Gingerbread Cupcakes

Nothing says Christmas quite like the smell of gingerbread baking in the oven. These Gingerbread Cupcakes are full of warm spices — ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg — and topped with a rich brown sugar frosting that tastes like toffee and butter mixed together.

They’re festive, comforting, and perfect for the holidays — whether you’re baking for a Christmas party, gifting a homemade treat, or just want the house to smell amazing.

Ingredients:

For the Cupcake Batter:

• 150g butter (has to be room temperature)
• 150g soft light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 tbsp milk

For the Buttercream Icing:

• 200g butter (room temperature again)
• 50g soft light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 200g icing sugar
• pinch of ground cinnamon

Method:

For the Cupcake Batter:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C for a conventional oven or 160°C for a fan oven or gas mark 4 for a gas oven.
2. Get a muffin tray (these are better than cupcake trays as they are deeper. Line them with 12 cupcake cases ... I used nice red Christmas ones with snowflakes on.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy - you want to do this for about 5 minutes - the butter should have changed from a yellow colour to a off-white colour.
4. Sift the flour and spices together into a bowl. Also crack the eggs into a separate bowl.
5. Now add some flour to the creamed butter/sugar mix and then alternative back and forth with the eggs until both flour and eggs are combined into the mixture.
6. Add the tbsp of milk and stir into the mixture. Now you can spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases. I worked with a dessert spoon which was a good measure and then I just topped up each cupcake with a little bit of the mixture until the bowl was clean.
7. The recipe states 15-20 minutes but my cupcakes were done at exactly 15 minutes ... I'm sure it depends on the oven though as everyone has a different one. When you think they are ready they should be springy to the touch or you can get a metal skewer or a metal thermometer and poke a cupcake in the middle and if it comes out clean then its ready. Transfer them to a wire rack so they can cool.

For the Buttercream Icing:

1. Place the 50g of the butter and sugar in a saucepan and on a low heat cook until melted. Try not to let it boil as if it burns it tastes horrible. Take off the heat and add 2 tbsp of milk and stir until the sauce thickens and is glossy. Let it cool down.
2. Add the remaining butter (150g) to a bowl and beat until creamy and fluffy (like the start of the cupcake mix) and then add sifted icing sugar at intervals until all mixed together. Then stir in the cooled toffee sauce until all incorporated. If the sauce is too thick add 1 tbsp on milk to thin. I didn't need to add this as it was a good thickness for my liking.
3. Put the frosting into a piping bag and pipe onto the cupcakes (make sure they are cooled fully before doing this) and then sprinkle a tiny little bit of cinnamon onto the cupcakes.