Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

If you are anything like me, you love a fall treat!  Well Pumpkin Spice Lattes are all the rage this time of year and so I thought I'd make some Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes.  I know there are a few recipes floating around out there, but for me it is all about the presentation!

A Pumpkin Spice Latte in a Starbucks cup with "whip cream."  It all started with a recipe.  I played around with a pumpkin cupcake recipe I'd used last fall and tweaked it to create a Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcake recipe.   Let me tell you, the results were amazing...it was delicious.

Here's the cupcake recipe:

• 2 1/4 cups flour (sift before measuring)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (plus extra for dusting)
• 2 3/4 teaspoons instant coffee
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 1/3 sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten until frothy
• 1 cup mashed pumpkin
• 3/4 cup milk

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs.  Alternate stirring in sifted dry ingredients and milk until all is incorporated.  Blend in mashed pumpkin.  Stir instant coffee into the mixture.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes in well-greased and floured muffin tins.  

Now for the frosting recipe:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups confections' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Beat until smooth.

Now that you've made your basic cupcakes and your frosting, the fun begins...again presentation is everything!  The goal with these cupcakes is to trick your eye into thinking you are looking at an actual Pumpkin Spice Latte.  To achieve such a look I placed the cupcake into a small sample Starbucks cup so that the cupcake sat well above the brim.  I then placed the sample cup into a larger Starbucks cup.  The cupcake sits just below the rim, giving off the allusion that it is filled with a beverage. 

My hope was to make this cupcake/drink look as authentic as possible.  One of the details I noted was the drink order on each cup.  My husband used to work at Starbucks and so he taught me the code they use to prescribe each drink on its cup.  There is a "WC" under the custom section to note whip cream is to be added to the drink and a "PSL" in the drink box indicating that a Pumpkin Spice Latte has been ordered.

Each of these drink orders calls for "whip cream."  I added frosting to this lovely treat to meet that demand.  I used a pastry bag and tip to frost the cupcakes to cause them to look like the whip cream that would come on your beverage at Starbucks.  These "drinks" are all about being personalized so by adding people's names to their "orders" you add an extra personal touch.

Once all of the cupcakes were frosted, it was time for finishing touches to really bring home the details of this wonderful fall treat.  A shortened straw was placed in each beverage and the whip cream was dusted with nutmeg to complete the look.  

The completed project truly makes a beautiful display!  I brought these over to a friend's house for a couples get together and they were a hit.  The presentation blew everyone away, but the flavors had them all asking to take a treat for the road.

Grab a Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcake sweet fall treat and 

"Cheers my friends, here's to a Fabulous Fall!"

 Now if that presentation doesn't make you think Pumpkin Spice Latte, I don't know what will!

Update: Many of you had some questions and so I've answered those here!

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