Halloween with a Peruvian touch: do you dare to prepare these cupcakes made with pumpkin?

Clarification: This article was originally published on October 27, 2013 on the Sobremesa blog.

Every October 31 in a country called Peru – coincidences in the calendar – citizens can choose between celebrating Halloween or the day of the Creole song; celebrate both; or not celebrate any. It will always be a good idea to do what you like and have fun with the best of both dates. Especially when it comes to food.

It is inevitable to remember those first childhood costume parties and not think of sweet things. Halloween is the celebration of the treat and that seemed to be the only thing that mattered back then. As we cannot go back in time, what we can do is indulge ourselves by preparing a recipe as rich as it is simple that will transport us to those glorious years. Paloma Casanave, cook and owner of the Miss Cupcakes store, has the perfect proposal.

What is the first ingredient that comes to mind when we think of a Halloween-inspired dish? There is no other than the pumpkin. Although now we find it in many supermarkets every October, Paloma wanted to give it a more local touch and put together a recipe for cupcakes made with pumpkin. This recipe makes 12 units and is accompanied by a cream cheese frosting.

Pumpkin cupcakes recipe

Ingredients:

For the pumpkin sponge cake

1 cup unprepared flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger powder

1/4 tsp. clove powder

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. baking powder

1 CD of bicarbonate

1/4 cdt. of salt

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla essence

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/8 tsp. sweet pepper (optional, you can find it in markets and supermarkets)

3/4 cup pumpkin puree *

For the pumpkin puree

1 1/3 cup cubes of cut squash, shelled

3 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

3 sweet pepper balls (also optional)

For the cream cheese frosting

1/4 of cup of margarine

1/4 of cup of cream cheese

2 1/2 cups caster sugar

2 tbsp. fresh milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla essence

To decorate:

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

Varios pirotines # 7

Cupcake mold (you find it in department stores, markets and supermarkets)

Preparation:

To make the puree, place the squash cubes and the spices in a pot with water that covers them completely. Boil it for 8 minutes.

Strain it and remove the remains of spices. Place the squash in a food processor and puree. Make sure to preheat the oven to 170 ° C and place the # 7 liners in the pan.

In a bowl, sift flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, sweet pepper, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix it all up, it will smell delicious.

In another bowl, add the eggs, vanilla, puree, sugar, and oil. You will have a beautiful and bright yellow.

Once you have everything ready, combine both mixtures. Easy right?

With the help of a spoon, fill three quarters of each cake with a little of the dough. Bake the mold for 22 to 24 minutes or until you insert a stick and it comes out clean. Take it out of the oven and let it cool.

To make the frosting, sift the sugar and mix with the margarine, cream cheese, fresh milk sugar and vanilla until they are combined. With an electric mixer at maximum speed, beat the mixture for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture turns a lighter color.

Place the frosting in a sleeve and decorate each cake. If you don’t have one, don’t worry: use a plastic bag and cut the tip to place it. Or you can just use a knife to spread the frosting, keep it simple.

Sprinkle cinnamon on each cupcake and you have them ready to serve.

You can replace regular squash with squash loche and, if you want to use squash, you should change the measure of puree to 1 cup and not ¾ as indicated in the recipe. You can see more of her world of sweets on the Miss Cupcakes website.

Do you want to continue cooking with Paloma?

Paloma Casanave has opened a new cycle of cooking lessons. The October class calendar has 3 modalities: demonstrative class, practical class and a discussion on how to start a dessert venture. Students will learn to make tiramisu, biscuits, red velvet cupcakes, Halloween cupcakes, truffles, and a monstrous chocolate cake.

The classes are virtual and Paloma will answer all the queries in real time through Zoom. For more information go to www.palomacasanave.com

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