Don’t throw away the pumpkin flesh when you make your Halloween lantern – use it to rustle up these very moist and moreish muffins.
Ingredients
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 150ml sunflower oil
- 150ml soured cream
- 225g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 125g piece pumpkin or butternut squash, coarsely grated
- 75g walnut pieces, chopped
For the frosting
- 50g butter, softened
- 200g cream cheese
- 50g icing sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of ground cinnamon
- For the decorations
- Tangerine food colouring
- 150g marzipan
- Tube of black icing
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
- 2. Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger in a bowl. Pour the oil into a jug and add the soured cream, sugar and eggs and beat with a fork until well blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, then add the pumpkin and walnuts and stir well.
- 3. Spoon into the paper cases and bake for 15-20 minutes, until well risen and firm. Leave to cool.
- 4. For the frosting, beat together the butter and cream cheese until softened and combined. Stir in the icing sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. Spread over the tops of the cooled muffins.
- 5. For the decorations, add a few drops of the food colouring to the marzipan and knead until you have a deep pumpkin colour. Break off walnut-sized pieces of the coloured marzipan and roll into balls. Mark lines with the back of a knife. Decorate with the black icing and position on top of the muffins.