Welcome to Day 2 of Pumpkin Week! Today I continue this week of pumpkin themed recipes with some yummy Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes inspired by Starbuck’s extremely popular Fall-time drink. It was only recently that I tried a pumpkin spice latte for the first time. I thought that I was not going to like it at all, but I actually found it quite delightful! The flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove in one of these warm espresso beverages are perfect for warming you up on a cold day. These lovely spices also make the latte taste like Fall in a cup! Whether you like it hot or cold, the pumpkin spice latte is a tasty drink inspired by the flavors of Fall. This is why I decided to develop a cupcake that incorporates all of the components of a pumpkin spice latte.

Prepare the Pumpkin Sponge Batter:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spices, and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk the mixture to make sure the dry ingredients are well combined. Add room temperature eggs and granulated sugar into a separate bowl and mix using either a stand mixer or a hand mixer. Mix on a medium-high speed until the ingredients lighten in color, which will take approximately 3-4 minutes.

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Add the mayonnaise and pumpkin puree, and mix on a medium speed until well combined, approximately 1-2 minutes. Add one-third of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined (do NOT overmix!). Repeat until all dry ingredients and wet ingredients are just combined. Add the cake batter to your desired cake or cupcake pans.

Bake 6” round cakes for approximately 25-30 minutes, regular cupcakes for approximately 16-18 minutes, or mini cupcakes for approximately 12-14 minutes. Baking times will vary depending on what you are making, but you will know when your sponge is done when a cake tester (such as a toothpick) inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove pans from the oven and let the sponge or cupcakes cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes. Next, remove the sponge or cupcakes from the pans and let them completely cool on a wire rack or baking sheet.

Prepare the Filling:

The filling for this cupcake is an espresso chocolate ganache that provides a great punch of espresso flavor. Add 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 tablespoons of ground espresso to a small saucepan. Place the saucepan on the stove on a low heat. Let the cream and espresso cook on the stove for approximately 15 minutes. While the espresso steeps in the cream, add ½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate and ½ cup white chocolate to a mixing bowl. Place a strainer-sifter into the bowl mixing bowl, remove the espresso and cream mixture from the stove, and pour the cream into the bowl. The strainer-sifter will remove large pieces of espresso grounds, which will produce a smoother ganache. Let the chocolate sit in the warm cream for approximately 2 minutes before whisking them together. Once the cream and chocolate are whisked together, and all of the chocolate is completely melted, place in a heat-safe bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap onto the top of the ganache, and set aside to cool.

Note: To store the ganache, place in the refrigerator. When you want to use it, take it out and let it sit at room temperature for approximately 20 minutes so that it will be easier to pipe into a cupcake.

Prepare the Whipped Cream:

For the whipped cream topping, I recommend making a stabilized whipped cream because it will hold its shape better. When first making stabilized whipped cream, I looked up videos on YouTube in order to learn how to add the stabilizer. Tatyana’s Everyday Food’s stabilized whipped cream recipe is my favorite recipe to use because the whipped cream holds its shape nicely and it is not too sweet.

Here is how I make that stabilized whipped cream: Add one cup of heavy whipping cream and 1/3 cup of granulated sugar to a cold bowl. Whip on a medium speed until it thickens, but does not yet hold stiff peaks. Turn off the mixer and add 1 teaspoon of gelatin to 2 tablespoons of water and heat in the microwave until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Add the gelatin and 1 ½ teaspoons of pure vanilla extract to the heavy cream. Beat on medium-high speed until the cream holds stiff peaks. Place in the refrigerator for approximately 15 minutes and then it is ready to use!

Assemble the Cupcakes:

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Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled, I cut the centers out with one of my fondant circle cutters that is approximately 1.25” in diameter. Remove the top half of the center and lightly press down the remaining sponge in the center of the cupcake.

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Next, add some of the espresso chocolate ganache to a piping bag and fill the center of the cupcake until it is completely full of ganache.

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Add some of the whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a 1M piping tip. Depending on how much whipped cream you would like on top, pipe either a rosette or muli-layer dollop of whipped cream.

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Finally, sift some pumpkin pie spices over the top of the whipped cream. For an optional, final element, add a chocolate covered espresso bean to top off the whipped cream. These delicious cupcakes are complete and ready to enjoy!

Thank you so much for checking out this post for the second day of Pumpkin Week! I hope that you try these delicious cupcakes! Please leave a comment below regarding how you enjoyed these cupcakes!