Overview:
By: Antonia
Meal Type: Dessert
Cook time: 25 minutes
Servings: 12-14 cupcakes
Description:
These deliciously-spiced cupcakes are full of autumnal flavour and topped with a rich and tangy cream cheese icing. A fun recipe to make with children around Halloween – most supermarkets sell themed decorations and sprinkles for decorating too, if desired!
Look out for smaller pumpkins rather than the over-sized examples sold purely for carving. These larger ones tend to be lacking in any flavour. You could also use butternut squash.
You'll need...
Ingredients:
Equipment...
- Cold shelf for use with Aga range cookers
- Large cup cake/muffin cases
- Yorkshire pudding/muffin/cupcake tray for use with Aga range cookers
Method:
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Line a muffin/Yorkshire pudding tray with muffin cases.
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In a large bowl, beat together the oil and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Squeeze the excess moisture from the grated pumpkin and add to the bowl of wet ingredients.
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In a second bowl, combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt.
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Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients, a little at a time, mixing until you have a smooth but fairly loose batter. Finally, stir in the sultanas. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases.
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In a 3-4 oven Aga range cooker: slide the muffin tin onto the bottom runners of the baking oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden and the cupcakes ‘spring back’ when lightly touched. In a 2 oven Aga range cooker: place the tin on a grid shelf on the floor of the roasting oven and slide the cold plain shelf onto the second runners. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden and the cupcakes ‘spring back’ when lightly touched.
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Remove from oven and allow to cool in tin for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Make the icing: sieve the icing sugar to get rid of any lumps and, using an electric whisk, beat together with the softened butter until fully combined and fluffy. Add the cream cheese a little at a time giving a very brief beat between each addition. Do not over-mix as the icing will become too runny. Finally add the fine zest of an orange and mix briefly to combine.
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When the cupcakes are completely cool, spread or pipe the icing onto the cakes and decorate as desired.
Aga range cooker tips:
- Remember to keep your cold shelf in a cool place, away from your Aga range cooker. Use it to shield the cupcakes from the high heat at the top of the roasting oven.
- Soften the butter for the icing by sitting on a plate next to your Aga range cooker.
This fun family recipe has been scribed and tested by community member Antonia, who is a hard working mum with two boys. Her recipes are trialed in her much loved Aga range cooker and devoured by her family, allowing Antonia to provide accurate tips and advice on how to make the dishes a success! Go check her work out! She is a country girl, happily surrounded by an excitable Lab, her dear husband, two boys and the Cotswolds.
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