Pumpkin Cranberry Cupcakes

For your Rosh Hashanah table.

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pumpkin

Before eating pumpkin or squash (k'ra'a in Hebrew) on Rosh Hashanah, some families say "yikarul' fanekhaz' khuyoteinu"--may our good deeds call out our merit before You. Others use the resemblance between the word "k'ra'a" (pumpkin) and the word "kara"--to cut or rip--to express the hope that any bad deeds will be ripped out of God's book.

Ingredients


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 15oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Yield:

Makes 18 cupcakes

Categories: Dessert, Holidays, Sweet, Rosh Hashanah

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 and line a cupcake pan with paper or silicone liners. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and powder, and spices; set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the sugars and butter together until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree, stirring until fully combined. Fold in the cranberries.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined. Pour batter into prepared cupcake tins, filling each tin approximately 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Allow to fully cool, then frost as desired or sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

Leah Koenig

Leah Koenig is a freelance writer whose work has been published in The New York Times Magazine, Gastronomica, Jewish Living, Lilith, Culinate, Beliefnet and other publications.