Best chocolate cupcake to date! Man does that pumpkin make it moist! It actually happened by accident. I was following a recipe making a few adjustments on purpose but accidentally put a whole can of pumpkin in instead of just a cup. Sometimes the greatest inventions happen because of a mistake. This is one of those cases. Seriously, this cupcake is divine.
K, enough about the amazingly moist chocolate pumpkin cake part. Let’s talk about that stuff on top that screams “eat me!”.
I love a traditional pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, but pumpkin chocolate cake paired with cream cheese frosting AND chocolate!? Now we are really talkin! So on top of that lovely moist cake we’ve got a cream cheese/whipped cream frosting (dyed orange of course). It has a bit of cinnamon giving it more of a pumpkin spice kick but I absolutely love that it has whipped cream in it. I mean, how could one not?! It’s got a light and fluffy texture that sits perfectly under the rich blanket of chocolate ganache. Ya know, because everything should be covered in chocolate. 
Well, I’m off to devour the last of these cupcakes. Enjoy!
Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
For the Frosting:
- 2 3/4 cup powdered sugar, divided
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- orange food coloring
For the Glaze:
- 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. In a small bowl combine buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. While mixing on low, alternately add dry ingredients and pumpkin mixture in thirds. When evenly combined, pour into muffin tins and bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- When cool enough to handle, remove cupcakes onto wire rack to cool completely.
For the Frosting:
- Beat whipping cream and 3/4 cup powdered sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add food coloring and mix until stiff peaks.
- In another bowl, beat cream cheese on medium-high until light and fluffy. Mix in remaining 2 cups powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla until combined. Fold in the whipped cream until well mixed. Place frosting in piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe a dollop of frosting in the middle for height and then pipe the frosting around and spiral up. Release pressure and then lift when you reach the top. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before adding glaze.
For the glaze:
- Place chocolate, butter, and corn syrup in a heatproof bowl. Boil whipping cream on the stove or in the microwave (careful it doesn't boil over) and pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for 3 minutes. Mix with a whisk until smooth and let it sit for 3-5 minute to allow it to thicken a little. Spoon the glaze on top of each cupcake pushing it off the edges to drip down the frosting. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Country Living
Cathy Dueck
October 21, 2014 at 12:22 pmThose cupcakes looks divine!!!! Chocolate and cream cheese frosting!! Can’t wait to try them!!
Melanie
October 21, 2014 at 8:09 pmWish you were here so I could share them with you… you’ll just have to make them! 🙂
Julie @ Lovely Little Kitchen
October 21, 2014 at 6:43 pmWow that glaze! Love these pics too Melanie!
Melanie
October 21, 2014 at 8:08 pmThanks so much Julie!
Chineka @ Savor The Baking
October 22, 2014 at 2:05 amPumpkin spice and chocolate ganache! Now that’s my type of recipe. 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche
October 22, 2014 at 4:34 amI think I could devour a bowlful of that frosting straight it looks SO delicious. These chocolate and pumpkin cupcakes are a great recipe Melanie, thanks for sharing it!
Melanie @ Carmel Moments
October 22, 2014 at 11:15 amI have never met a day when I’ve had too much chocolate. This I could squeeze perfectly into any day. Gorgeous!
Pinned.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Melanie
October 23, 2014 at 9:13 amI haven’t either Melanie. Most days I haven’t had enough chocolate!
Erika Madden
October 22, 2014 at 2:51 pmWhoa. I have a feeling my kiddos would devour these in one night… lol They look incredible!
ami@naivecookcooks
October 22, 2014 at 3:35 pmIts pumpkin everywhere still it’s not enough for me! Looks so good especially that creme on top!
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
October 24, 2014 at 6:15 amWow Melanie…these look amazing!! I was just peeking over the Foodie Fridays linkups this morning and couldn’t resist clicking on these! They looks so delicious! Pinning and sharing! Have a wonderful day!
Melanie
October 24, 2014 at 6:17 pmThanks Michelle! You have to try these! They are seriously the moistest cupcake because of the pumpkin in it.
Tricia B.
November 7, 2015 at 5:37 amI’m usually super hesitant to even try a recipe that doesn’t have many reviews but your words were convincing and I really wanted to try it since I had pumpkin and was needing to make chocolate cupcakes for my daughters party.
They turned out SO moist and were perfect with the cream cheese frosting (didn’t do the ganache) but I cut 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar in the cream cheese frosting and sprinkled it with sugar and it turned out just right. I also lowered the cinnamon to 1/4th of a tsp because I was afraid it would be too much like pumpkin pie but I wish I didn’t, you can hardly taste the pumpkin in the recipe so the cinnamon would really flavor the cream cheese well.
I highly recommend everyone to try these!
Valerie
November 23, 2018 at 11:34 pmThese cupcakes were just what I was looking for to make a special Thanksgiving dessert that wasn’t pumpkin pie! Instead of adding food coloring, I added 1/4 cup pumpkin puree to the cream cheese frosting for color and a little extra pumpkin flavor. I’ve never had such light yet decadent cupcakes in my whole life! This is getting added to the recipe box for sure, thank you!