Homemade Spice Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing

I decided to bake some homemade cupcakes tonight for my coworkers, to help celebrate Thanksgiving a few days early. I didn't want to run to the store so I just found a recipe that I had everything to make it. This recipe comes from my Better Homes and Garden cookbook. I love it and use it often. Spice cake is perfect for the fall. Please don't go buy a prepackaged box of spice cake mix. It is far too easy to make yourself and so much more fun to prepare.

You can make this recipe a cake and use a 13x9 dish to bake it or you can make cupcakes.

Homemade Spice Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing
Serves 12-15 large cupcakes or 18 smaller cupcakes
Adapted from: Better Homes and Garden cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour OR 2 cups plus 4 tablespoons cake flour (I used cake flour because I prefer it with baked goods)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
2 eggs or eggbeater equivalent
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Directions:
-In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger together and set aside.
-In a large bowl, combine butter and shortening and use a hand mixer to mix until fluffy and blended well. This is approx 30 seconds or so.
-To the large bowl, add the sugar and vanilla and beat with the hand mixer until blended
-Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well each time.
-In a small bowl, combine applesauce and buttermilk.
-Add dry mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately to beaten mixture in the large bowl. Beat on low speed and make sure it gets blended together well.
-Prepare a cupcake pan with muffin tins or spray with nonstick cooking spray
-Bake in a 350 degree oven for 19-22 minutes or until your cupcakes are cooked completely and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If baking a cake, bake in a 13x9 baking dish for 35 to 40 minutes.
-Cool cake completely before frosting it.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing
Adapted from: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/09/pumpkin-cupcakes-with-pumpkin-spiced.html

Ingredients:
8 oz Philadelphia Reduced Fat Cream Cheese
1/2 cup pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
5 tablespoons packed brown sugar

Enjoy! :)