There’s this recipe floating around the internet for pumpkin cupcakes.  I’ve seen it on about a million sites, pinterest, blogs, etc.  It’s super easy- a 15oz can of pumpkin puree and a box of cake mix.  That’s it.

I had a big can though- 29oz.  And of course I had to mix it up a little, add my own touches.

I added a dash of pumpkin pie spice and inserted a Pumpkin Spice Hershey’s Kiss in the center of each.  At the last minute, I threw in a splash of vanilla extract and used some orange & black food coloring to make it even more festive.

The batter is thicker than normal cake batter, and it scooped out almost like ice cream.

See how thick? After I filled the muffin tin halfway with the part of the batter I’d dyed orange, I added the Hershey’s Kiss, and used it to kind of flatten it down and smooth things out.

Next I dyed the remaining batter black and added a dollop to the cupcakes. After smoothing the tops out, they were ready to bake!

I also made a batch of mini cupcakes for the twins.  They don’t have kisses inside, and I didn’t frost them.

While they were in the oven, I tried to figure out what to do with the rest of the puree, and what type of frosting to use. I decided to get creative and invent my own with what I had on hand. I mixed the pumpkin with a block of cream cheese and about ½- ¾ of a cup of brown sugar. I thought brown sugar was more fall than the powdered I usually use. I also put a dash of the pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract in it.

After mixing it, I thought it wasn’t quite sweet enough or thick enough, so I added about a cup of powdered sugar. It was still too runny to pipe, but I didn’t want it to be too sweet, so I put it in the fridge for a bit to stiffen up.

Here’s the end result!  When you bite into it, you get to the Hershey’s Kiss- that’s the surprise!