Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes!

It's fall ya'll -- and with it comes an additional, something extra urge to BAKE! At least for me! ;-) The other day I saw a recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin cupcakes, so of course I HAD to try it out. Unfortunately for me, the store's stock of pumpkin pie filling was out, but I knew I had a can of pure pumpkin at home, so I decided to adapt by combining two recipes. One for a Pumpkin Spice cake (that used a spice cake mix with a vanilla pudding packet & a cup of pure pumpkin) and the recipe I ran across originally (that used a devil's food cake mix & pumpkin pie filling). So, since I combined the two and essentially made it my own, I figure I can now label these as "Jennisha's Devilish Choco-Pumpkin Cupcakes"! ;-) The icing/frosting I had planned to make, never got made, as I am not a huge frosting person. (and I got tired! ha!) The planned frosting was the Pumpkin Cheesecake Frosting that had been paired with the recipe I found, so I will include it here, as I know that most people are frosting people, unlike myself! :-) So...on to the good stuff - a pic of the finished result and the RECIPE!!!!!! ;-)















Jennisha's Devilish Choco-Pumpkin Cupcakes

Bake at 350*, 15-18 minutes, yield 24 cupcakes

1 package (18.25 oz) devil's food cake mix
1 package (3.4 oz) pumpkin spice instant pudding mix (though I guess you could use vanilla - the pumpkin spice was what i had on hand!)
1 cup pumpkin, canned or mashed fresh
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
3 large eggs

Prepare muffin tins w/ cupcake wrappers or if making a whole cake, mist the 13x9 pan w/ vegetable oil spray.
Place cake mix, pudding mix, pumpkin, oil, water, & eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for a minute. Scrape sides and increase mixer speet to medium for at least 2 more minutes until batter is well blended. The batter will be pretty thick.
Spoon batter into cupcake wrappers until wrappers are 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and a toothpick comes out clean.
Place on wire rack to cool.
Frost with suggested frosting (or other, preferred frosting), if desired.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2-3 tablespoons pumpkin pie filling
4-6 cups confectioners or powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons half & half

Beat the softened butter and cream cheese together in a large mixing bowl until fluffy.
Add the pumpkin pie filling and beat until fully incorporated.
Add the confectioners/powdered sugar slowly into the bowl, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition. Continue until all sugar is added or until the frosting is to the consistency you prefer.
If frosting becomes too thick, add a tablespoon or more of the half & half to thin it out.

ENJOY!!!!!!