Here's the truth about this cupcake recipe: it is THE best pumpkin cupcakes I've ever had.
When I decided to do a week's worth of blog posts celebrating "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina", I knew I wanted to include a few recipes inspired by Aunt Hilda's love of being in the kitchen.
Earlier this week we tested a lemon marmalade recipe from Red Shoes. Red Wine. inspired by season 1, episode 6.But there was one other stunning creation I wanted to replicate in some way:
The pièce de résistance: Aunt Hilda's brown butter marchpane cake with brandied currants baked for the Feast of Feasts pre-dinner celebration. One bite, and you'll be unable to tell a lie.
Of course, her cake is way over the top and - let's be honest - who actually enjoys marchpane (aka marzipan) and currants, even brandied ones, in baked goods? (If you do...I'm sorry.)
So I sought to simplify her creation to something the rest of us mere mortals could whip up and found this:
Pumpkin brown butter cake with brown butter cream cheese frosting. The perfect Halloween lover's twist on Aunt Hilda's stunning cake to end our Sabrina celebration!
But I couldn't just share a recipe, so I whipped up these bad boys:
Eight DIY cupcake toppers featuring some of my favorite characters and images from the opening credits! But wait...there's more...
I also created a quick little printable to go with them. Links to download both PDFs for free are at the bottom of this post.
But first, let's talk more about these cupcakes:
Because they are seriously divine. The recipe comes from finecooking.com and was ridiculously easy to conjure up.
Here's how to make them:
Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 can pumpkin puree ((15 oz))
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees, and place liners in two cupcake pans. (Batter makes approximately 24 cupcakes, though I got 26 out of my batch.)
- Melt the butter in a heavy-duty 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a nutty golden-brown, about 4 minutes. Pour into a small bowl and let stand until cool but not set, about 15 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves. In a large bowl, whisk 1-1/2 cups of the pumpkin purée with the granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and buttermilk until very well blended. With a rubber spatula, stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Gently whisk in the brown butter until completely incorporated.
- Using a scoop, fill cupcake liners slightly over halfway. Bake for 15-18 minutes (or until cake is firm). Remove from oven and pan, place on cooling rack and allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Melt the butter in a heavy-duty 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a nutty golden-brown, about 4 minutes. Pour into a small bowl and let stand until the solids settle at the bottom of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the bowl to the freezer and chill until just firm, about 18 minutes. Using a spoon, carefully scrape the butter from bowl, leaving the browned solids at the bottom; discard the solids.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light in color and the brown sugar has dissolved, 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar and continue beating until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Notes
See the recipe at finecooking.com for steps on how to make your own pumpkin purée, if you prefer.
And the results? Well…
My coworkers were treated to these cupcakes, just because, and they raved about the frosting in particular - it's not overly sweet, like many cream cheese frostings, and was the perfect topping for these moist pumpkin cuppies.
Download my "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" Cupcake Toppers
Hosting a Sabrina watch party? Then you’re going to need these freebie cupcake toppers:
Just a few quick screencaps of the opening credits, and I put together this printable for you:
Print and cut them out, then attach each topper to a toothpick with a bit of Halloween washi tape and stick in the top of your cuppies!
Download my "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" Rebel Witch Print
And to round out my photos, I put together a quick printable sign with one of my favorite lines from season one.
Between this cupcake recipe and my freebies, my lemon marmalade recipe and these 13 must-have Sabrina items, you're all ready for a brand new season!
What are you MOST excited for in season two?
Share it in the comments.
As for me? I'm most excited to see what happens between Sabrina and Nick this season...and how Sabrina embraces her witch side.
