Pumpkin Mousse Cupcakes

JOY TO THE WORLD! Boy, do I have a fabulous cupcake recipe for you today! Pumpkin Mousse cupcakes! I came across a recipe for these little darlings about a week ago and I decided that I needed to make them! Ok, it was more of a want than a need!I am telling you though that these cupcakes are irresistible with their pumpkin cakey texture, creamy pumpkin spice Jell-O mousse filling, and topped with decadent cream cheese frosting. What is not to love about these cupcakes? Not one thing! Needless to say, I justified making these beauties for a church function and let me tell you when it was time for me to retrieve my cupcake platter, there was not a single cupcake in sight. In fact, I couldn't even find my platter that I brought them on! That is another story for another day, but truly these cupcakes are truly so good that it will have your family, friends and neighbors singing JOY TO THE WORLD if you shared this recipe with them! Enjoy!

Look at the delicious center!

Pumpkin Mousse Cupcakes

recipe adapted from the kitchen of jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

Ingredients for the Cupcakes:

1 -Spice cake mix

1- 3.4 ounce Pumpkin Spice Jell-O pudding mix (I found mine at the Super Wal-Mart, it is a seasonal item so it can be hard to find)

1/3 c. flour

1/3 c. oil

1/3 c. Sour Cream

1 1/2 c. water

1 t. vanilla

4 eggs

Mousse Filling:

1- 3/4 ounce Pumpkin Spice Jell-O pudding mix

1 3/4 c. half and half

Frosting:

1 -8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. butter, softened

1 t. Vanilla

Dash of Salt

3-4 c. powdered sugar

2-3 T. milk

Directions:

1-In a large mixing bowl, or in your stand mixer, combine the cake mix, pudding mix and flour. Stir around to combine. Add oil, water, eggs, and vanilla and mix on low for about 1 minute. Then mix on medium speed until batter is silky smooth like butta! This process should take about 3 minutes.

2-Line your muffin tins with cupcake liners and fill each cupcake liner 3/4 of the way full with batter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 13-15 minutes. After cupcakes are baked, cool on a wire rack.

3-While your cupcakes cool, you can start on your filling. Pour pudding mix and half and half into a medium sized bowl or stand mixer and mix until thick. This should take about 3 minutes.

4-Using a sharp knife cut a small hole out of the top of each of your cupcakes. Spoon some of the pudding mixture into each hole. If you have a piping bag you could fill it with the pudding mixture and with a straight tip fill each cupcake.

5- To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together in a medium bowl. Add vanilla and dash of salt, combine. Then add the powdered sugar and 1 T. Milk. Mix well. If the frosting is too thick add more milk. If the frosting is too runny add more powdered sugar.

6- Now you Frost your cupcakes. You can either frost them by hand or go the extra mile and make a fancy swirl on top with a cake decorating bag or I just put the frosting in a Ziploc baggie and cut off a corner of the bag to make a decorator bag then squeeze a pretty little swirl on top. When done frosting just throw Ziploc baggie away for quick and easy cleanup. Enjoy!!