My story in recipes: Pumpkin Cupcakes

My camera has been acting a little weird lately. Sometimes it randomly adds a strangle border to my pictures or even crops them without being told to do so. (My camera does have a mind of it's own but this is getting ridiculous.)

I'm sharing that with you because I feel obligated to let you know that I took an obscene number of photographs of these cupcakes just to try and figure out exactly what's going on with my camera. Of course, the pictures that I took of the cupcakes turned out great and I didn't have any camera issues - whatsoever. (Uuuugggg. Of course, when I want the camera to act up, it behaved perfectly well.)

Not sure what to do about my weird camera issues but since it seems to be working well at the moment, I am going to assume it was a temporary issue. I certainly hope so anyway. What would I ever do without my camera? I am more closely attached to my camera than my phone. I'm not sure that I could separate from it for a month so that I could send it somewhere to be checked out. Anyone know of a good camera repair shop in the Atlanta/Athens area?

These cupcakes from the Browneyedbaker.com were the perfect subject to use for camera experimentation. They are beautifully simple and simply delicious.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 48 cupcakes
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:
4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2½ cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1½ cups canned pumpkin

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until just combined.

Add pumpkin; beat until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.

Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

To Make the Frosting:

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, ½ cup at a time, and then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.