I’ve recently become part of a monthly baking group called “What’s Baking?”. There is a monthly assignment and we all bake it and post to our blogs. This month’s assignment was a fall cupcake. I didn’t want to do something pumpkin because it is just too predictable, but I kept coming back to pumpkin. I love anything pumpkin flavor, plus we were having a pumpkin carving party and what could be more appropriate than pumpkin cupcakes?

The icing was sooo delicious. It really did taste like pumpkin cheesecake, well a sweet pumpkin cheesecake. The spice cupcake, which was from Martha Stewart's cupcake book, was the perfect understated compliment to this fabulous icing.

Cupcake Ingredients
Makes 24

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted, plus more for tins
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1 1/2 cups packed dark- brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature

Cupcake Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush standard muffin tins with butter; dust with flour, tapping out excess. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, salt, and spices three times.
2.With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.
3.Divide batter evenly among prepared cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. (I baked mine for 18 minutes and it could have been less as they were slightly dry.) Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Icing Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 Tablesoons butter, softened
10 ounces pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 dash salt
4-5 cups confection sugar

Icing Directions
Mix first 6 ingredients together using electric mixer.  Gradually add sugar until desired thickness. Icing will become more firm in refrigerator.