Pumpkin cupcakes

Lola's Kitchen divulges its super-secret pumpkin cupcake recipe

Lola's Kitchen - London's hottest new cupcake boutique - divulges its super-secret pumpkin cupcake recipe

Makes 24 American-sized cupcakes

Ingredients: 450g of plain flour 3 eggs 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon allspice or ginger 2/3 cup chopped walnuts 400g of caster sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons pure vanilla 400g shredded fresh pumpkin 100g of white chocolate curls For the cream cheese icing:

250g of unsalted butter 1000g of icing sugar 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla paste 500g Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Method:

Slice open the pumpkin, remove the seeds and chop the pumpkin into smaller chunks. Then grate 400g of pumpkin chunks.

Sift together the plain flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and allspice. Add the walnuts now too as this will stop them sinking to the bottom of the cupcake. Measure the sugar, oil and vanilla into a large size bowl and stir to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition. This is the wet mixture. Add the majority of the dry mixture to the wet and stir until just combined. Add the remaining dry mixture very slowly until all incorporated. This will result in a very thick batter. Do not overbeat! Fold the pumpkin and white chocolate curls into the batter with a large wooden spoon.

Pipe or spoon the mixture into cupcake cases about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees, until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick comes out clean, which should take between 20 and 25 minutes.

Finish the cooled cupcakes with generous helpings of cream cheese icing, dusted with cocoa powder and decorated with chocolate shreds