Gingerbread Cupcakes Recipe

I don’t know about you but when I think of Christmas, I think of all the wonderful smells, cocoa, cinnamon and of course ginger or gingerbread. This year I was thinking of ways to incorporate gingerbread into my festive baking without making gingerbread men so I decided on gingerbread cupcakes. Ps, I know I’m a little late as Christmas has been and gone but it is still the Christmas holiday for many so it still counts. This was such a weird recipe and not one I’ve ever seen but surprisingly they worked and I’m super proud of them so here they are.

Ingredients

• 75g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 125ml black treacle
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 175g all-purpose flour, or plain flour
• 1tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 1/4tsp ground ginger
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2tsp ground allspice
• 1/2tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4tsp salt
• 1tsp baking soda
• 125ml hot milk

• For the Buttercream:
• 75g butter, softened
• 400g icing sugar, sifted
• 2tsp vanilla extract

Method

Start by pre-heating the oven to 175˚C/350˚F/Gas Mark 4 and lining a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcakes of your choice ( I went for plain white ones).

In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Once pale and fluffy add in your egg, egg yolk and Treacle. 

In a separate bowl, sift your flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Add this mix to your wet mixture. 

Heat your milk but be careful not to boil it and dissolve your bicarb in the milk. Add to your batter and stir until all is combined but be careful not to over mix.

Distribute your batter among your cake cases, I would recommend using a jug to pour the mixture as it is quite a wet mix. You should get 12 good sized cupcakes.

Bake cakes for 25 minutes or until springy to the touch. 

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

While waiting for your cakes to cool make your buttercream. Start by beating your butter until it is pale and fluffy. I used the whisk attachment on my stand mixer as i think it whips up the butter better. Once the butter is nice and pale, add in your icing sugar gradually, missing for a few minutes in between. If you find your icing sugar is getting too stiff, add in a couple of dessert spoonfuls of whole milk to loosen your mix. Add in your vanilla and mix again until well combined. Get creative with your piping, I used a closed star nozzle to get a rose effect on my cupcakes and topped with a little candy cane to decorate.

Luisa

xo