A Sweet Treat to Share the Love this Christmas
These gingerbread cupcakes are the perfect sweet addition to your Christmas feast or party. They are inspired by traditional Christmas flavours like ginger, allspice and cinnamon. Each one is topped with a crowd-pleasing lemon cream cheese frosting and finished off with a dusting of edible gold glitter.
Making the Gingerbread Cupcakes:
Bring Your Ingredients to Room Temperature
Having ingredients that are too hot or cold can really impact the final size, shape and texture of your cupcakes. Here’s how you bring your cold ingredients to the right temperature:
Butter – remove from fridge and cut into small, even-sized cubes. Butter is at the right temperature for creaming when you can press your finger in and leave an indent, but there is still some resistance.
Eggs – if eggs have been refrigerated then place in a bowl filled with hot tap water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Milk – remove from fridge and microwave for 10 seconds.
Cream the Butter and Sugar
Once your butter is at the right temperature, cream it with the brown sugar. You can cream the butter and sugar by hand or with a hand-held/freestanding mixer. We used a hand-held mixer on a medium setting for one minute.
Whatever method you use, make sure not to overbeat. Otherwise, your cupcakes may shrink, become dry or sink in the middle after baking.
Once you can see the sugar has dissolved, the mixture has turned a pale yellow colour and is looking light and fluffy then stop beating.
Here we have used the beautiful Mason Cash In the Forest mixing bowl to make our cupcake batter.
Add the Wet Ingredients
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl first to minimise the risk of overbeating the main batter. Add the beaten eggs, milk and treacle to the main batter then use a hand-held whisk to combine.
The mixture will look inconsistent and lumpy at this stage. This is normal and nothing to worry about.
Add the Dry Ingredients
In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, spices, salt, bicarb and baking soda). Then, add the dry ingredients to the main batter then use a hand-held whisk or wooden spoon until just combined.
Fill the Cupcake Tins
Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Fill each liner to two-thirds full.
You should get 12 cupcakes with this recipe, however, the amount of batter will vary depending on:
- How much air you have incorporated into the batter;
- The size of your eggs; and
- Any inaccuracies in measurement.
If you find you are a bit short of a dozen, then make 11 right-sized cupcakes rather than trying to stretch the batter to make 12.
If you have a too much batter then either discard or put the batter towards a second tray.
Baking the Cupcakes
Bake the cupcakes at 175°C fan-forced for 20 minutes.
To test if they are ready:
- Press the tops of the cupcakes gently with your finger. If the cake bounces back, then it is done.
- Insert a toothpick/cake tester into the centre. If it comes out clean then it is done.
Let the Cupcakes Cool
The cupcakes should be removed from the tin as soon as possible to prevent overcooking. Put them on a cooling rack to cool completely before either frosting or storing.
Remember to use a pair of good quality oven mitts so you don’t burn your fingers, like the Le Creuset oven mitts pictured below.
Making the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Make the Frosting
Once the butter has softened, beat it using a hand-held mixer on a medium setting for one minute. Add the cream cheese then beat for a further 30 seconds.
Add lemon zest, lemon juice and white food colouring.
The white food colouring is optional. Without it, the frosting is a pale yellow colour. We prefer the look of a white frosting as it gives more contrast to the gold glitter.
Weigh out the icing sugar and cornstarch, then sift into a separate bowl. Both these ingredients will transform the butter mixture into the frosting.
The cornstarch performs a similar function by firming up the icing sugar without adding extra sweetness.
Refrigerate the Frosting
The frosting at this point will be quite soft and difficult to work with, so it will need to be refrigerated. Prior to refrigerating, fit your piping bag with the nozzle of your choice (we used an open star) and fill the bag with frosting. Put it in the fridge for about an hour, or until the piping bag feels firm but malleable when you squeeze it.
If you are making the frosting in advance, or if you’ve otherwise found it’s gone too hard in the fridge, just leave it at room temperature for 15 minutes or so or until it’s softened to the right consistency.
Decorating the Cupcakes
Piping the Frosting
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in the pattern of your choice. We did a basic swirl (as seen in the pictures). To do this:
- Hold the piping bag vertically above the centre of the cupcake.
- Squeeze a large amount in the middle.
- Circle around the edge of the cupcake, then continue upwards in a circular motion.
- Once at the top, stop squeezing and lift straight up to get a nice point.
Add Some Sparkle
While the frosting is reasonably fresh, sprinkle over the edible gold glitter. The frosting will form a dry outer crust over time, which is why the glitter will adhere better the earlier you add it.
Scoop a small amount of glitter using a teaspoon handle, then press through a fine-mesh strainer, like a tea strainer. We used the Loyal Magic Colours Bling Bling edible gold glitter to give the cupcakes the perfect festive finish.
The gold glitter can be substituted with ground cinnamon. You can also top the cupcakes with cinnamon sticks or mini-gingerbread men.
Storing the Cupcakes
The cupcakes and frosting can both be made in advance provided they are stored properly:
- Unfrosted cupcakes – cover in cling wrap and store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to two days, or in the refrigerator for up to three days.
- Frosting – the frosting should be refrigerated so the cream cheese doesn’t spoil. The frosting will keep for about three days in the fridge in an air-tight container. Remove your frosting about 15 minutes before you plan on piping your cupcakes so it can soften.
- Frosted cupcakes – store frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to three days. Remove 30 minutes before serving to allow the cake to come to room temperature and for the frosting to soften.
The cupcakes will dry out over time, so the sooner you can serve them after baking the better.
Recipe
Makes 12 cupcakes | Prep time: | Cooking time:
Ingredients
For the cupcake:
- 125gm unsalted block butter (softened)
- 110gm brown sugar
- 125ml full cream milk
- 160gm treacle
- 2large eggs, beaten
Dry ingredients:
- 180gm plain flour
- 1tbsp ground ginger
- 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4tsp allspice
- 1/8tsp ground cloves
- 1/4tsp salt
- 1/2tsp bicarb soda
- 1/2tsp baking powder
Frosting:
- 100gm unsalted block butter (softened)
- 150gm full fat cream cheese (softened)
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- Finely grated rind from one lemon
- 3/4tsp white food colouring (optional)
- 250gm icing sugar
- 30gm cornstarch
- Edible gold glitter
Method
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 175°C fan-forced, and line a 12-cup cupcake tin with cases.
- Cream the butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer on a medium setting for one minute.
- Warm the milk for 10 seconds in the microwave, then add the milk, treacle and beaten eggs to the creamed butter. Whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the cupcake tin, filling each case to two-thirds full.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from the tin as soon as possible, then allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Frosting
- Beat the butter in a medium-sized bowl using a handheld mixer for one minute on a medium setting. Add the cream cheese and beat for another 30 seconds.
- With a spatula, fold through lemon juice, lemon rind and white food colouring (if using).
- In a separate bowl, sift the icing sugar and cornstarch.
- Add the cornstarch and icing sugar to the cream cheese mixture in two batches. With each batch, use a spatula to gently fold through until just combined.
- Fit a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice (we used an open star nozzle) and fill the bag with the frosting. Refrigerate for about an hour, or until the frosting feels firm but malleable when you squeeze the bag. If the frosting has hardened up too much let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so to soften.
- Frost the cupcakes in the style of your choice (we did a basic swirl). Dust with gold glitter by using the handle of a teaspoon to pick up a small amount then pressing through a fine-mesh strainer.
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