Pumpkin Butter Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 60 mini muffin tins, 24 regular muffin tins, two nine inch round pans, or one 13×9 baking pan, by either by adding cupcake liners, spraying with non-stick baking spray, or buttering generously. Set aside.

Prepare cake mix as directed on the package, substituting in some pumpkin butter for half the amount of oil or butter in the instructions. In my case, for example, the recipe on the box called for 1 cup of oil/melted butter, and I used 1/2 cup of melted butter and 1/2 cup of pumpkin butter. By the way, when offered a choice between using oil and butter when using cake mix, always choose butter.

Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full, or, if making a cake, pour all of the batter into your prepared baking pans. Bake as directed on the cake package (about 15 minutes for mini cupcakes, 22-25 minutes for regular cupcakes, 35-40 minutes for cake) until golden brown and set. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

For the Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add softened butter, and mix again until well combined. Add the caramel sauce, and mix again. Finally, add the powdered sugar, and beat until completely smooth.

Frost cooled cakes, and serve!

Note: If you want to be totally decadent, drizzle a little more of the caramel sauce onto the warm cake when it comes out of the oven, and spread carefully to form a thin layer on top of the cake. Cool, and then frost as directed. I made half of the baby cupcakes this way, and they were just insanely good.