Scotchkin Cupcakes

This is another very early recipe from the first incarnation of this site, and another one that makes good use of extra pumpkin puree.

As I’ve been working on restoring recipes to the site, I’ve been taking the opportunity to closely review each one. In that process, I realized that I had not made these cupcakes in quite some time. In fact, the last time I made these was before the birth of my oldest (a very sad oversight on my part). So, still having some pumpkin that I hadn’t used during the holiday season, I decided not only to make these again, but to give them a bit of a face lift in the process – adding a filling and updating the frosting from an American style buttercream to a Swiss meringue buttercream.

Scotchkin Cupcakes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: buttercream, butterscotch, cupcake, pumpkin

Prep Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 cupcake

Equipment

• muffin tins
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• Mixer electric, hand or stand
• bowls large and small
• saucepan or double boiler
• candy thermometer
• piping bags and tips

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup heavy cream room temperature
• 3/4 cup sour cream room temperature
• 3 eggs large, room temperature
• 4 tablespoon butter melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cup flour all-purpose
• 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon ground
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg ground
• 2 teaspoon ginger ground
• 1/3 cup water boiling
• 1 1/3 cup butterscotch baking bits

Filling

• 1 cup butterscotch sauce
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Frosting

• 1 package cream cheese 8 oz, room temperature
• 1 pound butter room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butterscotch baking bits melted and slightly cooled
• 1/3 cup butterscotch sauce
• 1 1/3 cup brown sugar packed
• 4 egg whites large
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• butterscotch baking bits for garnish

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease or line muffin tins.
• In a large bowl blend together the pumpkin, sugar, heavy cream, sour cream, eggs, butter, vanilla and oil until smooth and creamy.
  2 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 3/4 cup sour cream, 3 eggs, 4 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1/3 cup oil, 1 cup brown sugar
• Add in all dry ingredients and mix just until combined (do not over mix).
  1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 cup flour, 2 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 2 teaspoon ginger
• Slowly beat in the boiling water just until combined.
  1/3 cup water
• Stir in the butterscotch baking bits.
  1 1/3 cup butterscotch baking bits
• Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Place in the oven and bake 15-18 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden and tooth pick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool completely.

For the Filling:

• In a small saucepan, warm the butterscotch sauce until it is a loose and pourable consistency.
  1 cup butterscotch sauce
• Add in the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk until fully combined.
  1/3 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• Set aside to cool.

For the Frosting:

• In a small bowl blend together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy.
  1 package cream cheese, 1 pound butter
• Add the melted butterscotch bits, butterscotch sauce and vanilla and blend until fully integrated. Set aside.
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 cup butterscotch baking bits, 1/3 cup butterscotch sauce
• Put the egg whites and brown sugar in a heat safe bowl over a double boiler. Whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture is 140° F.
  1 1/3 cup brown sugar, 4 egg whites
• Remove from heat and add the cream of tartar. Beat on high speed using a whisk attachment until the mixture is thick, glossy, holds stiff peaks and is cooled to ~85-90° F.
  1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Add the butterscotch cream cheese mixture to the mixing bowl in small batches, beating thoroughly between each addition, until all of the mixture has been added.
• Continue to beat until the frosting is silky smooth and the consistency of a very thick whipped cream.

For assembly:

• Using a piping bag fitted with a nozzle tip or an injection syringe fitted with a large diameter needle, inject a couple teaspoons of the filling into each cupcake. (The cupcakes will have a perceptible weight change and the filling will ooze slightly from the top when the nozzle/needle is removed)
• Use a small spatula or a piping bag to frost the tops of the cupcakes.
• Garnish the top of each cupcake with a few butterscotch baking bits.
  butterscotch baking bits
• Store the cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator, but allow them to come back to room temperature before eating.

Notes

This recipe can be made as mini cupcakes as well, although, unless you need a really large batch (~72) you may want to scale the recipe down to 1/2 or 1/3.  When making mini cupcakes, I would recommend that you look for mini butterscotch chips, or pulse the regular butterscotch chips in a food processor until roughly mini chip sized.  Finally, adjust the baking time down to only 10 minutes.

In my original version of this recipe, there was no filling and the cupcakes were delicious without it so you can treat the filling as optional if you wish. But, I do think it adds that little bit extra that puts these cupcakes over the top.