15 grams (1 tablespoon) superfine or caster sugar**
¼ tsp salt
120 ml (½ cup) heavy cream
Optional ¾ teaspoon instant Clearjel, tapioca starch, or cornstarch to stabilize***
Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a muffin tin or line with paper cupcake liners.
Make the cupcakes: In a large bowl whisk together sugars, maple syrup, butter or oil, pumpkin, and eggs until thoroughly combined. In a medium bowl whisk together remaining ingredients (brown rice flour through nutmeg). Sift dry ingredients into wet, and whisk (or use a wooden spoon) to mix until batter is uniform and no visible dry flour remains. The batter will be thick and sticky.
If you have cookie scoops, use them to portion out the batter - regular cupcakes will require a 2-ounce scoop while minis will require a half-ounce scoop.Otherwise you can use a ¼ cup measure for regular cupcakes or a tablespoon for minis. When scooping the batter, be generous - you want them to be heaping and the pan wells will be nearly full.
Bake for 18-22 minutes for standard cupcakes or 9-12 minutes for mini cupcakes, until tops spring back when lightly pressed or a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs clinging to it. Transfer cupcakes to a rack to cool completely before frosting.
While cupcakes are baking, prepare the candied pecan crunch: In a medium bowl whisk together egg white, water, both sugars, cinnamon, [cayenne if using], and salt until frothy and uniform. Fold in pecans, and spread the mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment or Silpat.
Once the cupcakes are out of the oven, reduce the temperature to 300°F and bake the pecan mixture for 25-30 minutes or until fragrant and evenly browned. Transfer the sheet pan to a cooling rack and cool completely. The crunch will harden as it cools. Once cooled, chop or crush into small pieces.
Make the frosting: It’s best to do this in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat the cream cheese mixture, then switch to the whisk before adding the cream. If using a handheld mixer just stick with the standard beaters for the entire process.
Using paddle attachment (or handheld beaters), beat cream cheese, caramel, sugar and salt on medium speed until well incorporated. Turn off mixer, switch to whisk attachment if using stand mixer, and turn mixer back on to medium speed. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the heavy cream, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks.
Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or until ready to use. (When ready to frost cupcakes, you can either transfer the frosting to a piping bag or do it straight from the bowl/container with an offset spatula. It’s really a matter of aesthetics so it’s up to you.)
Serve: Top each cupcake with frosting, and sprinkle with candied pecan crunch.
Notes
*You may substitute regular milk powder for the buttermilk powder. If you’d like to omit it altogether, substitute 25 grams of millet or sorghum flour, and add 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to the wet ingredients.
**I recommend superfine (a.k.a. caster) sugar simply because it dissolves into the frosting more easily. You may substitute regular granulated sugar, and if you want to make sure it doesn’t lend a graininess to the frosting, give it a whirl in a *clean* coffee or spice grinder to make your own superfine sugar.
***Using a stabilizer in this frosting is completely optional, but it will help keep it firm. Since the frosting isn’t thickened with egg white or cornstarch-heavy confectioners sugar, it will begin to soften/melt if kept at room temperature for a while. To use the stabilizer, whip it separately with the heavy cream until very stiff, then beat in the cream cheese and caramel mixture. As an alternative to a powdered stabilizer, beat 2 ounces of butter with the cream cheese and reduce the heavy cream to 2 ounces.
Recipe by Good Health Gourmet at https://goodhealthgourmet.com/pumpkin-spice-cupcakes-caramel-cream-cheese-frosting/