Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I recently had a Christmas party with the ladies that I take ballet with and we had a great time. One of the ladies graciously hosted at her beautiful home. She asked me to bake a dessert to bring and I was happy to do that. I wanted to do something holiday themed, but also something that would travel ok. I decided to make these gingerbread cupcakes. And I could use these cute gingerbread toppers!

These cupcakes started out as gingerbread latte cupcakes, but I changed them to plain gingerbread cupcakes by adding hot water to the batter instead of hot coffee. I made mini cupcakes since that travelled better and it made a petite dessert for a lighter luncheon. I halved this recipe and made 12 mini cupcakes and 4 regular-sized cupcakes. I like the spiced cupcake paired with the lemon cream cheese frosting. Spice pairs nicely with that tart/sweet flavor! I also topped mine with a little bit of ground gingersnaps, too add a little extra crunch. These turned out well and everyone at the party enjoyed them.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

¼ cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

1/2 cup hot water

1 teaspoon baking soda

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 regular cupcake or 24 mini cupcake with paper liners.

Make the cupcakes: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and the salt. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light. Add the molasses and egg and beat until smooth. In a measuring cup combine the hot water and baking soda, stir to dissolve the baking soda, and then add that to the butter mixture. The mixture may look curdled. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour/spice mixture, mixing just until combined.

Fill cupcake liners half to 2/3 full. Bake for 16-20 minutes (mini cupcakes take about 16-18 minutes, regular ones about 20 minutes) until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Cool in the pan 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting: in a large mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Stir in the lemon zest and juice. Chill for about 30 minutes before frosting the cupcakes. Frost or pipe the frosting on the cupcakes.

Recipe from Baker’s Royale