Pumpkin Patch Chocolate Cupcakes

I love pumpkins and this week I found a pin on Pinterest of the cutest pumpkin cupcakes from Just a Taste so I decided to make my own version. 

My version uses a tried and true favorite chocolate cake from Hershey's and simple white buttercream frosting that I colored orange and then sprinkled with sugar. Add a tootsie roll stem and a curly cue of green frosting and you have the cutest cupcakes. 

Chocolate Cupcakes
Recipe from Hershey's Cocoa

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

 Heat oven to 350°F. Line baking pans with paper liners ad set aside. 

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Basic Butter Cream Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 cup of softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons heavy cream

Orange food coloring

Green food coloring

Orange sanding sugar

20 tootsie rolls

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment mix the butter and powder sugar on low until blended, then mix on medium for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy. Then add vanilla and heavy cream and blend one more minute. Add more cream to get to desired consistency.

Place a small amount of frosting into a small bowl and add green food coloring until the frosting is the color that you want. Spoon into a baggie and set aside. 

Add orange food coloring to the remaining frosting until you get the orange color that you want. If you are combining red and yellow go slow with the colors because otherwise you could end up with a color that you do not like by adding too much of one color. 

Once you have the decided color frost each cupcake with the orange frosting, then sprinkle with the orange sugar. Snip the corner of the baggie of green frosting and make vines on the cupcakes. Stick an unwrapped tootsie roll into the side of the cupcake where you drew the vines. 

Enjoy

Linking to:
Rooted in Thyme
Between Naps on the Porch