A vibrant and filling side dish for the Thanksgiving meal is made with butternut squash slices that are glazed with a maple-rum glaze.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 25 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 2 dozen cupcakes |
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups water
- ⅔ cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, or more as needed
- 1 (.68 oz. tube) black decorating gel
- 24 large spiced gumdrops
- black shoestring licorice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
- Combine flour, white sugar, baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in bowl; whisk to mix. In separate bowl, mix water, canola oil, vinegar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Pour liquids into dry mixture and stir until smooth. The batter will be very thin.
- Transfer batter into a measuring cup or pitcher; pour batter into prepared cupcake pans.
- Bake in preheated oven until tops spring back when gently pressed with a fingertip and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Beat cream cheese, butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually mix in confectioners’ sugar until frosting is creamy and spreadable. Frost the cooled cupcakes.
- To decorate cupcakes, use black decorating gel to draw a small circle in the center of each cupcake. Draw a larger circle around the first, and continue making larger circles until the last circle is about 1/4 inch from the edge. There should be about 5 rings on each cupcake. Use a toothpick to draw about 8 lines radiating from the center of the cupcake to the edge, like spokes on a wheel, to make webs.
- Cut the licorice strings into pieces about 1 1/4 inch long for legs. Poke four licorice legs into both sides of each gumdrop. Use decorating gel to make eyes and a smiley mouth on each gumdrop. Place a gumdrop spider onto each cupcake in the center of the webs.
- You can use this recipe as a cake or cupcakes. For a cake, grease a 9×13-inch pan and increase the baking time. Start checking for doneness after 35 or 40 minutes.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the candy decorations. The actual amount of the candy used will vary.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 403 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 71 g |
| Cholesterol | 18 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 302 mg |
| Sugars | 54 g |
| Fat | 13 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I cut the cake recipe in half made 1 doz.
This is my favorite spice cake recipe by far. My vegan friends especially love it. Even without the candy decorations or the cream cheese frosting it’s great on its own with a (vegan) buttercream frosting or maple flavor added. If you’re not entertaining vegans, bacon, of course makes a tasty addition. I’ve done that , too.
This was a big hit for my family, but I also made it into a bundt cake. I used all organic ingredients and it was fantastic! Super moist and not boring. Instead of the icing, I used a simple vanilla glaze drizzled on top and served it for breakfast!!
I originally made the cupcakes for Halloween. They were excellent and quite moist. Now whenever I bring a dessert say to a potluck I use the same recipe but bake it in a Bundt pan and bake for 50’min to 1 hour. Makes a wonderful spice cake.