20 Gingerbread Cupcakes

 

A few things went into the decision to make these cupcakes. First, it's some one's birthday again! Go figure. A certain manager who has recently been harping about how I haven't baked him cupcakes in ages. Second, the Christmas season is upon us and what could be more fitting than gingerbread. I remember the first time I had gingerbread. I was visiting my grandmother's house, after literally travelling over the river (well... stream) and through the woods, to get to her house. It was after Christmas, but she offered my sister and I some gingerbread. We were sitting in the living room in her old, old farmhouse, in the squishiest chairs and my grandma brought us each a pretty plate with a square piece of gingerbread on it with a blob of Cool Whip on top. It was so delicious. If Christmas had a taste, that's exactly what it would taste like. That was easily over 10 years ago but it's crazy how you remember stuff like that. That was my first and last experience with gingerbread, until I picked out a recipe from the vast expanses of the Internet to make it myself.

Since my mom doesn't like gingerbread, I had to pick up a few things for these cupcakes. I grabbed some ground ginger and allspice. And since it's the holidays, there was a big display with all kinds of baking essentials for Christmas baking. I picked up everything in one spot.

As soon as I started this recipe, you could smell Christmas. I opened up the new spices and it put me back in my grandma's living room. It came together really easily, like all cupcakes normally do. The allspice, the ginger, and the molasses, coming together perfectly to make perfect cupcakes. For the boiling water, I just put a mug of water into the microwave for 2 minutes until it boiled and added it to the baking soda in a 2 cup measuring cup. I didn't fill them up the 3/4 of  the way full because the recipe said that it only made 18 cupcakes, and since I'm bringing them to work on a Saturday night, I need a few more than that. If you do though, they come out so pretty. Perfectly domed and perfectly beautiful.

Remember to Leave an Empty
Space to Make It Easier to
Pull the Cupcake Tins Out.

For the icing, I borrowed a recipe from these pumpkin spice cupcakes that my mom had made. When I got the request for the cupcakes, the only specific thing about the request was cream cheese icing.  As soon as I had my heart set on making gingerbread cupcakes, this icing immediately came to mind. I paged through my mom's one recipe binder, searching for these pumpkin cupcakes. I looked and looked and insisted to her that I thoroughly searched every page. I handed her the book and went back into the kitchen. When she called me back into the living room and told me that she found the recipe, she told me then that it was not in the binder like she originally told me, it was on the end table. Thanks for all the help Mom. When all was said and done, I had the perfect amount of icing to top each cupcake off with a big blob.

These cupcakes were surely a hit! Just a few minutes after the initial cupcake feeding frenzy ensued, all of them were gone. I'd say 3 minutes max.

These turned out exactly how I wanted them to. Just as I remember having that first nibble of gingerbread at Grandma's house. The cupcakes were just what I want my cupcakes to be like: not too dense and not too airy. The cinnamon in the icing complimented the spices in the cupcakes. It all came together in a combination that I hope would make my grandmother proud. Maybe I'll leave a few of these out for Santa this Christmas instead of cookies.

Gingerbread Cupcake Ingredients

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c butter
1/4 c canola oil
1 c sugar
1/2 c dark molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda

Gingerbread Cupcake How to

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, and sugar until pale tallow and fluffy. Beat in eggs and molasses until smooth.
4. Put the baking soda into a small bowl or liquid measuring cup (you'll need extra room- it bubbles up), and add 3/4 c boiling water
5. Add a third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating on low speed just until blended. Add half the water mixture in the same way, then another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the water mixture, and the rest of the dry ingredients, blending just until combined.
6. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for 25 minutes or until tops are springy to the touch.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 c butter
2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing How to

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar, 1/2 c at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Fold in vanilla and cinnamon with last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
4. Beat until smooth.

28 Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

I'm such a slacker as a blogger and I apologize. Since it's too early for New Year's resolutions just yet, I'm making it my December resolution to get back in the swing of things and start baking all the time like I used to. And surprise! It's taken a birthday of a coworker to twist my arm back into making cupcakes. I'm finally getting to use the baking appropriate things that I got for my birthday about a month ago. Thanks Mom for my apron covered in cupcakes... how perfect! Anyway... enough about me, let's get to the cupcakes.

Everything was easy to get for these cupcakes. You can get cheap tequila and margarita mix at the liquor store. Not hard to find at all. Now I did sort of drop the ball when it came to a few other ingredients. I forgot to get a lime, so there wasn't any lime zest in my cupcakes. No big deal really. And I used strawberry jelly instead of preserves, until I ran out of that and then I got the rest of the remaining 1/2 tablespoon out of the strawberry ice cream topping. My problem was that I had already been to the grocery store in town once that morning. I already feel like I live there so I wasn't running back.

So despite my lack of preparation, I feel like it all came together alright. The batter looked gross and curdled just like the recipe warned. After I had all the ingredients mixed in, it was still a little clumpy, but I still went on. I filled the liners up the standard 2/3 full. The recipe says to divide it between 24 cupcakes, that would work. I'm just always nervous that they'll bake over. I had a few really full ones, and they ended up beautifully domed and perfect. So don't be afraid to fill them up! You'll have very pretty cupcakes. I kept them in for the full 20 minutes. They looked a little dense, but knowing that I'd be pouring glaze all over them, I figured it would be okay.

I'm going to start talking about the glaze by mentioning that you shouldn't ignore all the red flags when you don't have everything. I had to run to the store to make the glaze even though I fought it earlier when I needed stuff. I had to run to the store so I could get more strawberry preserves and powdered sugar (a staple of my kitchen). Oh well. When I finally started making the glaze, I added the powdered sugar to the liquids in a measuring cup, so I could just pour the glaze over the cupcakes instead of spooning it on. I left the cupcakes in the pans to add the glaze just in case the paper liners wouldn't hold it. I didn't really have a problem, but I would recommend doing it that way just to be safe. I used a chop stick to poke the holes. Although the recipe says that you might have glaze over, I had the perfect amount, but I also made 4 extra cupcakes.

The frosting was as easy to make as frosting always is. I made a few changes. Instead of adding 3 tablespoons of margarita mix, I substituted one tablespoon with tequila, since everyone I work with likes to taste the alcohol in their cupcakes. After everything was mixed together, I didn't think that the icing tasted lime-y enough, so I threw in a dash of lime juice. Well after the taste test, my mom said the icing tasted too much like lime. So, in the end, I put a little scoop of strawberry topping on the top of the cupcake to bring it all together.

I'm on the fence about these cupcakes. Of course everyone at work went crazy for them and told me they were amazing and all that. Maybe I'm just my toughest critic. For me, the cupcakes were a little dense, but that helped a lot with letting the glaze soak in. The cream cheese icing was great, like cream cheese icing always is. I would make these cupcakes again for sure though.


Cupcake Ingredients
3 c cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c unsalted butter
1 c sugar
1/2 c margarita mix
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp lime zest
5 Tbsp strawberry preserves
1/3 tequila
3 eggs
1/2 c milk

Cupcake How to
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add margarita mix, lime juice, lime zest, strawberry preserves, and tequila and mix on low speed to incorporate. (Mix may appear slightly curdled at this point, but don't worry, it will come back together with flour)
5. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the milk, and repeat mixing after each addition until just incorporated, ending with the flour mixture.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners and bake approximately 20 minutes. Cool approximately 10 minutes.

Curled Looking Batter

Glaze Ingredients
1/2 c margarita mix
2 Tbsp tequila
1/2 c powdered sugar
Red food coloring

Glaze How to
1. Put powdered sugar in a small bowl, whisk in margarita mix and tequila to make a tick liquid glaze. Add a few drops of red food coloring to desired color.
2. Poke 4-5 holes in each cooled cupcake with a wooden skewer.
3. Spoon glaze over cupcakes, about a tablespoon at a time, giving the glaze a chance to absorb before adding more. You may have glaze left over.

Frosting Ingredients
1/2 c unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese
4-6 c powdered sugar
3 Tbsp margarita mix
2 Tbsp strawberry preserves
Red food coloring

Frosting How to
1. Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
2. Add margarita mix and preserves and beat until will incorporated.
3. Add sugar one cup at a time until frosting is desired consistency.
4. Add a few drops of red food coloring to tin frosting.
5. Pipe frosting on cupcakes as desired. Top with sliced strawberries for garnish.

24 Tirimisu Cupcakes

I'm baaack. After a lapse in baking, I finally jumped back in. Two months late on a birthday for a co-worker, these were long overdue. She asked for one of her favorite desserts all contained in a single cupcake. After telling her time and time again, I made the time to bake, which was something I, personally, needed to do for myself as well.

A little while back, when I initially intended on baking these cupcakes, I was on an intensive search for one, single ingredient... marscapone cheese. After obviously checking all the stores I normally frequent, my search came up empty. I finally found it at this Amish-y buffet/store place that I am in love with (even more now that I found this elusive cheese). For weeks, I told my friend that I would bake her cupcakes, while keeping the October expiration date in mind.

The cupcakes came together a little easier than some of the other cupcakes I've made, considering part of it was from a box. It would probably be smart to make the mix in a big measuring cup, or a bowl with measured markings, since you have to use half the batter. I'm always worried about these kinds of things. I get nervous that I'll use too much of the first half, then not have enough for making the second half. I didn't use a measuring cup, and, of course, I used too much plain batter. I'd would say just put in enough to cover the bottom of the paper initially. Then, if you used a measuring cup and still have some left til you've used the half that was called for, go back and add a little more. I had to add a little bit of flour to the part that you mix the coffee into, like the recipe says. I'd say about 2 tablespoons. So since I used too much of the plain white cake mix, I came up 5 cupcakes short with the coffee mixture. The baked for about 18 minutes.

Next, after the cupcakes cool, I used an apple corer to cut cones into the top of each of the cupcakes. I probably could have used the cupcake corer, since after making the filling, there was a lot. The filling didn't really taste that good on its' own, and it kind of looked like mashed potatoes. Suddenly I had a stroke of genius! To solve the problem of the 5 plain vanilla cupcakes, I put the filling on top of each of the plain cupcakes, then I used the crumbs left over from coring the cupcakes and sprinkled them on top.It made the cupcakes a little messier but it worked.

This icing is one that I will never forget. It's a hybrid. It's somewhere between a whipped cream and a cream cheese icing. A match made in heaven. It has that delicious cream cheese taste, but it's so light from whipping it. Don't be afraid to load the icing on. The recipe makes plenty.

These cupcakes were worth the wait. A few people said that they don't like coffee but that they liked these cupcakes. They were amazing. The cake was very light and not dense at all. I love fluffy cupcakes. The filling wasn't so weird once it was inside the cupcakes. The odd cheese-like quality that made it kind of gross was sweetened up with the other elements of the cupcake. And that icing.... oh the icing. You have to make it! There are no words to describe the delicious marriage between cream cheese and heavy cream and cranking the blender all the way to 10. I've been asked to make these cupcakes again. My only stipulation was: find me marscapone cheese.

Messy Version of Very Delicious Cupcakes

Cake Ingredients
1 box white cake mix
2 egg whites
1 egg
1/3 c oil
3/4 c buttermilk
3/4 c sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c strong coffee


Cake How to
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan.
2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, gently whisk egg whites, egg, oil, buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla.
4. Stir in cake mix into wet ingredients.
5. Using half of the batter, fill liner 1/3 full.
6. With remaining cake batter, add the strong coffee and mix (You may need to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the batter)
7. Scoop coffee cake batter over the regular batter so that each cupcake liner is 3/4 full. (So you have a later of vanilla cake and a top layer of coffee cake)
8. Bake for 16-20 minutes


Marscapone Cheese: Kind of Like a
Thicker Version of Cream Cheese.
More Like Cheese, Less Like Cream.

Filling Ingredients
8 oz marscapone cheese
1 Tbsp strong coffee
1/2 c powdered sugar

Whipped Topping
8 oz cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pt heavy cream

How to
1. Filling: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl using a spoon.
2. Topping: Using a whisk attachment on your stand mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla. Slowly add in heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. To assemble: Cut a cone shaped piece of cake out of the top of each cupcake (make sure cakes are cooled). Generously spoon in your filling. Pipe your whipped topping over the hole with the filling and top with chocolate shavings and cocoa powder.