Pumpkin Brown-Butter Cupcakes

This was the recipe I pulled out of an empty Fluff jar, in order to make a decision on what cupcakes/sweets I wanted to make. Over 100 recipes to make, and still adding to the jar! When I told my taste-testers, they were excited to hear about pumpkin. They said it made them feel more healthy eating my goodies. Haha. 

This will also be my first blog post where I will attempt to do step-by-step instructions of the recipe I just made. Now including pictures! Super fancy, right!?

I got this recipe out of Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes" book. 

Ingredients for cupcakes:

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature. Plus more for tins
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour. Plus more for tins
• 2 tsps. baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (but not pie filling)
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Brush muffin tins with butter; dust with flour, tapping out excess. 

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat, swirling occassionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.

3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ntumeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown-butter mixture. 

4. Add flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

5. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake about half an hour, until a cake tester inserted (or a toothpick) comes out clean. Let cool on racks completely before icing.

Brown-butter Icing ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tsps. vanilla extract
• 2 tblsps. milk

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occassionally, until nut-brown in colour, about 10 minutes. It will give off this lovely nutty scent that butter doesn't smell like at first. Remove from heat, and pour butter into a bowl, leaving burned sediment behind.

2. Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk to brown butter. Stir until smooth. If necessary, add more milk (up to 2 more tablespoons), a little at a time until icing is spreadable. Use immediately. If not, it will begin to stiffen as it cools and you'll have to stir it fervently to get it back to a spreadable consistency.

3. Dip top of each cupcake in icing, then turn over quickly and let icing set.

Taadaah! All done and ready to eat! They're perfect for a chilly day, especially in autumn, with the spicy-sweet pumpkin taste topped with a nutty icing. I'm just two seasons too late (or early)! Delicious and moist all the same. This was simple and fun to make!