Gingery pumpkin cupcakes

Preheat an oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease 24 muffin holes or line with paper cases. Whisk together the flour, dessert mix, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves and crystallised ginger in a bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter, caster sugar and dark brown soft sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in colour. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.