With winter finally upon us I thought it was high time to do some of my favourite baking. I love all of the spices and flavours associated with the cooler months and keep dreaming up cupcake recipes that I will be trying over the coming weeks. I actually made these cupcakes as Mother’s Day gifts. I wanted to bless some special mothers in my life with home baked goodies on a recent trip away. I love the sweet ginger heart cookies on top of these moist and spicy cupcakes. They are super easy to make, adding a delightful touch to your gift box. Any gingerbread biscuit recipe will do, but I have included the recipe I used here. You can also change the shape of the cookie to suit any theme.
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bi carb soda
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon ginger spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon clove spice
- Preheat oven to 180 celcius
- Line two muffin trays with 18 cupcake papers
- Using a hand whisk, mix together eggs and vanilla extract in a medium bowl.
- Add oil, sour cream and golden syrup
- Carefully stir in warm water. Set aside
- In a large bowl, sift flour, bi carb soda and baking powder
- Add brown and castor sugar.
- Add spices and whisk until well combined
- Carefully pour wet mixture into dry mix and hand whisk until well combined
- Scoop batter into prepared cupcake papers until each is about 2/3 full
- Bake in moderate oven for 18 minutes or until firm to touch and slightly brown on top
- Place on wire rack to cool before frosting with Maple cream cheese buttercream
- 125g butter at room temp
- 125g cream cheese at room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup *see note
- Approx 2 - 3 cups Icing mixture **see note
- Wilton Icing Whitener (optional)
- dashings of pure cream to bring frosting to desired consistency
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, mix butter for a few minutes until light and creamy
- Add cream cheese. Mix another minute or so until light and fluffy
- Add vanilla extract
- Turn mixer onto low and gradually add icing mixture, about half a cup at a time
- As mixture gets thick, add maple syrup
- Continue adding icing mixture and cream as needed to get to desired consistency
- Pipe onto cupcakes and top with gingerbread cookie
- * I prefer using pure maple syrup for the icing, but maple flavoured syrup will work just as well.
- ** This recipe makes a large batch of cupcakes and therefore uses a lot of icing sugar. You can use pure icing sugar, but I prefer using icing mixture, as it is softer and doesn't need sifting. By adding small amounts of icing mixture at a time you will see how much you will need. It does vary, so just keep adding until you reach the desired consistency.
- 125g butter
- 1/2 cup golden syrup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
- 2 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
- Preheat oven to 160 C
- Line baking tray with baking paper
- Combine butter, golden syrup and brown sugar into small saucepan and melt on stove
- Move from heat and cool
- Stir in egg yolk and remaining dry ingredients to form a soft dough.
- Turn out onto plastic wrap and press into flat disc. Place in fridge for 1 hour
- Roll dough to 7mm / 1/4 inch thickness in between two sheets of baking paper
- Use cookie cutters to make shapes
- Place trays in fridge for 5 minutes*
- Remove trays from fridge and bake in moderate oven for 7 - 10 minutes or until firm
- Cool on tray for five minutes before moving to wire rack to cool
- If using heart shaped cookies, tie with string and place on top of ginger cupcakes or sandwich two biscuits together with Maple cream cheese frosting
- * Putting the cut cookies into the fridge for five minutes before baking helps to keep the shapes firm.
They look amazing Anna – but I shall resist making them as the only ingredients I would eat are the eggs and spices – oops! Very pretty!