Pumpkin cupcakes with chocolate chips

The first time I ate a cupcake I was 35. I say this so that my US readers can appreciate what a novely they represent to me. US kids grow up eating cupcakes, and I can see how sharing a cupcake with an adult can be such an important brick in building a childhood memory: the strategy on how to eat it (first the frosting, or first the cake?), the mess in your fingers, the mess in your face.

Hey, I don't want you to cry for me, thinking that I had an unhappy childhood because I didn't have cupcakes. I was eating a lot of very good things. Simply, cupcakes are not part of my heritage. I know that since I left Brussels there are a couple of cupcake shops that have opened up, and that London is full to the brim with cupcake shops. But if I understand correctly, cupcakes are as American as apple pie. 

Given that this was Halloween and all, and that I had at home a few cans of pumpkin puree (did you know that Illinois is the No. 1 producer of canned pumpkin in the world?), I decided to bake some pumpkin cupcakes. 

One thing that I never understood of the whole pumpkin thing here is that the vast majority of recipes do not mix it with chocolate. Walnuts, cranberries, pecans, but not chocolate. Now, we MUST all agree on the fact that walnuts and cranberries are good and very respectable things, but they do not stand a chance when facing chocolate. If you think otherwise, please leave this blog NOW. 

If you are still reading, here is my recipe for my pumpkin, ginger and chocolate chip cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Since today it was Halloween, I colored my frosting orange, but you can skip that. 

Pumpkin and chocolate chips cupcakes with cream cheese frosting 

(9 cupcakes) 

DOWNLOAD OR PRINT THIS RECIPE. 

Cupcakes

• 1 cup all purpose flour (140g)
• 2/3 cup sugar (150g)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin 
• 1/3 canola oil 
• 1/4 buttermilk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, the bittersweet ones

Frosting

• 4 oz creamcheese (Philadelphia style) (110gr)
• 1/2 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature (65 gr)
• 2 cups powdered sugar (200 gr)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• Orange food coloring (if you don't have it, just mix red and yellow) - optional

How to make them

• Preheat oven to 350 F (175 celsius). 
• Prepare your cupcake pan, putting 9 cupcake papers into 9 cupcake cups. 
• Trow the flour with the sugar, the baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt into a bowl and whisk to mix. 
• Beat the egg in a large bowl. Add the pumpkin, the oil and the buttermilk and stir. 
• Add the flour mixture and stir. 
• Add the chocolate chips. 
• Scoop the dough into the papers. (I use an icecream scooper to do it).
• Bake for 20 minutes. Be careful: one minute the cupcakes are still raw, one minute later they are gone.  Check them by inserting a toothpick into one: if it comes out almost dry, they are good. 
• Place them in a rack for at least 45 minutes. 
• While you wait for the cupcakes to cool, prepare the frosting (if you try and put the frosting on them when they are still too warm, the frosting will melt). 
• Beat the butter and the creamcheese in an electric mixer until they become light and fluffy. 
• Add sugar and vanilla. Add food coloring if you use it, so as to achieve the color you want. 
• Put frosting in the fridge for 30 minutes before you try to apply it on the cupcakes. 
• Using a knife (or a pastry bag) apply your frosting to the cupcakes. 
• EAT. 

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