Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Pecan Frosting

A month of pumpkin.



I had no idea when we bought a new house we would be so busy! Back in our old apartment there were nights where we would just sit on the couch and watch TV and relax. We have been in the new house 2.5 months and that has yet to happen. There is something to replace/fix/paint everywhere we look. This new house has been interfering with my blogging...but it is worth it. Even though I have not been posting, I have still been baking. This month I plan to share with you a recipe with pumpkin every week. This post is for an amazing cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart. I can not say enough about how amazing these cupcakes were! The recipe in the book recommended a brown butter icing (which was more of a glaze) and I knew I wanted something more substantial so I whipped up a maple pecan frosting which was incredible! If you love pumpkin then you should definitely make these cupcakes!


Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes
recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground gloves
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tins with paper liners. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown, Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown-butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Frost with Maple Pecan Frosting. Makes 15 cupcakes.

Maple Pecan Frosting
adapted from Big Oven

1/2 cup maple syrup
2 ounces cream cheese softened
1/2 cup butter softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup pecans toasted and finely chopped

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring maple syrup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until reduced by about a third, 10-12 minutes. Pour into a glass measuring cup nested in a bowl of ice water and stir constantly until syrup is very thick and barely warm to touch, 3-4 minutes. Remove from ice water. In a bowl, with a mixer on low, beat cream cheese and butter until well blended. Beat in powdered sugar (adjust the amount of sugar to reach your desired consistency); scrape in reduced syrup; beat until smooth.