I remember the first time I went to a pumpkin patch. It’s easy to recall because it was only four years ago! I attended a field trip with my daughter and discovered how charming a pumpkin patch can be. We loved walking through fields, inspecting all the different sizes and shapes of pumpkins, and then picking out just the right one, dirt and all. I loved cutting it directly from the vine, knowing that it was lovingly picked by me.
My children and I may have gotten a little more messy than needed while we created our own pumpkin patch of cupcakes at home simply because cleaning off the “dirt” from these cupcakes can be pretty tasty!
These cupcakes are quick to whip up as an afternoon snack or perfect to share as a treat, like when we “booed” our neighbors to kick off the Halloween season. 
Ingredients
- 1 box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix
- 1 1/4 cups of water
- 1/2 cup oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 can of store-bought chocolate frosting or make our homemade frosting
- 24 pumpkin candies
- Wilton’s Sparkle Gel Icing
Instructions
First, heat your oven to 350 degrees, then line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. We used festive ghosts and black cats because we had it on hand, but plain colors would work as well.
Second, mix the cupcake batter according to the instructions on the box and pour into the liners.
Third, bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
Then put the cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely.
Helpful hint: You want to make sure your cupcakes are cooled off before you start frosting them because if they are warm at all the frosting will melt and not stay on the cupcakes well.
Next, frost your cupcakes with the chocolate frosting. You could use a tip to decorate them but we just used a knife. They don’t need to be fancy – they’re the dirt portion of our pumpkin patch!
Then get your pumpkins ready. We used a bag of Brach’s but any brand will do.
Place your pumpkin on top of your cupcake, then give a little push. This makes the pumpkin a little more stable. You don’t want it sliding off the cupcake!
Continue until all 24 cupcakes have a pumpkin.
Finally, add the vines to your cupcake. We used sparkle gel icing to make it even more fun.
This was my kids favorite part since vines can make all sorts of twists and turns. Have fun making each cupcake unique!
And there you have it, a perfect little pumpkin patch that’s a bit sweeter than the real thing!
~Kimberly