Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 22 muffin cups, or line with paper liners.
Sift together the flour, 1 tsp. of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
Beat ½ cup of butter, the white sugar and brown sugar with a stand mixer with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the mixture before the next.
Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree.
Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.
Italian Buttercream Frosting. Place the egg whites and ⅓ of the sugar a stand mixer bowl, and beat with a whisk attachment at medium-high speed, until the egg whites form soft peaks.
Meanwhile, pour the remaining sugar and ⅓ cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Using a candy thermometer and not stirring, heat until 240F.
Continue to whip the egg whites on medium-high speed, and slowly drizzle in the hot syrup, in between the side of the bowl and the beaters. Continue to whip until both the bottom of the bowl and the mixture are cool, or about 10 to 15 minutes.
When the mixture is thick and forming peaks, beat in the salt.
While still beating, add the butter a few pieces at a time. As the butter is added, the buttercream will thin out until all of the butter is added.
Beat in the vanilla extract. If the buttercream is still too loose, beat on high speed.
Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.
Keyword autumn, cupcake, italian frosting, pumpkin, thanksgiving