Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Icing

Before I start with this mouth watering recipe let me give you direction to a fabulous blog, Brair Ridge Farmhouse, that I found today. Actually she found me because I'm too dumb to look. Then I found her recipe section and I knew I had found another special blog. I made the Cranberry Crunchies 10 minutes after finding the blog. I might have a compulsive problem here.
I can not tell you how easy and delicious these are. A must try.

Do you have small children around for Thanksgiving? Given the choice between a piece of pumpkin pie or a pumpkin cupcake with frosting my guess is the cupcakes will go first. These are fabulous.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Icing
12 regular size cupcakes
print recipe

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Orange Cream Cheese Icing

6 ounces cream cheese
6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon finely minced orange peel
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Candy Corn (optional)

Combine butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric beater. Add eggs, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Stir half the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Stir in milk just until blended. Add remaining flour mixture and stir just until incorporated. Spoon batter into 12 lined muffin cups, filling each cup about three-quarters full.

Bake at 350 degrees until tops spring back when lightly pressed - about 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes; remove cupcakes from pans and cool at least 30 minutes.

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter, both at room temperature, until well blended. Add the powdered sugar, orange peel and extract and beat until smooth. Spread or pipe icing onto cooled cakes. Decorate with candy corn, if desired.