These Pumpkin Cupcakes are the most adorable pumpkins you’ll see this Halloween (even if I do say so myself). These super cute pumpkins don’t just look cute, they taste amazing too!! The sponge is infused with orange zest. This is topped with the most wonderful velvety smooth, melt in the mouth orange flavored icing. They’re perfect for Halloween parties and to give out to trick or treaters just like my Spider Cupcakes. The Pumpkin Cupcakes are also a great Halloween activity for kids to do. Kids love baking and they will really enjoy making these. It’s the perfect Halloween activity and you can follow it up with pumpkin carving.
Pumpkin Cupcakes (vanilla and orange sponge)
Ingredients for the Cupcakes
180 g softened unsalted butter
180 g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
180 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Dr Oetker vanilla bean paste
zest of 1 medium orange
Ingredients for the Icing
200 g softened unsalted butter
430 g icing sugar
2-3 tbsp orange juice
1 x 15 g tube Dr Oetker Orange food colour gel
Items Needed for Decorating
Sugar paste
1 x 15 g Dr Oetker Green food colour gel
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Method for the Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan assisted, 170 for a normal oven).
Place 12 muffin pages on a muffin tray or a normal tray. The muffin tray will allow them to keep their shape better.
Whisk (cream) the softened butter and sugar together until it is lighter in colour and fluffy.
Add the vanilla bean paste, orange zest, and eggs and whisk again until it is fully mixed. Be sure not to overmix it.
Once combined you might find it starts to separate. Don’t worry once the flour is added it will be nice and smooth.
Sift the flour into the mix and gently stir in.
Spoon into the muffin cases evenly.
Bake for 14-16 minutes. Make sure the spring back when the top is gently pressed, or a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on a wire tray fully before decorating.
Method For the Icing
Add the butter to a bowl and then add a third of the icing sugar and whisk gently. As it combines add in more icing sugar until it has all been mixed in.
Then add in the whole tube of food colouring and mix well.
Pop a large round nozzle into a piping bag, add the buttercream, and gently swirl this around starting from the outside of the cupcake and swirling inwards and upwards.
How to Decorate
Then cut off part of the sugar paste block and mix in the green food colouring.
Then cut small pieces and make 12 stalks. This needs to be approx 3cm long.
Add these to the top of each cupcake around where the icing swirl ends.
Then mould 12 leaf shaped pieces and add those to the cupcakes.
Finally, make 12 tendrils (long thin pieces) approx 6-7 cm long. Make sure they are even in size. Place one end near the leaf and stalk. Twist it once or twice so you have a curl(s). These are made last and added to teh cupcakes as they are being made as they dry quickly and will break on bending if they have dried too much.
Now the pumpkin cupcakes are ready.
These can be eaten straight away, in a few hours. Alternatively, pop them in an airtight container and place them in the fridge. They will last 2-3 days.
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I hope you enjoyed reading my guide on how to make your own Pumpkin Cupcakes.
Do you enjoy baking?
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Those pumpkin cupcakes are looking so adorable, will definitely add these to our family Halloween party for sure. Thanks for sharing this wonderful and easy recipe with us!
I’m so glad you liked them. They’ll be a great addition to a Halloween party spread.
These would be fun to make on Halloween. We just love cupcakes here. I will have to show my kids!
They are yummy cupcakes and look great.
These are so super cute! I love themed treats like these, so I’ll be making them for sure!
They do look the part don’t they!
This is the cutest design for pumpkin cupcakes. So clever and I think even I could create the decorations. Will look great on my Thanksgiving dessert table!
They are easy to make too which helps!
You had me at pumpkin and these are so cute! I bet they are really good too. I love how you decorated with the leaf and stalk – so fun!
Maureen
They do really look the part don’t they.
First of all, these are adorable. Secondly, there is just SO MUCH frosting on top of them! FROSTING!!! Om nom nom.
Ha, and it’s orange flavoured with real fresh orange juice.
Those pumpkin muffins look so yummy! I might make them for my niece and nephews!
I am sure they will love them!
I like the look of these cupcakes. I will have to make these cupcakes.
I am sure you’ll love them.
These came out so great. I love them! I just may need to make some of them with my daughters. We love doing Halloween cupcakes.
We do too. It’s great that you can make so many different ones.
This is the perfect dessert to bring to the Halloween party we are going to next week! The kids especially are going to love these.
I bet the kids were very happy with these.
These are so adorable; what a lovely little project for fall. Your recipe also sounds delicious. I haven’t made homemade cupcakes in quite some time.
These do taste great and look awesome too!!!
You always have the best recipes! I can’t wait for my kids and I try this recipe! They look so tasty and so much fun to make! Saving these to create this weekend!
Aaahhh thanks so much Ebony. I hope the kiddies enjoy making these.
They look amazing! Such a great fall treat! I can’t wait to try them!
Thanks so much Claudia.
I am going to a Halloween party and have to take some treats so I will have a go at making some of these cupcakes.
I hope you had fun at the party and enjoyed the cupcakes.
As a mom, I’m always on the lookout for fun and creative baking ideas, especially during the Halloween season. Your detailed instructions and the mouthwatering images of those adorable pumpkin cupcakes left me inspired and eager to try them with my kids.
Thanks so much Lavanda. I’m so glad you liked them. Look out for my next Halloween recipe coming this week!!! I hope you enjoy making these cupcakes.
These aree so cute and love them, perfect forr halloween. I want to make these now and seeing the grandkids tomorrow who will love making these
I am sure the grandkids loved these.
Halloween is around the corner and the cupcake is absolutely yummy! Thanks for sharing this recipe and your had some great photos of this cake too. Can’t wait to try them.,
I hope you enjoyed these x
We love these cupcakes! So delicious and simple to put together – I plan on serving for both Halloween and Thanksgiving.
They are really simple to make which is great!
These look so good and adorable! I want to try it. Thanks for the recipe!
They are cute little cupcakes.
This is so cute and sweet. This is a perfect idea for this coming Halloween party perfect for the kids.
They are a lovely Halloween treat.
These look yummy and I love the idea of getting the kids involved with making them. It would be a great family Halloween activity and your clear instructions will help make it easier.
I hoep you guys had fun making these.
I have a sweet tooth and those pumpkin cupcakes are adorable. I bet they are delicious, too. I need to make some soon!
They are really yummy.
The kids and I love baking! This is a good idea for our bake bonding this weekend. Thanks for this!
I hope you had fun making cupcakes.
Pumpkin cupcakes—I know for sure that my daughter would love to bake and try this.
I am sure she will.
These Pumpkin Cupcakes sound like the perfect Halloween treat! Not only are they adorable, but the combination of orange zest-infused sponge and velvety smooth orange-flavored icing makes them sound absolutely delicious. It’s great to see how versatile they are – perfect for Halloween parties, trick-or-treaters, and even as a fun activity for kids. Baking with kids and then following it up with pumpkin carving is an excellent idea to make Halloween memorable and enjoyable. Thanks for sharing this delightful and mouthwatering Halloween treat idea.
Thanks so much Sue-Tanya. I’m so glad you liked my recipe.
These are so, so cute! What a perfect treat for Halloween! I’m so inspired now and cannot wait to try!
Enjoy Tammy!! They do taste great.
I like orange and lemon zest in baking. These pumpkin cupcakes look so yummy and moist. Thank you for sharing this cool recipe.
Zest can add so much yummy flavour. These are really yummy.
These pumpkin cupcakes are both adorable and yummy looking! They are so perfect to bring along to an upcoming Halloween party.
They would be perfect for a Halloween party.
In particular, I really like how the vine and leaves look on the decoration and the recipe has certainly given me some ideas about some treats I’d like to experiment with baking… which I actually do love!
That’s wonderful to hear. It is such a great pastime and family and friends can benefit from it.
Love this cute Halloween theme cupcakes recipe here. Now I know how to bake for my little niece school Halloween party pot luck this weekend. Thanks 🙂 cheers Sienny
Oh wow, well the good thing is that you had some inspiration. Hope you had fun baking!
Thanks so much for this cute pumpkin Halloween cupcakes recipe. I can now bake for my little niece school Halloween party this weekend with this. Thanks . Cheers
I am sure they will love these!
Simple and cute decorations for the cupcakes. I love these.
Thanks so much.
I do really love orange flavored stuff so much. I’ll send this recipe to my daughter too. It’s one of her fall favorites.
Me too, it’s a great flavour.
These pumpkin cupcakes are the best for the Halloween. I am looking forward to trying it soon!
They do look pretty awesome don’t they!!! Enjoy x
Here to pin these. These are great for any setting because they’re so versatile but still so cute.
They are a great design. I’m glad you liked them.
The cupcake lover in me, really wants these. Pumpkin is a very good friend of mine and I wanna taste it in a cupcake. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh wow these look so cute and not too hard to make either! Thank you for this idea – I will have to frost my Halloween cupcakes like this instead of the purple frosting / halloween sprinkles copout lol.
It’s so easy to do and looks great!!!
Woa, the pumpkin cupcake looks so good and I’m sure it’s a great choice for the Halloween too.
I love how cute the cupcakes look! They are a perfect treat for the season! I can’t wait to make them!
Thanks so much, I’m glad you liked my cupcakes.
They are ridiculously cute! Love the sound of the orange zest infused sponge, will definitely give the cake a kick!
This looks so good and love the decoration with cupcake. Very creative!
Thanks so much Fransic.
We love baking at this time of year, these pumpkin cupcakes are so much fun for a party!
They do look pretty awesome and are perfect for parties.
These are so cute and festive for fall. I need to try and make them for Halloween. Adorable!
They are such cute looking cupcakes. Enjoy x
Smashing pumpkin goodness. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
I bet you’ll enjoy these.