Gingerbread & Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Baking posts are some of my absolute favourites to write on my blog and not just because I end up with a batch of cupcakes or brownies at the end of them! I love spending a morning baking and decorating, I find it incredibly relaxing and I always get such positive feedback with these kinds of posts. Since we're heading towards Christmas, the time of year when I can stuff my face full of calorie laden goodies and not feel guilty about it, I though I'd do one or two festive themed bakes for you to tempt your taste buds with. I've gone for a very stereotypical yet delicious flavour, gingerbread. Mixed with a cream cheese frosting these are incredibly moist, rich and delicious.



When looking for a recipe for the gingerbread cupcakes themselves, I was bombarded by hundreds telling me completely different things. A common ingredient used across gingerbread recipes and in recipes like Parkin that require a lot of moisture, is molasses, specifically syrup molasses which I struggled to find anywhere! Luckily, black treacle is a great alternative and I managed to find a great recipe on the BBC website that uses this with an equal helping of golden syrup. As per usual I'll run through the ingredients and method, adding in any tips or alternatives that I used. Now this recipe is supposed to be for 12 cupcakes but I found that this made about 14 or 15 cakes. You can always used muffin cases if you prefer fewer larger cakes. So for the cupcakes you will need:

140g softened unsalted butter (I leave this out overnight so soften nicely)
200g golden caster sugar (I used brown sugar instead)
60g black treacle
60g golden syrup
2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
300g plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
240ml warm milk

1. Pre heat the oven to 190°C fan and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cases. I bought my green and red festive cases from Hobbycraft
2. In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the treacle, golden syrup, eggs (complete and yolks) and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, sieve and mix together the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder and salt. Add half of this flour mixture to the first butter mixture and add half of the milk, mixing well. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk and mix well again. 
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and then leave to cool before decorating. 


Next up is a delicious cream cheese frosting. Again, this was another thing that I struggled to find a good recipe for, everyone seemed to be completely different and varied massively on measurements. I decided to go for this recipe from CupcakeJemma. If you haven't seen her channel already, seriously check her out! The cakes they make in her shop look absolutely incredible, I wish I could make something to that standard. This recipe is supposed to be enough for 24 cupcakes but since I like mine with frosting overboard, I didn't halve the recipe and I found that this was just enough for all my cakes. For this you will need:

100g softened unsalted butter (again, leave this out overnight)
160g cream cheese
560g icing sugar 

1. This one's simple. Just mix all these together in a bowl until well combined. 
2. All I did was pipe this on to the top of the cupcakes using a Wilton 2D nozzle and topped them with these adorable gingerbread men, again from Hobbycraft. Sorted!




I hope you enjoyed these cupcakes, I'll have some more festive goodies coming up soon! Will you be baking anything this Christmas? 

18 comments

  1. Wow these look amazing! I definitely need to try them out! xo

    http://www.samanthasbeautyloves.com

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  2. These look so lovely! Might have to give these a go soon! :)

    Abbi | www.simplyabbi.com

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  3. These are adorable! I love gingerbread, so I think I'll have to give these a try.

    xo, Liz
    http://lipstickandconfetti.com

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  4. These look super cute!

    http://claresloves.blogspot.com/

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  5. They look so adorable and yummy!

    www.elabellaworld.com

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  6. These look incredible! Wish I had the time to make them, bet they were tasty

    Becky // Colourful Sins

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  7. I love gingerbread men and they look so adorable on top of cupcakes! <3 Great job! :)

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  8. These look very cute!! Definitely want to give these a shot!
    Jess @ JuicyyyJesss*

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  9. They look so delicious, your baking skills are insane!
    Charlotte // charlottespicks.blogspot.com

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  10. Gurrrrl, these look professionally done! That piping is to perfection! These are making me hungry, my mouth was watering even just reading the title. Oh, how I wish I could jump through the screen to get one! xx

    Jasmine || http://www.blogsallbeautyy.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Awhh, thank you! I was so proud of my piping not gonna lie, haha. You should try making them, they're honestly so good! x

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  11. These look amazing! I have to try making them! =)
    xx
    http://thebeautyprep.blogspot.co.uk/

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  12. They are so cute!! I can't wait to get back into baking, need to make some xmas cupcakes ASAP! www.laurcaud.co.uk

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  13. Aww, these look so cute, and delicious!! Find myself baking a lot for Christmas too, though I feel okay with it since it's pretty much the only time of the year when I will anything at all! I find it to be the perfect season to just try every recipe I've ever wanted to try, haha!

    Filippa ⎮ Always a Dot

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  14. These look so tasty! When I move out I am going to try and start baking some healthy, but tasty treats :) oxo

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  15. These look fantastic, and your icing is so professional!

    Lilies and Lipbalm
    xx

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