Gluten Free Halloween Sticky Toffee Cupcakes with Pumpkin Buttercream and Halloween Cupcake Toppers

Classic British sticky toffee pudding gets paired with rich pumpkin buttercream in this whimsical Halloween cupcakes recipe!

Makes 12 to 18 cupcakes

These spooky cupcakes with their whimsical Halloween toppers would be perfect for a Halloween party! They're easy to make--the sponge is light and sweetened with dates and the frosting is a moreish buttercream made with pumpkin puree and lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.

The sponge is a basic sticky toffee pudding. Sticky toffee pudding is a classic British dessert made with dates and muscovado sugar. It's one of my favorite desserts and every time we go to a pub or restaurant here, I have to have it if it's on the menu.

I made my own pumpkin puree because it's hard to come by the Libby's stuff in the UK, but if you wanted to cut corners, you could use shop bought puree, instead. I have to admit that the buttercream is one of my favorite aspects of this dessert.

The set of 4 cupcake toppers will be available for you to download tomorrow, so be sure to come back for them!

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Ingredients:

For the pumpkin puree
1 small pumpkin about 1/4 pound in weight
(Note: you should get 1 cup of puree from every 1 pound of pumpkin)

For the sticky toffee pudding sponge
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
2 medium eggs
80g unsalted butter, softened
150g muscovado sugar
180g dates, pitted and chopped
180ml water
180g gluten free self-raising/rising flour, sifted

For the pumpkin buttercream
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp butter, softened
2 1/2 tbsp salted caramel
2 cups icing/confectioner's sugar, sifted
scant 3 tbsp pumpkin puree

For the cupcake toppers
printable Halloween cupcake toppers 
orange and black swirled paper straws
Sellotape/Scotch tape

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Instructions:

Halloween Sticky Toffee Cupcakes with Pumpkin Buttercream

1. For the pumpkin puree, preheat your oven to 200C/400F.
2. Quarter the pumpkin and scrape out the seeds and sinew, setting aside. (Keep the seeds for roasting later! Rinse and discard the sinew.)
3. Arrange the pumpkin skin side up in a baking tray and dry roast for about 30 minutes until tender.
4. Once tender, allow to cool enough to handle. Once cool, peel the flesh from the skin using your fingers and mash with a potato masher then puree in a food processor until desired consistency. Set aside. 

1. For the sticky toffee pudding sponge, reduce the oven temperature to 180C/350F. 
2. Soak the dates in the water and vanilla for about 15 minutes.
3. Sift the flour and the baking soda into a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
4. Cream the butter and muscovado sugar together until light and fluffy.
5. Once light and fluffy, add the first egg and 1 tablespoon of the flour and soda mixture. Beat to incorporate. Add the second egg and beat to incorporate.
6. Fold in the flour mixture and combine well.
7. Fold in dates and all their liquid.
8. Spoon into cupcake cases and bake 15 to 20 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when touched.

1. While the cakes bake, make the buttercream.
2. Cream together the butter and the pumpkin puree until fully incorporated.
3. Add cinnamon and nutmeg and beat together.
4. Drizzle in shop-bought salted caramel and beat to incorporate.
5. Add in the sifted icing sugar bit by bit, beating until creamy.
6. Spoon into a piping bag and refrigerate for 10 minutes before piping onto cooled cupcakes.

1. While the cakes cool and the frosting chills, assemble the cupcake toppers.
2. Print and cut out the toppers.
3. Cut the straws into thirds or halves or an equivalent number necessary for the number of cakes you're baking.
4. Flatten about an inch of one end of each straw and tape this to the back of the topper.
5. Once the cakes have been frosted, top each one with a cupcake topper.

 Please note, I cut like a kindergartner and you can probably see what a horrible job I did freehand cutting these circles. A scrapbooking circle cutter would be the best bet for consistent circle cutting.

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