It’s difficult to believe, but Halloween is already upon us. I’ve been meaning to make something with pumpkin and yesterday seemed like the day for it.

No thanks to the weather, which has been decidedly unseasonable — depressingly so. Despite this, we soldiered on and made these lovely cupcakes, even though I had to turn on the air conditioner while they baked in the oven.

Fall is my favorite time to bake, which means that I feel especially outraged when the weather doesn’t cooperate. It ought to be cool and sunny outside; instead, it’s warm and humid.

I curse you Alabama weather gods. I thumb my nose at you.

Mimi enjoyed making and decorating the cupcakes.

The recipe comes from the October issue of Bon Appetit. The cupcakes are pumpkin spice with a surprise layer of crystalized ginger. The frosting is buttercream with a jolt of cream cheese. Instead of the mini-cupcakes that the recipe calls for, I made nine regular-sized. It gave us more surface area to decorate.