I love this recipe, it is super easy and really yummy. I found it on The BBC Good Food site several years ago and have made it every year at Halloween since. I think this is also the recipe when I discovered you could freeze some cakes and biscuits, which is now the way I can offer freshly baked cakes and biscuits at all my classes without having to bake every night of the week.
The recipe says it makes 12 but I usually get about 15 and freeze half. Though its hardly worth freezing them because they disappear very quickly!
The one change I make to the recipe is the frosting. I use an electric whisk to blend the icing sugar and cream cheese but tend to add a fair bit more icing sugar until the consistency is stiff enough to hold its shape, the recipe quantities make quite a runny icing.
Ingredients
175ml sunflower oil
175g light muscavado sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g coarsely grated pumpkin flesh
100g sultanas
grated zest of one orange
2 tsp ground cinnamon
200g self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Frosting
200g full fat cream cheese
85g icing sugar
- Heat oven to 180c/160c/fan/gas 4. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases. pour the oil into a large bowl and add the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat together, then add the grated pumpkin, sultanas and orange zest.
- Stir in the cinnamon, flour and bicarbonate of soda, the mixture will be quite wet. Spoon into the cases. Bake for 25 minutes until firm and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. At this stage you can freeze the cakes for four months.
- To make the frosting , beat the cream cheese and icing sugar together until smooth then spread on top of the cupcakes. store in the fridge, but return to room temperature to serve for the best flavour and texture.
