Happy Halloween, everyone! This is my favorite day of the year and despite being in a near diabetic coma based on the amount of caramel apple suckers I’ve eaten lately, I’m still managing to chow down on these amazing confections I made yesterday for work.

I was going back and forth all week about what to make, debating between silly bat-shaped cookies and spiders with black licorice legs, or just going with some really good fall flavors and adding my own dark sense of humor. Thankfully I chose the latter because in the end, you can make these cupcakes any time and they’re still amazing, with or without Halloween frills.

The recipe for the cake is actually from my college’s cafeteria (yes, really!). One of the most beloved things in our caf were these pumpkin bars with this incredible cream cheese frosting and when I was a senior I got the recipe so I could recreate them even after graduating. Super moist and pumpkin-y without being overwhelming with the most perfect whipped cream cheese frosting… gah. I just love them. So here they are, and I send a warm thanks and Happy Halloween to the cafeteria ladies of Cornell, who happily gave me this recipe ages ago and I just now get to share on this All Hallow’s Eve.

As for the frosting, I wanted to combine my two favorite flavors with these cupcakes, so it was either pumpkin cake with apple cider frosting, or vice versa.  Since the Cornell pumpkin cake called to me, apple cider cream cheese frosting it was.  It’s super easy and quite possibly the tastiest frosting I’ve ever had. Just reduce some apple cider (get the best you can find) and pour the syrupy, reduced goodness into some cream cheese frosting.  Voila, Halloween perfection!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Based on the recipe from Cornell College’s cafeteria.

Makes about 30 cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 2½ cups sugar
• 1¼ cups vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 15-oz. can pumpkin
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2½ cups flour
• 2½ tsp baking soda
• 2½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• dash fresh ground ginger

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350° F with rack in center of oven.

2.) In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together sugar and oil until combined.  With the mixer running on low, add the eggs one at a time, letting just combine until you add the next one. Add the applesauce and pumpkin, then mix until just combined.

3.) Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

4.) Line 2 cupcake pans with papers and spray papers with non-stick cooking spray. Evenly fill the papers until they are about 2/3 full and bake 18-23 minutes until springy to the touch.  Let cool completely and frost with apple cider cream cheese frosting.

Apple Cider Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 cups apple cider
• 1 8-oz block cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted

Directions

1.) In a small saucepan, bring the apple cider to a boil and cook until reduced to about ¼ cup, which should take about 35 minutes. (It’s best to let this reduce as you make the cupcakes). Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

2.) While the cider cools, prepare the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter until smooth. Add the cooled cider reduction and beat until combined. Taste for sweetness.

3.) You can frost them with the somewhat thin, liquidy frosting you get right away, or you can chill the frosting for an hour or two until it stiffens and then frost the cupcakes. Top with poison flags and cackle.

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