Nothing says “Fall” like pumpkin desserts. Growing up in rural America, I remember going to our favorite farmer’s pumpkin patch to make our selection for Halloween. Living in rural Hawaii, pumpkins of many varieties are grown in backyards year round. My favorite to bake with and grow is the Kabocha variety. It has a hard green skin and burnt orange flesh. It is almost completely disease resistant and bugs so far are leaving it alone. The best part is it’s size. Roughly the size of a honey dew melon, it is the perfect amount for baking. If you can find a Kabocha pumpkin, try it! If not, there are lots of wonderful small baking pumpkin varieties on the mainland. So, this year, if you don’t already, try steaming and pureeing your own for your fall desserts. You’ll be glad you did!

A warm cup of chai or spiced milk is a great pairing for this cupcake. We like anything warming this time of year, so any tea with nutmeg, cinnamon or cloves complements these flavors. If going with green tea, try the earthy genmaicha. For black, and quality loose leaf will do!! Happy fall everyone!

Cupcake:

Steam pumpkin, discard skin and seeds and set aside.Line muffin pan with favorite cupcake liners and preheat oven to 350

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup mochiko flour

1 cup sorghum flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1tsp allspice

1tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cardomon

2 eggs

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cups pureed pumpkin

Combine all dry ingredients well and set aside. Mix pumpkin, sugar and molasses. Beat eggs and oil in small bowl and add to pumpkin mix. Add in dry ingredients in 3 batches. Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup, add batter to liners and bake for 18-23 min. Until tester comes clean! Let cool completely out of pan before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting:

This is my go to chocolate frosting. Love the flavor! It can be softer or harder depending on how cold you let it become and how much coffee you add, so please play with it! We use local kona or kau coffee, but your favorite cup will do!

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

6 tbsp butter

1 tbsp corn syrup or agave

1tsp vanilla

1/4 cup strong coffee

Over double boiler melt your chocolate and butter until just melted, stir in corn syrup, coffee and vanilla off the heat. Mix really well and add coffee more coffee if necessary. Once combined pour into a glass bowl and either stir over ice bath or place in freezer until just firm enough to spread. Again there’s a lot of room to play with this frosting! Enjoy, and any leftover makes a wonderful candy coating for fruit! Aloha