Pumpkin chai latte cupcakes with vanilla buttercream
18 Oct
I kept my Autumn theme going my October fundraiser for She’s the First, via the Cupcake Campaign, even though Philly is robbing us of October weather. 70 degrees and oddly humid? No thank you.
Since it’s in the Bakers’ Book of Rules that you have to bake at least ONE pumpkin cupcake in Autumn (preferably October), I opted to whip up my spiced pumpkin cake, this time using Tipu’s Chai Now in place of a spice blend (though the recipe below has some suggestions you can sub in). I discovered Tipu’s Chai on Twitter back in August, and after some chatter back and forth, received a complimentary bag of The Simple Life, which is the unsweetened version of the product. You mix the finally ground blend into hot water, add some sugar and some milk, and voila! Or in the case of my cupcakes, I mixed the chai mix into my dry ingredients.
I tweaked my vanilla pastry cream recipe to be a chai pastry cream, using a homemade chai concentrate I made from a recipe on Budget Bytes, and find the flavor subtle and the texture silky. I thought about blending some of the Tipu’s into it, but didn’t want the pastry cream to be overpowering.
To keep it simple, I topped the cupcake with a fluffy vanilla buttercream, then finished it with some candied butternut squash seeds that I made earlier in the week after making butternut squash soup. To make the seeds, follow my recipe here. You can also make this with pumpkin seeds, but I find that they taste the same, so work with what you have on hand.
Now, the best news I have is that between last week’s cupcake and this week, I was able to raise $150 for She’s the First. This amount is approximately half of what is needed to help sponsor a girl’s education in Guatemala and Nepal. And because of the generosity of my taste testers and Cipher Prime, we’re going to make this happen.
I’m also looking forward to seeing what my fellow bake salers manage to raise … if you look at this map of registered bake sales, you can see there are A LOT of us!
Ingredients
Directions
Begin with the pastry cream so it has time to cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cornstarch with 1/2 cup of chai concentrate until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the whole egg, then the yolks, one at a time, into the cornstarch/chai mixture.
In a medium saucepan, add the milk and the sugar. Whisk to combine, then bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
Once the milk-sugar mixture has come to a boil, you must temper the eggs with it. Begin by whisking the egg mixture at a steady pace, then slowly pour approximately 1/4 of the hot milk-sugar mixture into it in a continuous stream.
Return the remaining milk-sugar mixture to the stovetop and turn the burner to medium heat. Pour the hot egg mixture into the saucepan in a thin stream, constantly whisking. You do not want the eggs to scramble.
The mixture will begin to thicken--remove from the heat and add the butter and vanilla and whisk until combined. Pour the vanilla pastry cream into a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap down onto the surface so that it does not form a skin. Let it come to room temperature.
Once at room temperature, press the pastry cream through a sieve, to remove any lumps. Put pastry cream into a piping bag.
For the cupcakes, heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Line pans with cupcake papers.
Combine dry ingredients; set aside.
Cream butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, then add the vanilla.
Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined.
Mix in the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about halfway full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes.
When done, transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.
For the frosting, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of sugar, beating until combined. Add the vanilla. Finally, add the remaining sugar gradually and whip until light and fluffy.
To assemble, pipe the chai pastry cream into the cored out center. Frost with the vanilla buttercream, and top with candied pumpkin seeds if you choose to use them.
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