These little cupcakes are moist and tasty and are just the right size to enjoy with tea or coffee.

Recipe Ruth Pretty

To save time the mixture can be frozen unbaked in tins. To bake from frozen simply increase the baking time by two or three minutes. Store mashed pumpkin in the freezer ready to make a batch of cupcakes.

(makes 24 – 30 little cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
200g sugar
125ml Canola oil
245g (1 cup) steamed and mashed pumpkin,chilled
140g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch freshly ground nutmeg
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)
Walnut mixture
2 tablespoons toasted and chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons finely chopped dried apricots
2 tbsp roughly chopped lightly toasted pumpkin seeds

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Spray 24-30 baby muffin tins.Place eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk until is mixture is just combined. Add oil and pumpkin and combine.

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and spices into egg mixture and stir until just combined but making sure all the lumps are dissolved.

Pour mixture into prepared muffin trays to ¾ fill tins. Bake for 15 minutes or until an inserted skewer when removed comes out clean. Leave in tins for at least 5 minutes before turning onto a cake rack to cool.

In a small bowl combine walnuts, apricots and pumpkins seeds.

Turn cupcakes over so bases face upwards and ice cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting then sprinkle with walnut mixture.

Cream Cheese Frosting 

INGREDIENTS

150g cream cheese, diced
225g icing sugar
¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract or essence
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice

METHOD

Place cream cheese in a bowl and beat until well combined.

Sieve icing sugar over cream cheese, add vanilla extract and lemon juice and continue beating until frosting is smooth.