Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes

Last year I purchased Martha Stewart's cupcake book.  This book is fabulous and always inspires me to try new recipes.  I love taking one of her recipes and putting a new spin on it to make it my own.  

I have made her brown-butter pumpkin cupcakes twice now and everyone raves about them.  The secret is the brown-butter, it makes the cupcakes moist and fluffy.  This time I decided to make them in miniature form (mainly so I didn't feel so guilty for eating more than one) 

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes with Marge-Carpone frosting
recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon ( I added 1 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg ( I added 1/2 teaspoon)
1/8 teaspoon ground gloves
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
(frosting recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tins with paper liners. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown, Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.  (After the butter cooled in this white ramekin I ran the butter through a strainer to remove the burned sediments. )

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and brown-butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

(The batter is very thick, this is normal)
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. (10 minutes for mini-cupcakes) Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. 

Marge-Carpone Frosting

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

8 oz mascarpone (room temperature)

1/2 cup confectioner sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tbs. vanilla extract

Whip heavy cream in a bowl until stiff peaks form.  In a separate bowl combine mascarpone, sugar and vanilla.  Gently fold the mixture into the  cream until just combined.  Place frosting in a pipping bag with a star tip.   Dust cupcakes with cinnamon. (optional)