Little Frosted Adventures: Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cupcakes- with super extra delicious cheesecake frosting

I wanted to make something special for Thankgiving this year and in my research of various recipes and ideas I came across a recipe for pumpkin pie with a layer of cheesecake which sounded really delicious. So to convert this idea to a cupcake, I thought about attempting to make mini pies, but I realized that was a disaster waiting to happen. So instead I decided to go with pumpkin flavored cupcakes with cheesecake frosting.

Now my recipe makes roughly 38 cupcakes depending on how full you fill the cups, so you might want to halve it.

(you might notice in this picture there is food coloring; that isn't needed)

Recipe:

2 Boxes of spice cake mix

1 29 oz (1 lb) can of pumpkin puree

1/4 cup milk

5 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Frosting:

1 box of cheesecake pudding mix

3/4 cup whipping cream

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F

2. Make sure you do this in a really big bowl (I wasn't smart enough to use the biggest mixing bowl and had a ton of fun trying to keep the batter contained.)

3. Start by beating the oil eggs and milk together with the pumpkin puree.

4. Then add the cinnamon and make sure it is well mixed before beginning to slowly add the cake mix.

5. Once everything is mixed together scoop 1/4 cup or so into each cupcake liner/tin.

6. Bake the cupcakes for 20-23 minutes (also don't touch the hot inside of the oven when taking them out...that hurts)

To make the frosting add everything into a bowl and beat on high until it is really thick.

When it comes to how you'll frost your cupcakes, if you used this recipe I have to tell you it is really thick. I had originally wanted to frost my cupcakes like these adorable pumpkin pie cupcakes, but my piping bag sort of exploded all over my hand when I tried to squeeze this frosting out... sooo I went with something much simpler.