Pumpkin Bread Pudding Cupcakes w/Maple Buttercream

When I saw a recipe online for pumpkin bread pudding the wheels automatically started turning as I worked out how I could turn them into cupcakes. My white chocolate bread pudding cupcakes were so successful that I knew I could adapt that recipe for a tasty fall treat.

I fiddled with the proportions of some of the ingredients, added spices and diced ginger, and wound up with a yummy cupcake-sized morsel of pumpkin-infused bread pudding. The cake itself isn't too sweet but that's more than made up for with the addition of delicious maple buttercream. I used real maple syrup and a dash of artificial maple flavoring because I worried the maple syrup flavor wouldn't be strong enough. I don't mind that fake flavor in small quantities and kind of like that I keep catching whiffs of it in the air but if it's not your thing you can omit it.

A note about the frosting recipe below: it only makes enough to pipe a small dollop of frosting on each cupcake (see above picture). Because it's so sweet and strong I didn't want to pile on the frosting and overwhelm the pumpkin cake, but if you want to generously pipe it you'll need to make more.

I also think these would be quite good with the addition of cranberries. I wish I'd thought to throw 1/2 a cup of frozen berries in with the bread cubes before baking. I guess there's always next time!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop

1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 loaf of dense white bread, 1 or 2 days old
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 ground ginger
A pinch of ground cloves
1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, finely diced

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the cream, milk, vanilla, and flour. Bring to a boil, stirring. Remove from heat, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Chop bread into 1/2″ cubes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
3. Bring cream mixture back to boil and stir in pumpkin puree. Take off the heat and continue to stir until smooth and thoroughly combined.
4. Whisk together the egg yolks, egg, and sugars in a large bowl. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, and ground cloves and whisk until combined. Add diced ginger and slowly add the warm pumpkin mixture, whisking constantly until combined.
5. Pour the mixture carefully over the bread cubes. Stir until all cubes are covered with pumpkin mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 15 cupcake wells with paper liners (paper cup liners work best).
7. Scoop soaked bread cubes into cupcake papers until bread cubes are level with the top of the rim.
8. Carefully pour any remaining liquid into each cupcake filling until nearly full.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes until set.
10. Remove from oven and cool in pan 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack.

Maple Buttercream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring
2 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
2. Add maple flavoring and maple syrup and beat until combined. You may have to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and continue to mix.