Delicious Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Marshmallow Filling

I have a treat for you today! These Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Marshmallow Filling are outrageously delicious. And they will definitely up level your Halloween party.

Many, many years ago my kids and I fell in love with Cupcake Wars. each week we’d watch the baker’s create amazing concoctions and compete for the ten thousand dollar prize. And as long as the baked goods remained on the screen, Cupcake Wars was a fun family tradition.

But then some of the competitors bakeries started popping up to visit in real life. First, it was Sprinkles. And then two local bakeries made appearances on the show. And these cupcake bakeries were filled with incredible cupcakes. Unfortunately, as a family with peanut and tree nut allergies we could never sample the treats because they weren’t safe.

So, we hosted a few cupcake competitions of our own. And I started experimenting with cupcake wars-worthy combinations. Interesting flavor combinations, amazing fillings, and simple by stunning frostings and decor. And these chocolate pumpkin cupcakes with orange marshmallow filling, orange buttercream and ganache were born.

Why You’ll Love Them:

One bite of these chocolate pumpkin cupcakes and you’ll feel like you are a judge on Cupcake Wars. Or the guest at a fancy patisserie. They are worthy of the cupcake stable at a fancy wedding. Heck, they cold take the place of the wedding cake. Yep, they are that good.

The combination of spicy chocolate cake, fluffy filling, creamy orange frosting, and rich chocolate drizzle is unexpected. But it works. And it’s a sophisticated way to enjoy fall flavors.

The cake itself is moist and full of deep, spicy flavor. And the filling offers a sweet

All of this tastiness is very important because these chocolate pumpkin cupcakes do take a bit of work to make. None of it is hard. But this recipe requires a few more steps and a lot more bowls than my recipes usually do. I usually favor simple, easy recipes that don’t take a lot of time. So if I’m sharing a recipe with four separate components you know it’s got to be amazing!

How to Make Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes:

Don’t get overwhelmed by the number of steps in this chocolate pumpkin cupcakes recipe. You’re making cupcakes after all. You can make cupcakes.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake:

Let’s start with the cake.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line 24-muffin cups with cupcake liners or spray with with baking spray. (You might get 26 or 28 cupcakes, but if you only have two pans don’t worry about the extra batter).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and espresso powder and set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, pumpkin puree, and vanilla, and set that aside too.

Using a stand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars with the paddle attachment. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to scrape down bowl between additions.

Then beginning with the dry ingredients, alternate adding the dry mixture and wet mixture to the stand mixer. I like to do about three additions of the dry ingredients and two additions of the wet. Be sure to crape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated.

Using a large cookie scoop, divide the batter between the cupcake cups, If you don’t have a scoop just eye-ball it. You want the muffin cps to be about 2/3 full. But a scoop is the least messy way to do it.

Bake for 16-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the pans and let cupcakes cool completely.

Orange Marshmallow Filling:

While the chocolate pumpkin cupcakes are baking, you can prepare your filling.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the marshmallow fluff and beat on medium until smooth. Then add the orange food coloring and orange and vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Mix on medium until incorporated.

Reduce speed to low and add confectioners sugar. Beat until smooth. Set aside.

In a separate, clean metal bowl, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into marshmallow mixture.

Place the filing in the fridge to firm up a bit until the cupcakes are cool.

Chocolate Ganache

The next step is to make the ganache. This will be the last step when you assemble the cupcakes, but you want to give the chocolate some time to set up.

Making ganache is truly simple. I know the word sounds fancy and intimidating, but it is one of the easiest recipes to perfect.

Place the chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. (Do not use plastic.) I recommend Baker’s dark chocolate bars. They are nut-free (but do read the ingredient label every time) and they are a good quality chocolate that firms up nicely. If you can’t find those, a good quality safe chocolate chip works as well. You can use melting chocolates from Vermont Nut Free chocolates or Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips.

Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to gently simmer. Do not let it come to a boil. It will make a giant mess on your stove and scald your chocolate..

Pour the simmering cream over the chocolate, and let it sit for 2-3 minutes to gently soften the chocolate.

With a metal whisk or small rubber spatula, very slowly stir until completely chocolate and cream are combined and chocolate has melted. At the beginning, it will seem very watery. Just keep stirring slowly.

Allow to cool on the counter for about 30 minutes before drizzling over the cake. You want the consistency to be soft enough to run a bit without flowing all over the counter.

If you have trouble with your chocolate not melting or your ganache getting too hard, check out the recipe notes for some tips. But DO NOT put the ganache in the microwave.

Orange Buttercream Frosting:

Finally, it’s time to make the frosting.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. You want it to be light in color.

Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add a pinch of salt, confectioners sugar, and extracts until well combined and frosting consistency. Add the orange juice and beat until creamy. Add additional confectioners sugar or heavy cream until correct piping consistency.

Assemble the Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes:

Fill the chocolate pumpkin cupcakes:

Once the cupcakes are cool you are ready to put the it all together.

The first step is filling the cupcake. Now, you can remove some of the cake first. If you want to. But in the interest of saving a little bit of time, I did not do that. If I had done that I would have used the late end of a large pastry tip and pushed it halfway into the cupcakes removing a core of cake. You don’t want to go all the way to the bottom, because you need a way to keep your filling inside the cupcake.

But, with the method I use to fill these chocolate pumpkin cupcakes you do not need to do that. Place your filling in a large pastry bag fitted a wound tip. Stick the tip of the pastry bag into the top of the cupcake and squeeze a little bit of filling into the cake. When you see the filling begin to come through the top of the cake, move on to the next one.

Easy peasy.

Frost the chocolate cupcakes:

Again, you’ve got lots of options here.

You can use a knife and spread a layer of frosting onto your cupcakes.

But I am a big fan of using a pastry bag to frost cupcakes too. Not only does it look way prettier, it’s easier and faster! A triple win!!

Fit a large or jumbo tip onto your pastry bag. You can use an open or closed star or French tip to get a swirl pattern. Or you can use a round tip for a round pattern or a giant blog of frosting. Simply start at the outer edge of your cupcake and swirl in a tight spiral until the cupcakes is covered.

Top with Ganache:

The last step is to drizzle your cupcakes with ganache.

I just use a spoon and drizzle a little bit of ganache onto the center of my cupcake. Gravity will do the rest of the work and the ganache will run down the sides of the cake.

You can add a little decorative sugar or Halloween sprinkles if you want to make these chocolate pumpkin cupcakes extra festive.

Enjoy!

Now that you’ve done all the hard work, it’s time to enjoy these chocolate pumpkin cupcakes.

There really is ni wrong way to eat a cupcake. Dessert. Snack. Party. Breakfast. It’s up to you.

However you enjoy these cupcakes, I promise they will be the hit of the party.

I hope you love this grown up Halloween dessert worthy of a Cupcake Wars award!

Happy Eating!

Looking for an easier Halloween dessert? No worries! Check out my Spooky Ghost Brownies.