Baking Bad: Pumpkin Cupcakes

Birthdays only come once a year. Unless you were born on Leap Day; then they’re every three years, which kind of sucks. Thankfully, my birthday is not on Leap Day. This year, my birthday happened to fall on a Wednesday. And every year for my birthday, my mom usually spends hours making a big, elegant dessert for my family and me to enjoy. Some years it’s as simple as a lemon or a chocolate cake, others it’s a huge pan of tiramisu or an almond cake covered in fairies. But this year, rather than having my mom make it for me, I decided to make my own cake.

Well, my own “cake” is kind of a lie. They were actually cupcakes. And because my mom was so used to making me a cake every year, she decided it was her motherly duty to help me with my cupcakes. We decided that her recipe for pumpkin bread would serve as the base for the cupcakes, and then to continue with the autumn theme, we went with maple-flavored frosting.

The Sunday morning after my birthday, I stumbled into the kitchen at around 10 am. Before I’d even woken up, my mom had already roasted and pureed a pumpkin for me. I looked at the recipe and began assembling the ingredients, including the fresh pumpkin. Once I’d combined all of the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another, I started mixing. Thankfully, this required minimal strength.

After placing liners in a cupcake tray, I scooped the batter into each liner. I set the timer for 20 minutes and then went about making the icing.

Although I usually stick to a simple butter-and-powdered-sugar mixture, to give it a maple flavor I added several tablespoons of maple syrup. And because I was feeling really wild, I also ground some nutmeg to sprinkle on top. Once I’d assembled the icing and ground the nutmeg, it was time to take the cupcakes out of the oven. Upon setting them on the stove, I took a toothpick and checked to make sure they were done.

After eagerly waiting for the cupcakes to cool, I iced them ever-so-carefully. Since I usually mess up somewhere near the end of the baking process, I had to make sure I did everything very precisely. And once I’d sprinkled on the nutmeg and topped them with a small maple candy, I tip-toed away from them. Everything in the kitchen was still for just a few moments, and I waited with baited breath to see if anything bad would happen to them. After a few moments, I couldn’t believe it. I had done everything right, and they’d turned out perfect.

I felt the sort of euphoria that you only really feel after your parents bring home a new jar of Nutella. Every Hail Mary touchdown and aced test could not have beat how happy I felt. For the first time since I started my baking journey, not a single thing had gone wrong. Nothing was spilled, nothing was messy and everything was cooked to perfection.

They tasted like the essence of fall, pumpkin-y, maple-y and spicy. Taking my first bite, I could practically hear leaves rustling in the background. It was at that point that I decided I would never need another Pumpkin Spice Latte, as long as I had these cupcakes in my life. The cupcakes were dense without being too much like bread, and the icing was thick and rich.

For once, it felt like my hard work had paid off. After messing up so many times, I had finally done something right. Maybe it was a stroke of luck; but I don’t think so. For the past few months, I think I’ve actually been learning from my mistakes. Every spilled egg, every burnt s’more. I’m getting better and better, and it feels fantastic.