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Gingerbread Cupcakes for a Special Birthday

Nov 21 by Anita 29 Comments

Gingerbreadcupcakeslineup

Does anyone else have a noticeable uptick in friends’ birthdays around this time of the year? November to me is not just the month that marks the beginning of the holidays, but also the beginning of the birthday onslaught. I have my theories as to why (consider that Valentine’s Day occurs 9 months earlier…hmm…) but come November I always prepare myself for a blizzard of parties, presents, and birthday cakes.

Of course, one very special November birthday for me is that of the boyfriend (Fun fact: I have two sisters and both of their significant others have their birthdays this month as well. It’s a birthday barrage, I tell you!) I asked the guy what kind of cake he would like for his birthday and he replied, “Gingerbread!”

Naturally my guy is so awesome that he will actually pick a cake that’s seasonal🙂 Something dark, lush, spicy, and note-perfect for the holidays. Gingerbread has such a fabulously complex history as well – it was one of favorite cookies to research for my cookie book. The word gingerbread is a corruption of the ancient French word gingebras, and originally referred to preserved ginger, a costly and coveted spice during medieval times.

Gingerbreadstilllife

It wasn’t until the 15th century that gingerbread was used to describe cakelike concoctions made with treacle and flavored with ginger. This spicy treat evolved differently around Europe: in some countries gingerbread remained soft and cakelike, while in other places it morphed into a dough that was pressed into wooden molds and baked into crisp, intricately imprinted plaques. In England treacle was still used to flavor gingerbread, while in other places molasses and honey were substituted. The German city of Nuremberg became famous for its honey-flavored version of gingerbread, known as lebkuchen. Formed in elaborately carved molds, lebkuchen were true edible art. Over in colonial America, the use of carved molds slowly gave way to simpler tin cutters, leading to the gingerbread cookies best known in the US today. Gingerbread in cake form isn’t quite as well known here, but if you like a little spice with your sweet, this may just be your thing.

I was really itching to use my mini cupcake pan again, so the recipe turned into gingerbread cupcakes topped with a swirl of lemon creme chantilly and a bit of candied lemon peel. I love the contrast between the rich, spicy cake and the clean tang of the whipped cream – like fresh snow on Christmas firs. No two gingerbread recipes are the same – like the bakers of old, you can use your favorite combination of spices. I like a mix of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. A generous measure of brown sugar swirled with dark molasses gives the gingerbread its robust, heady sweetness and enticing brown hue.

Spicestrio

Be sure not overbake these cupcakes, especially if you’re making mini ones. I also poured the leftover batter (once I’d filled up the muffin tin) into a loaf pan, which baked up into a really lovely, very moist little cake. Also, wait to frost the cupcakes until you’re ready to serve them, since the whipped cream can’t keep for very long outside the fridge and refrigerating the cupcakes will make them hard.

The making of these cupcakes also coincided with a package I received from Challenge Butter. Along with some cooking tools from OXO I got a selection of Spice Islands Spices that I was “challenged” to use to create a holiday dessert recipe. The spices turned out to be perfect for this gingerbread cupcake recipe! One can never have enough spices in the house, especially during the holidays – or a busy birthday season!

I hope you enjoy these little lovelies as much as the birthday boy did!

Gingerbreadaerial

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Creme Chantilly

makes about 30 mini cupcakes
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Cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups (210 g) all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon (5 g) ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon (5 g) ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon (1 g) ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon (1 g) ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon (1 g) salt
  • 2 ounces (55 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (130 g) dark molasses
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup (115 g) whole milk

Lemon Creme Chantilly

  • 1 cup (230 g) whipping cream
  • 4 tablespoons (56 g) confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 g) lemon extract

For the cupcakes:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a mini muffin tin with cupcake papers.
  • Sift flour, baking soda, spices, and salt together into a medium bowl. Set aside.
  • Combine butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  • Combine molasses and eggs together in a small bowl. Add to mixer and beat until combined.
  • Add flour mixture and milk in 5 alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until well combined.
  • Divide batter among muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove when a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack.

For the frosting:

  • When ready to decorate, put whipping cream in a clean mixer bowl and whisk on medium until it begins to thicken. Add in the confectioners' sugar and whisk until soft peaks begin to form. Add lemon extract and whisk just to combine.
  • Scrape whipped cream into piping bag fitted with a small star tip and pipe swirls onto cupcakes.

Filed Under: Cakes, Field Guide to Cookies, Recipes

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Comments

  1. 1

    simona says

    Nov 21 at 1:48 am

    wow! wonderful so special!!

    Reply
  2. 2

    Dominique (De vous à moi...) says

    Nov 21 at 2:21 am

    Pour moi aussi, Novembre est un mois spécial: quatre anniversaires … Mon ami Patrick (1 / 11), ma mère (9 / 11), mon fils Clément (10/11), moi (27/11) et mon mari (28/11). Ainsi, beaucoup de cuisine, des gâteaux et du champagne bien sûr! C’est tellement sympa de partager la bonne nourriture et de bons moments! Je vous remercie pour la recette, et avoir un bon week-end …

    Reply
  3. 3

    kat says

    Nov 21 at 3:43 am

    happy birthday to your BF 🙂 he’s so lucky to have custom made birthday cakes 🙂

    Reply
  4. 4

    snooky doodle says

    Nov 21 at 3:45 am

    these cupcakes look so cute. I love gingerbread and mostly cupcakes. Usually though I use black treacle since molasses is not found that easily here. I like the lemon cream topping you used 🙂 Happy birthday to the birthday boy

    Reply
  5. 5

    Rosa says

    Nov 21 at 5:51 am

    What lovely cupcakes! So thoughtful of you.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  6. 6

    Laura says

    Nov 21 at 6:36 am

    Anita, thanks for all the information on ginger, one of my favorite spices. I have some ginger ice cream base waiting to be frozen in fact.

    There are so many recipes of ginger bread popping up in the blogsphere so I want to try few, yours is going to be great I am sure. I will try it as soon as I can.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  7. 7

    Maria says

    Nov 21 at 7:43 am

    Lovely cupcakes. I am in a gingerbread mood lately. I can’t wait to try them!

    Reply
  8. 8

    sara says

    Nov 21 at 8:36 am

    So pretty! These are really lovely. 🙂

    Reply
  9. 9

    lisa says

    Nov 21 at 8:56 am

    Scorpio birthday season is busy for me too– How nice that your boyfriend selected an in season cake! Beautiful cupcakes- ginger and lemon are such a great combination.

    Reply
  10. 10

    Ashley says

    Nov 21 at 9:03 am

    These are beautiful! Love the photos!

    Reply
  11. 11

    Gloria says

    Nov 21 at 3:33 pm

    Wonderful Cupcakes!!! lovely! gloria

    Reply
  12. 12

    Su-yin says

    Nov 21 at 4:40 pm

    So pretty! Love the lovely piped frosting topped with the lemon.

    Reply
  13. 13

    Unplanned Cooking says

    Nov 21 at 5:31 pm

    All three of our children were born/due in December. So yes, I notice an uptick in birthdays around this time of year. So does my wallet ;).

    Reply
  14. 14

    Mimi says

    Nov 21 at 7:37 pm

    Gingerbread and lemon great combination. Beautiful cupcakes.
    Mimi

    Reply
  15. 15

    Allie says

    Nov 22 at 6:19 am

    Beautiful cupcakes! Perfect for this season!

    Reply
  16. 16

    Jen says

    Nov 22 at 3:50 pm

    This could not have come at a better time. I was just thinking about making gingerbread cupcakes for my sister this week. Bravo!

    Reply
  17. 17

    Allison says

    Nov 22 at 7:12 pm

    Aren’t mini cupcakes almost too cute to eat? Almost. 🙂 I love my mini cupcake pan. Great recipe!

    Reply
  18. 18

    El says

    Nov 22 at 8:12 pm

    What precious cupcakes. Simply lovely…

    Reply
  19. 19

    Y says

    Nov 23 at 1:27 am

    Happy Birthday to him! Those cupcakes are so cute. The perfect bite-sized present!

    Reply
  20. 20

    Christine says

    Dec 3 at 7:52 am

    THIS is just what I needed today.
    Mmmmm thanks.

    Reply
  21. 21

    Sara says

    Dec 4 at 9:08 am

    These gingerbread cupcakes remind me of two things. The first is the Food Networks show called Throwdown with Bobby Flay. He made gingerbread cupcakes and they looked delicious. The other is this place that made Indianapolis Specialty Desserts. They had all kinds of cupcakes and there were gingerbread cupcakes. Yum! Very good and if you’ve never tried them you should!

    Reply
  22. 22

    pastrygirl says

    Dec 5 at 10:05 pm

    Thanks all! The birthday boy certainly appreciates the birthday wishes!

    Reply
  23. 23

    Anne says

    Dec 9 at 3:49 pm

    I want to eat an entire batch of these. Yummmmmmay! 🙂

    Reply
  24. 24

    ana says

    Feb 10 at 11:56 pm

    Hi, i wanna to make your recipes but i don’t have cup because in french, not only here there is not the same instruments (i don’t know the word) so it’s difficult to convert the floor, butter and etc…

    Reply
  25. 25

    4x6 envelopes says

    Mar 21 at 8:36 am

    Firstly the photography is amazing, great food photography is extremely difficult. The other thing I have tried and would recommend is the use of natural pure ginger essence extract. It is amazing. Ok it is quite expensive but once you have tried it you will love it. It is hard to find, but Lakeland used to do it.

    Reply
  26. 26

    andy the photographer says

    Mar 24 at 8:56 pm

    Passing this on to my wife. Nice cupcakes.

    Reply
  27. 27

    Edith Leigh says

    Nov 14 at 2:13 am

    I love the look of this cupcake recipe, I’m going to give it a try for sure. Cheers!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. {SF} All The Cupcakes You Can Handle: At The SF Cupcake Challenge says:
    Feb 27 at 9:50 pm

    […] Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Creme Chantilly […]

    Reply
  2. Holiday Gingerbread Cake with Cookie Butter Frosting - Dessert First says:
    Nov 18 at 11:26 am

    […] of a week. All the more reason to bump it up just a notch for his special day! This is my favorite gingerbread recipe – I’ve used it to make cupcakes and it works great as a cake too. The recipe fills two […]

    Reply

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about pastrygirl

Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. More about pastrygirl

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