Gingerbread cupcakes

By Birgitta

Garrett McCord 'Vanilla Garlic'

Lighter and easier than regular dense and flat gingerbread, it still possesses the sweet flavors of brown sugar and molasses, and the fragrant spices, and the snappy bite that comes from plenty of ginger.

Drizzled with a bit of lemon icing, the citrus aggressively compliments the rich ginger-n-spice flavors of the dark gingerbread.

Ingredients

• Lemon Icing:
• 375 ml all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 125 ml unsalted butter
• 60 ml water
• 125 ml packed dark brown sugar
• 125 ml unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap)
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 60 ml grated ginger
• 60 ml + 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Preparation

Step 1

1 Preheat the oven to 175°C. In a small bowl, melt the butter and water together in the microwave, covering the top with plastic wrap.

2 Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and dry spices in a bowl.

3 Beat together the molasses and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each.

4 Beat in the flour mixture slowly until just incorporated. Add the butter mixture and the grated ginger and beat until smooth. Batter will be runny.

5 Spoon into cupcake papers, about 3/4 full. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for a minute to set before moving to a wire rack to fully cool.

Lemon Icing:
Combine the sugar and lemon juice together in a bowl and stir until smooth. Allow to stiffen up a bit for 4 minutes. Spoon over the cooled cupcakes and allow to harden.