Mini Pumpkin Cakes
From the moment I tried my first pumpkin spice latte I was hooked. It was love at first sip. These little cakes are made with my Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake recipe to taste just like the drink. They are also decorated with Swiss Buttercream Espresso Frosting. Swiss buttercream is exceptionally smooth and soft and well worth the time to make. If you like PSL's as much as I do (my boyfriend's nickname for me is "Pumpkin Spice") then this is the recipe for you.
Yield: Makes 12 mini pumpkins
Things you'll need
Ingredients- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons espresso powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 2 batches Swiss Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup brewed espresso
- Food coloring: orange and green
- 12 chocolate candy rolls (Tootsie Rolls)
Equipment
- Two 12-cavity mini fluted pans (Wilton)
- Decorating tips: #2, #352
Let's get started!
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease two 12-cavity mini fluted pans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter and espresso powder. Whisk in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and eggs until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until no dry streaks remain (do not over mix).
- Fill each pan cavity halfway with batter. Bake until a wooden pick inserted halfway between the edge and the center comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Time to decorate!
- Make the Swiss buttercream frosting. While the frosting is still in the mixer bowl, beat in the brewed espresso until well combined.
- Divide the frosting between 2 bowls, three quarters in one bowl and one-quarter in the second bowl. Tint the larger amount of buttercream orange and tint the smaller green. Scoop the green frosting into separate decorating bags, one fitted with a #2 tip and the other with a #352 tip.
- Level off the tops of the cakes with a cake leveler or a small serrate knife.
- Stack the cakes, leveled sides together, spreading a thin layer of orange frosting in between, to form pumpkins.
- Frost the entire cake with orange buttercream. Gently run the tip of a small offset spatula from the bottom to the top to create the texture of the pumpkin.
- Shape each Tootsie Roll into a stem. Place one in the center of each pumpkin.
- Using the #2 tip, pipe vines around the stem. Using the #352 tip, pipe leaves onto the vines.
Written By Rosanna Pansino
