Pumpkin Cupcakes with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

Chockylit’s Cupcake Bakeshop blog is a wonder to me. Her inventive flavor combinations and craftsmanship lift the humble cupcake up from its cakemix-bakesale associations and make them an art form in their own right. She’s an inspiration.

Sure, cupcakes are all the rage these days. And I’m usually one to shun the fadish, even at the expense of missing out on something decidedly good. I’m a scorpio. But cupcakes are sort of perfect. They’re like the little Christmas gifts that get hidden in the tree, aren’t they? You don’t know exactly what’s inside but you know it’s going to be good. I challenge anyone to take a look at her cupcakes and resist the temptation to dig out your rusty old muffin tins and whip up a batch of something good.

I had some sugar pumpkin leftover from Thanksgiving that I’ve been dying to bake with and decided to make some cupcakes based on these recipes from Chockylit’s blog. I’d had a really bad day of baking on Saturday so I was a bit nervous. But they couldn’t be easier to make (she keeps things nice and simple) and they certainly look good enough to eat.

Oh yeah, they’re hella good.