Mini Pumpkin Cakes with Maple Syrup
Maple Syrup, cinnamon and ginger: the American autumn in mini format
Hello, you gourmets! It is pumpkin season, and this word makes us think straight away of America, brown sugar and cinnamon. In the USA, pumpkin is turned into desserts with great passion. Inspired by our travels, today we show you a mini pumpkin cake with maple Syrup and warming spices, baked in little pumpkin moulds. This lovely pairing of pumpkin and cake, decorated with colourful Chocolate flavour pens, is the star of every Halloween party and a wonderful snack for young and old.
The recipe on video
0:23 min
Ingredients
Pumpkin purée
Pumpkin cake
Step by step
Pumpkin purée
Prepare the pumpkin
Peel a butternut squash of about 500 g and cut it into cubes of 3 to 4 cm. The butternut has especially thick flesh and is exactly what we need.
Cook until soft
Put the cubes into a small pot with 100 ml water and cook them covered over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Do not use more water, because the purée should turn out nice and thick.
Purée
After 15 minutes the pumpkin is so soft that it falls apart with the Dough scraper. Purée it without any further ingredients and let the purée cool down.
Mini pumpkin cakes dough
Butter and sugar
Put 220 g butter and 150 g brown icing sugar into the Mixing bowl.
Salt, cinnamon and nutmeg
Add ½ tsp salt, 3 tsp Cinnamon powder and 1 tsp ground Nutmeg.
Liquid aroma "Vanilla"
Ceylon cinnamon powder, 50 g
Nutmeg with Mace
Ginger powder (50 g)
Ginger and cloves
Add 1 tsp ground ginger and ½ tsp ground cloves; with measuring spoons you dose everything precisely. Mix everything with the Whisk for about 2 minutes on medium speed into a thick, smooth dough.
Maple syrup and egg
Add 80 g maple syrup and 1 egg.
Vanilla and pumpkin purée
Add 1 tsp vanilla aroma and 240 g pumpkin purée and mix everything for 1 minute with the Whisk. Because of the butter the dough becomes a bit lumpy, that is completely normal.
Baking soda and flour
Add 1 tsp baking soda and 300 g flour.
Swiss White flour, 1 kg
Baking soda 100g
Liquid aroma "Vanilla"
Extra fine white almond powder - 500 gr
Work in the almond powder
Finally, add 150 g of almond powder and switch to the flat beater, as the mixture now becomes quite thick. Mix for 2 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 °C fan.
Baking and decorating mini pumpkin cakes
Fill the piping bag
The dough is very compact and is hard to portion neatly into rounds with a spoon. So fill it into a large piping bag of at least 40 cm.
Disposable piping bag 40 cm
Pumpkins - Silicone mold
250ml Non-stick spray
Perforated aluminium tray 40 x 30cm
Prepare the molds
Place 2 pumpkin silicone molds on a perforated tray and spray each cavity with non-stick spray so the cakes release well later.
Fill and bake
Fill each cavity to ¾ and bake the cakes for 20 minutes at 180 °C fan.
Cool and release
After baking, turn the mold out onto a cake rack and let the cakes cool like this. Do not release them warm from the mold, as they are still too fragile then. Once cooled, they come out easily.
Paint with chocolate flavour pens
Place the chocolate flavour pens in orange, green and black into a measuring cup with warm water. Paint the pumpkins just as you like and let your imagination run free.
Chocolate flavour pen - Black
Chocolate flavour pen: Orange
Chocolate flavour pen - Green
Nonpareils - "Halloween" - 80gr
Decorate with mini pearls
For a touch of glamour, use a pen to apply a little chocolate and stick mini pearls «Halloween» onto it. That way they stay exactly in place.
Mini Pumpkin Cakes
Ingredients
Pumpkin purée
Pumpkin cake
Decoration
Preparation
- Pumpkin: Peel and cut into 3 bis 4 cm cubes.
- Cook: Cook covered with 100 ml water for 15 min.
- Purée: Purée without adding anything, let cool.
- Base: Put the butter and brown sugar into the bowl.
- Spices: Add salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Mix: Add ginger and cloves, mix for 2 min.
- Sweetness: Add maple syrup and egg.
- Purée: Mix in vanilla and 240 g pumpkin purée for 1 min.
- Flour: Add baking soda and flour.
- Almonds: Work in the almond powder with the flat beater for 2 min.
- Piping bag: Fill the dough into a 40 cm piping bag.
- Moulds: Spray the pumpkin moulds.
- Bake: Fill to ¾, bake for 20 min. at 180 °C fan.
- Release: Let cool on the cake rack, then unmould.
- Paint: Decorate with warm Chocolate flavour pens.
- Pearls: Stick on the mini pearls with chocolate.
Nutritional values per 100 g
Storage & shelf life
Everything for this recipe
Recommended from our bakery: exactly the sizes the recipe was tested with.
Ingredients
250ml Non-stick spray
Baking powder 80g
Swiss White flour, 1 kg
Baking soda 100g
Liquid aroma "Vanilla"
Ceylon Cinnamon powder, 50 g
Nutmeg with Mace
Ginger powder (50 g)
Extra fine white almond powder - 500 gr
Chocolate flavour pen - Black
Chocolate flavour pen: Orange
Chocolate flavour pen - Green
Nonpareils - "Halloween" - 80gr
Accessories
Disposable piping bag 40 cm
Resealable sweets bags, Halloween
Pumpkins, Silicone mold
Perforated aluminium tray 40 x 30cm
Measuring spoon set, 4 pieces (2 bis 15 ml)
Delivery in 1 bis 2 working days · Free shipping from CHF 100
Nice to go with it
Not needed for the recipe, but it fits.
Set of 10 Chocolate flavour pens
So they turn out perfectly
Use a small pot with a lid and no more than 100 ml of water. That keeps the pumpkin purée thick and prevents the batter from getting too moist.
Arrange the painted pumpkins on a tiered stand or in little bags: they are a charming eye-catcher and also make a wonderful gift to bring along.
Painting with the Chocolate flavour pens is ideal for small hands. Let the children invent laughing, grumpy or spooky faces: every pumpkin becomes unique.
Frequently asked questions
In America the firm batter is often spread with a scoop. But that tends to give shapeless mounds. With the Piping bag you fill the moulds evenly and the pumpkins turn out nicely round.
Simply freeze it! It works wonderfully for more autumn recipes such as pumpkin Brioche, pumpkin cupcakes or a pumpkin tart.
While warm the little cakes are still very fragile. Let them cool completely on the Cake rack, then they come out easily and keep their lovely pumpkin shape.
Print recipe
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Comments
Proportions
By: Perrine On 2026-10-30This recipe looks delicious and I would love to try it. Unfortunately the quantity of pumpkin purée indicated in step 5 of the recipe does not change depending on the number of cakes selected (it is 240g for 10,20 or 40 cakes) . What is the correct proportion?
Replied by: Alessandra Z On 2026-11-02