Runs on Coffee and Cream

I've been on a ginger recipe kick since I purchased a container of molasses recently. I had my parents up to visit a couple of weeks ago so I thought gingerbread cupcakes would be a fun and festive treat to make.

As usual, I manipulated a boxed cake mix for this recipe. It was super easy and the cupcakes, even without frosting, are so moist and yummy! I feel like if I threw some chocolate chips in the batter, it'd be a tasty muffin.


Gingerbread Cupcakes:
1 box of yellow or golden cake mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or oil if you like)
1/4 cup molasses
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place cupcake liners in your muffin tray.
2. Mix all your ingredients together in a mixing bowl using a hand mixer. Mix for approximately 2 minutes.
3. Using a spoon or ladle, add cupcake batter to cupcake liners. Fill liners approximately 3/4 full.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until top is springy to the touch.
5. Let cupcakes cool completely.

Frosting:
Cream cheese frosting is sometimes recommended for gingerbread cakes but we're not huge fans of cream cheese frosting in our house so I stuck with buttercream.

I made a basic cinnamon buttercream using 1/2 cup butter, 4 cups of icing sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and teaspoons of water as needed to get the right consistency. I blend my buttercream in my stand-up mixer to prevent my hand mixer from over-heating.

I absolutely love how the cupcakes turned out. The cake itself has a bit of spice to it which is nice. I'm a fan of spicy gingerbread. But the sweet frosting definitely helps with the spice. I added white decorative sugar to the tops to add a bit of sparkle.


These cupcakes would be a hit for any holiday event! I will definitely make these again.

Are you a big fan of gingerbead?
xo Jen

You can find my other ginger recipe here:
Ginger Cookies

So I have followed through with changing up my wardrobe... I've been pulling out all my tights and wearing dresses on my days off. It has felt so nice, except when I look down and realize I'm either covered in thread or cat hair. Oh well. I start the day off feeling cute.



I've been baking like crazy over this past week. Out of 3 cookie recipes I've tried, 2 have been soooo yummy! But I will share those recipes with you this week! While Christmas shopping, however, I bought a gingerbread cupcake or whoopie pie mix. I made the first batch into cupcakes. The cupcakes are so incredibly good and it made our apartment smell amazing but I was so disappointed with the frosting mix. I've made similar frosting mixes before in other whoopie pie mixes I've bought and the frosting always turns out fluffy. This time it was so watery. It tasted good with the cupcake but I like fluffy frosting!



We finally bought a new Christmas wreath, though, it's completely plain. I thought I'd add a handmade bow to it which I think turned out super cute. But then a few days later we were given a huge, beautiful wreath from Adam's mom. Oh well, I'll find somewhere to hang my little wreath.




Today was a good hair day for me. I love having natural waves when my hair doesn't go frizzy but looks messy still. I pulled out my MAC blue eyeshadow today too.




It's a shame I go back to work tomorrow. I really have no interest in working 5 days in a row this week. I'd much rather stay home to bake and sew. Oh well.

xo Jen