gingerbread cupcakes with buttermilk frosting

Emma, the baker behind the Red Velvet Sweet Shoppe and the blog foodcoma, works along side his sister, Elsie at Red Velvet. She loves trying out new recipes and making up her own. This time of year she really cannot get enough of spiced cakes! So she  decided to try her hand at making Gingerbread cupcakes and then then made up a Buttermilk frosting to go along with them.

Gingerbread Cupcakes, makes about 20 mini sized* cupcakes.

Needed: 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, a pinch of cloves, 3/4 cup softened butter (1 and 1/2 sticks), 3/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses, 2 large eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

In a bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and stir until just combined. Now add all of the remaining ingredients and stir until nearly no lumps are left in the batter. Spoon batter into lined baking cups, 2/3 full. Bake at 350 F for 18-20 minutes.

*This particular recipe is from Martha Stewart. You will notice that there is no leavening agent in this recipe, which I found made a dense and cookie-like cupcake. It's delicious, but I would highly recommend sticking to the mini size or standard size cupcake for these, otherwise the batter may get too dry when baking.

Buttermilk Frosting, makes about 2 cups.

Needed: 1 cup softened butter (2 sticks), 1-2 tablespoons buttermilk, 1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar and a pinch of cinnamon.

With an electric mixer cream the butter and buttermilk together. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time (creaming in between) until you reach your desired frosting consistency. Then stir in a pinch of cinnamon and pipe or spread the frosting on your cupcakes.

Thank you very much for sharing this recipe!

Let us know how did it end up, and send us recipes and pictures so we can post your special secret!

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