The best pumpkin cake recipe just got turned into cupcakes!
Cranberry Stuffed Pumpkin Cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream icing!
Cranberry and white chocolate go perfect together because white chocolate alone can be way too sweet for me
The sweetness gets balanced by the tart cranberries!
And my cranberry compote recipe is always a winner that I make it every year for Thanksgiving
But mostly I like to stuff it into my cakes every chance I get!
Pumpkin cupcakes are made from my best pumpkin cake recipe
Which happens to be a one bowl mix and then white chocolate is added to the buttercream recipe at the last stage of mixing
The candied cranberries and rosemary garnish are optional but so pretty and completely edible too!
WATCH THE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CUPCAKE!
No affiliation with any product or company linked below, solely for visual reference
Notes for Success:
Removing about 1½ cups of sugar from my American Style Buttercream because of the white chocolate addition
You can use any buttercream recipe you like the best and adjust the addition of vegan white chocolate according to your taste
Just be sure to add it in cooled at the last stage of mixing
The cranberry compote can be made up to a week ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until needed
Candied cranberries makes more than you need but they are so good to snack on
And they will store in the refrigerator for up to a week and in the freezer for one month!
Cranberry Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Cupcakes
- 12 Tbs Vegetable Oil (180ml)
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (210g)
- 1½ cup Plant Milk (354ml)
- 2 teaspoon Vinegar (10ml)
- 1 cup Canned Pumpkin (250g)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour (125g)
- 2 cup Cake Flour (240g)
- 2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cardamom
- pinch Ground Cloves
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
For the Cranberry Compote
- 16 ounce Cranberries (454g)
- 1½ cup Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 cup Cranberry Juice or Moscato Wine (237ml)
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 4 Star Anise Pods
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon Orange Zest
For the White Chocolate Buttercream
- 1 Recipe Your Favorite Buttercream
- 1 cup Vegan White Chocolate
For the Garnish
- ¾ cup water
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 cups cranberries
- Springs of rosemary as needed *washed and picked of the best sprigs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F & line your cupcake pan with paper liners
- Combine the vinegar with the plant milk (soy milk is the only milk that will thicken with vinegar, but you can use another plant milk of your choice)
- In a large mixing bowl combine the oil, brown sugar, salt, pumpkin, & the thickened vinegar/plant milk & whisk to combine well
- Sift the flour with all the spices & the baking soda then add it all at once to the wet mixture in the bowl, whisk smooth
- Scoop batter into your cupcake pans filling 3/4 full
- Bake immediately in the preheated 350°F oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
- Cool while you prepare the cranberry compote
- In a heavy bottom sauce pot, combine all the liquids with the sugar & spices and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Add the cranberries & the juice of the orange along with the zest, return to a boil.
- Once it boils lower the temperature to a simmer for 15 -20 minutes, the sauce will begin to thicken & the berries will begin to pop.
- Remove from the heat & discard the anise pods & then add the vanilla extract,
- Using a stick blender (or carefully transfer the hot cranberry sauce to a regular blender) puree to desired consistency. I like to leave my chunky.
- Next prepare the buttercream recipe of your choice & at the last stage of mixing add in the melted & cooled white chocolate ~whip smooth
- Prepare the candied cranberries & rosemary by combing the sugar & water together in a medium sauce pot and bring to a boil, boil for 3 minutes then remove from the heat
- Add the cranberries & rosemary & leave them in the sugar solution for about 5 minutes to steep
- Drain & then toss the cranberries & rosemary in a bowl of sugar ~ shake off the excess & place in a single layer on a parchment lined sheet pan to dry for about an hour or overnight
- Hollow out the cooled cupcakes & fill them up with cooled cranberry compote
- Ice with white chocolate buttercream & garnish with candied cranberries and rosemary
Notes
Pure Heaven! Just baked your wonderful Pumpkin cupcakes ! I got 22 cupcakes out of the recipe…. Thank you for your delicious vegan dessert creations!
Sorry, I forget to put the stars…
Hi, is it possible to substitute cake flour? I could find a sage one for us. Thank you!
I meant …safe one…
Thanks!
Yes you can use all ~all purpose flour
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! It is baked and cooling down. Looks perfect!
YAY! thanks for the comment! I’m so glad you love it!!
I made these for Thanksgiving today and just taste tested and they are sooooooo good. Thank you, Gretchen!
Hi, Gretchen! I’m planning to make these for a bake sale and I’m excited to give them a try. I love making and eating your Swiss meringue buttercream (it’s so silky and the perfect sweetness), so I’d like to use that. Can I still reduce the sugar when adding the white chocolate? Can I melt the white chocolate in place of the sugar in the aquafaba mixture at the beginning? Thanks!
Awesome! You can reduce the confectioners sugar as much as you like, the sugar for the Swiss meringue needs to stay the same
How do you store the candied cranberries and how long will they last? Thanks!
I store mine in the freezer for like a month, on the thaw though, the sugar will melt slightly so I just toss them into a fresh bowl of sugar