Description
These Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes feature moist pumpkin-spiced cupcakes filled with luscious salted caramel sauce and topped with a creamy pumpkin buttercream and charming fondant pumpkin decorations. Perfect for festive fall celebrations and Halloween parties.
Ingredients
Scale
Cupcakes
- 200 g self raising flour
- 100 g butter (salted)
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 200 g pumpkin puree
- 100 ml milk
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Salted Caramel Sauce
- 160 g white sugar
- 200 ml heavy cream
- 80 g butter (salted)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt flakes
Pumpkin Buttercream
- 450 g powdered sugar
- 225 g butter (salted)
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin powder
- 2 tablespoon milk (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Decoration
- 60 g orange fondant
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- Black food marker
- Green food coloring
- Cornstarch for dusting workspace
Instructions
- Make the fondant pumpkin toppers: Knead the orange fondant until smooth and pliable. Dust your workspace with cornstarch and roll the fondant thin to about ⅛ inch. Cut pumpkin shapes using a pumpkin-shaped cutter, making extras. Keep covered in a container to prevent drying. Use a toothpick to draw pumpkin lines, dust with cocoa powder using a dry brush for depth, then draw eyes and mouth with a black food marker. Paint the stalk with green food coloring using a moistened brush. Set aside to dry.
- Bake the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 175℃ and line a cupcake tin with liners. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes), scraping bowl halfway. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each. Beat in pumpkin puree. Fold in sifted dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with milk. Fill liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Prepare the salted caramel sauce: Place sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir occasionally until fully melted and amber colored. Add butter and whisk until melted. Slowly pour in cream in a thin stream, whisk continuously until combined. Cook on low heat until sauce thickens slightly, then stir in sea salt. Cool to room temperature.
- Make the buttercream: Beat butter in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Sift in powdered sugar and pumpkin powder, mix lightly with spatula, then beat on low speed gradually increasing to medium until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla extract and beat to combine. If too stiff, add milk in small increments, beating well after each addition.
- Assemble the cupcakes: Transfer caramel sauce and buttercream to piping bags (use star tip #1M for buttercream). Core the center of each cupcake using a corer or the back of a large piping tip. Fill holes with caramel sauce. Cover holes with the cored cupcake pieces’ tops. Pipe pumpkin buttercream swirls on top. Gently press fondant pumpkin toppers into buttercream to secure.
Notes
- Wear gloves when tinting fondant with food coloring to avoid stains on hands.
- Crack eggs into a separate bowl to avoid shells in the batter.
- Avoid overmixing the batter; mix just until combined to keep cupcakes tender.
- Use a spring-loaded or cookie scoop for consistent cupcake sizes and tidy batter filling.
- Caramelizing sugar burns quickly; adjust heat as needed and turn off heat briefly if required.
- Caramel may bubble vigorously when butter is added; maintain low heat to manage safely.
- Use a candy thermometer to cook caramel to 105°C (220°F) for a drizzle consistency. Cook longer if thicker sauce is desired.
- Mix powdered sugar and pumpkin powder lightly with a spatula before beating to prevent sugar flying.
- Use a piping bag for neat caramel filling into cupcake cores.
- Test cupcakes a few minutes before baking time ends to avoid dryness by inserting a toothpick for doneness.
- Cupcake liners used are approx 5cm diameter base and 3.5cm height, yielding about 14 cupcakes; adjust time for different size liners.
- Cover cupcakes when cooling to retain moisture and store in an airtight container.
- The caramel sauce batch is larger to better control sugar burning and sufficient for two batches of cupcakes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 35 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 65 mg
