Let’s talk chocolate cupcakes and pumpkin patches!
Is there anything else that screams fall than heading to the pumpkin patch? I mean who doesn’t want to go spend $30 picking out a grocery store pumpkin from a field and then lugging it back to your car when you could just buy one for $3 at Kroger?
All for the memories, I guess. 🙂
Well, these pumpkin patch cupcakes don’t require you to leave your house and are more delicious than a pumpkin. Plus, they are pretty cute too thanks to some goodies from Wilton (see below for links).
Pumpkin patch chocolate cupcakes are perfect for Fall.
If it wasn’t obvious, let me break it down for you as to how these are pumpkin patch cupcakes.
- Chocolate Cupcake = Dirt.
- Orange/Yellow/White Buttercream = Pumpkin.
- Green Topper = Pumpkin Stem.
The sweet little faces are just extra adorable. Who doesn’t want to look at a cute pumpkin cupcake?
Tips to easily frost chocolate cupcakes.
It took me forever to figure out how to frost cupcakes in a beautiful way. I never had a piping bag, I’d just use a spoon or a spatula and go to town. Not pretty. Here are some tips for decorating cupcakes with buttercream icing.
- Fluffy Buttercream. You really want your buttercream icing to be FLUFFY. If you don’t mix it long enough (at least 4 minutes), it will still be a little hard and might have some pockets of sugar it in. Plus, it won’t go through your piping tip as well and won’t be as pretty.
- Piping Tips. I personally love these jumbo piping tips for simple buttercream designs these chocolate cupcakes. But, you can even just head to the grocery store and pick up a few in the baking aisle to get started. Here are some great tutorials on piping tips.
- Piping Bags. I’m not going to lie, I generally use a small or gallon size plastic ziploc bag and just cut the tip off to stuff the piping tip in there. Wilton also makes some great disposable piping bags that come with a plastic tip.
- Glass Pint Glasses. When you are filling your piping bag, place the bag tip side down in a pint glass and fold the bag over the edges of the glass. It’s so much easier to fill your bag this way, trust me.
Pretty cake and cupcake decorating is hard.
I am NOT a master decorator when it comes to cakes and cupcakes. But, here are a few of my favorite bakers who are also amazing decorators.
- The Baking Fairy. Valentina is the sweetest and makes BEAUTIFUL cakes. They are also Vegan which is so impressive to me.
- Sally’s Baking Addiction. I mean, she’s just the Queen and number one baker in my opinion.
- What Midge Makes. Her baked goods are seriously always so beautiful. Follow her on Instagram for story tutorials all the time.
Ingredients + decorations for chocolate cupcakes.
The ingredients for this chocolate cupcake recipe are pretty straightforward. But, I want to call out some of them to show you where I got a few of the cute decorations.
- Cocoa Powder. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. The Rodelle cocoa powder is everything. There is no comparison.
- Candy Eyeballs. We have like 5 different sizes of eyeballs from Wilton and I love them. They make everything a little bit sillier or cuter.
- Black Icing Writing Pen. I love these little guys! They are from Wilton and useful for making smiley faces or writing on cakes and cookies.
- Liners & Stems. I actually used these from a Wilton pumpkin cupcake decorating kit. You can snag a similar one here.
- Food Coloring. I didn’t have any orange food coloring so I mixed yellow and red for a light orange color. You can do the same or get just orange for a more pumpkin forward color.
Where to serve pumpkin patch chocolate cupcakes?
Since I work from home and I don’t typically need to eat a dozen cupcakes at a time – I’m always looking for places to drop off my homemade treats. Here are a few of my favorite spots.
- Fire + Police Stations. They almost always accept food as a thank you for their service. Call first to make sure!
- Kid’s School. O’s preschool has tons of events that call for homemade baked goods, including an upcoming “GrandPals Day” so don’t be surprised when you see these again in our Instagram Stories.
- Spouse or Friend’s Work. I’m always sending treats with my husband to work so I don’t eat a batch of cupcakes in one sitting.
A few of our other favorite chocolate and Halloween recipes.
- Graveyard Pudding. This play on “dirt pudding” is still one of my most favorite dessert recipes on The Beard and The Baker. It’s SO easy and so stinking cute.
- Chocolate Stout Cake. We made this amazingly decadent cake for Valentine’s Day a few years ago and I still dream about it.
- Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn. This might be a little bit better for Christmas-time, but you could swap the peppermint for Halloween sprinkles and make it spooky!
Don’t forget to tag us on social media using #beardandbaker when you make these adorable Pumpkin Patch Chocolate Cupcakes!
Chocolate Cupcakes | Pumpkin Patch Style
These super moist and delicious chocolate cupcakes are made even cuter with vanilla buttercream and pumpkin patch decorations! Perfect for a fall party.
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Servings: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs at room temperature*
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk at room temperature
Buttercream Icing + Pumpkin Patch Topping
- 1 cup butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- orange food coloring
- Wilton Icing Writing Pen Black
- 12 Wilton Pumpkin Stem Toppers
- 24 Wilton Candy Eyes
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla together until completely smooth.
- Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then half of the whole milk. Gently whisk for a few seconds. Repeat with the remaining wet ingredients and whole milk. Stir until *just* combined; do not overmix. The batter will be thin.
- Pour or spoon the batter into the liners. Fill only halfway to avoid spilling over the sides or sinking. Bake for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream Icing + Pumpkin Patch Topping
- Using stand or hand mixer, beat the butter for about 2 minutes until creamy. Add in four cups of powdered sugar and vanilla with the mixer running on the lowest speed. Scrape sides of the mixer/bowl, as needed. Then, increase the speed to high and beat for about 3-5 minutes until fluffy and creamy.
- Place half your buttercream in one bowl and half in another. Leave one bowl just plain vanilla buttercream. In the other bowl, add orange food coloring until you reach your desired pumpkin color. If you don't have orange, you can mix yellow and red but it's a bit tricky!
- Add buttercream icings into their own piping bags and then frost each cooled cupcake accordingly. Add candy eyes and a pumpkin stem topper. Using the Wilton Icing Writing Pen, draw a little smiley face.
- Enjoy that day or leave in the fridge until about 30 minutes before eating!
Made our recipe?Mention @Thebeardandthebaker or tag #beardandbaker!
Notes
Chocolate Cupcake recipe adapted from
- Poison Apple Cupcakes from Big Bear’s Wife
- Apple Cider Jello Shots from Fake Ginger
- Caramel Chocolate Green Monster Cupcakes from I am a Honey Bee
- Ghost Meringue Cookies from Cookaholic Wife
- Chocolate Chip Spider Cheeseball from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Eyeball Monster Cookies from Jen Around the World
- Bloody Ice Cream Sundaes from Daily Dish Recipes
- Halloween Fruit Punch from Everyday Eileen
- Spooky Eyeball Truffles from Sweet Beginnings
- Pumpkin Candy Bucket Cake from For the Love of Food
- Halloween Chocolate Cake from Back To My Southern Roots
- Bloody Eyeball Crinkle Cookies from Creative Southern Home
- Day of the Dead Margaritas from The Spiffy Cookie
- Ectoplasm Fluff Salad from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Loaded Bat Bark from Who Needs A Cape?
- Halloween Icebox Cake from Lemon Blossoms
- Scary Caramel Popcorn Balls from West Via Midwest
- Halloween Edible Cookie Dough from Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
- Frankenstein Cake Pops from The Redhead Baker
- Purple People Eater Cupcakes from Jonesin’ For Taste
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake Cheeseball from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes from The Beard and The Baker
- Halloween Cakesickles from Pint Sized Baker
- Halloween Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars from Katie’s Cucina
- Caramel Apple Layer Cake from Love and Confections
- Witches Midnight Puppy Chow from My Sweet Zepol
- Individual Jack Skellington Cheesecakes from Savory Moments
- Vegan Sweet Potato Jack O’ Lantern Hand Pies from The Baking Fairy
- Halloween Brownie Parfait from Intelligent Domestications
- Bloody Good Fudge from A Blender Mom
- Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Pumpkin Frosting and Spooky Sprinkles from Nancie’s Table
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