Cupcake Hero: Pumpkin

I can tell that I'm a bit out of practice with the whole heroic cupcake thing, and it's also showing that I was short on time. But the cupcakes were yummy! Here's what I did:

Pumpkin Whoopie Cupcakes

For the Cupcake:
I used Joy of Baking's cake recipe forWhoopie Pies. The only thing I modified was the baking times.

Pumpkin Cakes:

3 cups (390 grams) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (410 grams) light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 - 15 ounce (425 grams) can pumpkin puree

For Pumpkin Cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (can also use a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. Beat in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Fill cupcake papers about 3/4 full. With moistened fingers or with the back of a spoon, smooth the tops of the cakes.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes, when lightly pressed, spring back and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

This actually makes a cupcake that is very closely related to a muffin prior to frosting. We even had them for breakfast. But when I finished them they were definitely cupcakes!

For the filling: Dark Cinnamon Ganash.

I made WAY too much ganash, and have to figure out what I want to do with the leftovers. (Anybody know how long this stuff keeps?) Anyway, Joy of Baking provided me with the recipe again: 1 part cream to 3 parts chocolate. I used Ghirardelli's 60% dark chocolate, and I added a teaspoon of cinnamon, which I think was not quite enough.

For the frosting: Cream Cheese Frosting

This is where I really cheated: I used a tub of Betty Crocker. But if it wasn't homemade, I didn't have any complaints! I simply didn't have time to do homemade.

And the whole "they're supposed to be Halloween-y" thing? I didn't get the memo until after the cupcakes were made and eaten. But it was fun anyway. Better luck next month, right?