is very moist stuff here, so you don't want to overbake it. 

7. Cool on wire rack when finished baking.


While the cake is cooling...


Chocolate Ganache:

Bring the cream to a boil. Add the chocolate. Stir until melted and smooth. 

Pretty easy for such a fancy label. Sometimes people complicate things. 

Spoon a little in the middle of the cupcake (you can even hollow these bad boys out and really get your chocolate dose for the month) to keep it neat, or just let it ooze down the sides. There are no rules here. We're eating it no matter what right?

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1. Whip the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, and whip for about 6 minutes.
2. Pipe frosting over the ganache. 

3. You can decorate with anything. Chocolate sprinkles, seasonal sprinkles, chopped pecans, more chocolate ganache. You do what makes that skirt fly. Or pants, sorry boys. 

Whatever you do, eat yours fast. They don't last long once they're done.

I made 24 of these on Friday. They're gone ya'll, and I only had two.