Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cupcakes

Ingredients & Measurements
Ermine Buttercream: 
4 tbsp. (35g) flour
1 cup (215g) sugar
1/4 tsp. (2g) salt
1 cup (8 oz, 250ml, 240g) whole milk
1 tsp. (5g) vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon (1g)
1 cup (230g) unsalted butter room temp. 

Espresso Cake Batter:
1/2 cup (105g) of sugar
1/2 cup + 6 tbsp. (125g) of flour
3/4 tsp. (4g) baking powder
1/4 tsp. (1g) baking soda
1/4 tsp. (2g) salt
4 tbsp. (55g) of unsalted butter
1 egg (45g)
3 tbsp. (45g) sour cream
1/8 cup (30g) vegetable oil
1 tsp. (5g) vanilla extract
1/3 cup (75g) milk 
3 tbsp. (10g) instant espresso powder

Pumpkin Spiced Cake Batter
1/2 cup (63g) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. (3g) baking powder
1/4 tsp. (1g) baking soda
⅛ tsp. (1g) salt
1/2 tsp. (1 g) cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
pinch of grated nutmeg
1/4 cup (45g) vegetable oil
1 egg (45g)
6 tbsp. (75g) brown sugar
1/2 cup (113g) canned pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. (5g) vanilla 

Instructions:

Step 1: Ermine Buttercream
Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and milk until mixture is smooth without lumps. Transfer to a heavy saucepan and cook on medium high for 7-9 minutes stirring constantly to avoid the milk from burning. The mixture will reduce and thicken to a paste like consistency. Remove to a glass container and cover with plastic wrap, be sure that the plastic touches the surface to avoid a skin from forming. Let come to room temp, then place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. You can make this a day or two ahead and keep in the refrigerator until you need it. 

Step 2: Espresso Cake Mix
Measure out all ingredients, heat milk in a microwave safe dish for 40 seconds, you just want it warm enough to dissolve the instant espresso powder. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in the butter and mix until crumbly, there isn’t a lot of butter so the dough will be very dry. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine the sour cream, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Slowly mix in the egg mixture to the flour mixture and combine just until mixed, then slowly pour in the espresso milk. Mix just until combined. 

Step 3: Pumpkin Spiced Cake Batter
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the brown sugar, vegetable oil until light in color, add egg and mix until incorporated. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk until smooth.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg whisk until combined. Fold the flour into the wet mixture and mix just until combined. 

Using a small ice cream scoop (about 2 tbsp.) start with the espresso batter, fill each cupcake liner up about a quarter of the way up, then go back and top with the pumpkin batter making sure the liners are only ¾ full. Bake for 12-14 minutes. 

Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting. 

Step 4: Make the Buttercream
While the cupcakes cool, make the buttercream. In a bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat 2 sticks of unsalted room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the ermine base 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s all incorporated. Be sure to beat the buttercream 20-30 seconds between each tablespoon of the base. Once all of the mixture has been incorporated beat the buttercream on medium high for 3 minutes then add the vanilla extract and beat another minute. This buttercream looks and  tastes like whipped cream.

Pipe buttercream onto cupcakes and sprinkle with a little pumpkin pie spice and enjoy! 

More about this recipe…

I absolutely love the fall and was inspired by Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte to make this cupcake. It seems that the last 8 or so years, the launch of Starbucks fall beverages have brought joy to many including myself. I thought how cool it would be to re-create that drink in pumpkin form.

I wanted to make two distinct cake flavors and layer in the cupcake. I wanted to be able to taste the coffee and the pumpkin spiced when taking a bite. The coffee cake is made with instant espresso powder. When I was talking this recipe out with my mom, she gave me the idea to infuse the milk with the coffee, THANKS MOM!

I already had a great pumpkin spiced cupcake recipe, so the test was creating the coffee one. I started with my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe and tweaked it slightly, by infusing the milk with the espresso, and it was a success.

Another first for me was the buttercream. I have been following a great cake artist out of Australia, Cassie Watene for a little over a year now. She is the first person I have ever seen reference Ermine Buttercream. While researching the buttercream, I found that people described it as light and fluffy and not too sweet. This reminds me of how I would describe whipped cream. What better way to top these cupcakes than with a whipped cream like buttercream.

This buttercream has a few more steps and takes a lot longer to make than a traditional American buttercream, but honestly it is worth the fuss. The first time I made this buttercream I didn’t allow the base mix to thicken as much which led to a buttercream that was a bit runny and not as stable as I would like. I almost gave up, but decided to try it again with this cupcake recipe. This time I allowed the base to cook even longer until it was a very thick paste. Then I placed in the refrigerator over night.

I also didn’t allow my butter to come to complete room temp, it still had a little chill to it. I started by whipping the butter in my kitchen aid mixer for about 5 minutes until it was light and fluffy. Then I started adding the base mixture one spoonful at a time, whipping for about 30 seconds after each addition. I did this until all of the base was incorporated, then I added vanilla extract and whipped another 2 minutes. The end result was better than I could have anticipated! This buttercream is smooth, silky, fluffy and the perfect amount of sweetness. I cannot tell you how delicious it is paired with this cupcake!

I am so happy with how these cupcakes turned out. I will admit there are a lot more steps considering you are making two cake batters, but the end result is so special and delicious, its definitely worth the effort.

Be prepared because I can see an Eggnog Latte Cupcake in the very near future….