GF Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Cuppy Cakes

**UPDATE** - The frosting recipe I used is found on bestbites.com. It works reasonably well with GF all-purpose flour. It won't get gain as much volume, but is otherwise good. Please note that you will need to keep your mixer on high for closer to 20 minutes to get the desired effect with GF flours. I also found a great cupcake frosting tutorial (frosting tip is at A.C. Moore for around $1).  Enjoy!!

Sometimes when you get invites to Thanksgiving elsewhere, you want to bring a delicious pumpkin themed dessert without having it overpower the star dessert of Turkey day, the pumpkin pie. I had thought I might bring my pumpkin roll this year, it's easy and delicious, but I was in the mood for some chocolate with my pumpkin spice, so I trolled the Internets for a recipe to make-over. I found one, and oh, did it deliver. These cuppy cakes are delicious, cakey, and moist. The chocolate and pumpkin do not overpower each other, and the spice is subtle.

The frosting I found is light, creamy, and not too sweet (I flavored it vanilla-orange, but you can do whatever you like), however I am still working out a couple of small kinks before I post it. I promise the frosting will go up by Wednesday afternoon and it will not have any ingredients you don't already have in your pantry. If you'd rather not wait, any traditional cream cheese frosting will workout just fine. Happy Turkey Day, readers!!

Ingredients
2 Cups plus two tablespoons GF all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup potato or corn starch
1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons good-quality cocoa
1 heaping teaspoon xanthan gum
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon fresh-grated nutmeg

3/4 Cup buttermilk or milk/cream/milk substitute (soy, coconut, rice, or almond)
1 1/2 Cups pumpkin purée (15 oz. can)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups (firmly packed) dark brown sugar
1 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs, room tempurature

*Suggested: orange frosting to top

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Fill your cuppy cake pans with cuppy cake wrappers. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, starch, xanthan gum, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg and set aside. Combine the buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla in a medium bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, with an electric mixer set on medium speed, until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and light. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, blending well after each addition (do so carefully, dry ingredients are messy).  Fill each cuppy cake wrapper to the the exact top or just under (you may need to smooth out the tops with a spatula or your finger. Bake for 22 minutes (near sea level, adjust for higher altitudes).

**Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cupcakes can be made up to four days in advance, but frosting should be added the night before or day of.
***Tip: Eggs that are fridge temp can be brought to room temp by putting eggs in a bowl with hot water from the tap for 5+ minutes (repeat once if necessary). Room temp eggs will do their job a lot better than cold eggs.