Gingerbread Cocoa Cupcakes with Gingerbread Frosting

Gingerbread Cocoa Cupcakes with Gingerbread Frosting

These cupcakes are SO GOOD. MAKE THEM. Oh my goodness. One of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.

Cupcakes:

1 cup strong brewed hot coffee

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tbsp molasses

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Stir the cocoa powder into the coffee until it dissolves. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda, and baking powder.

In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in the molasses, then add the eggs, one at a time. My eggs were too cold, so the mixture didn't really combine properly until I added the flour mixture to thicken it; if this happens to you, don't worry. Add the flour and coffee mixtures and stir until all the ingredients are just incorporated. It will be a very liquid batter.

Fill cupcake tins with 1/4 cup batter each.

Bake 9 minutes, turn, bake 9 minutes. Let cool.

Makes 18.

Frosting:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

3 cups xxx sugar

6 tbsp heavy cream (you may need a little more, give or take)

1 tbsp vanilla paste

1 cup crushed gingerbread cookies

Whip the butter in a standing mixture for about 6 minutes on medium speed. It will get very light-colored and creamy-looking.

Add sugar and cream and mix until combined. Add vanilla. Whip again on medium for about 8 minutes. The frosting will get body as the cream starts to whip, so you will know when it's ready; it will be very light and creamy.

Add the crushed cookies (a food processor is your friend: I did the crushing by hand and it takes FOREVER) and mix in well.

Use a piping bag with a wide tip to make spirals of frosting on top of each cupcake.

Garnish with stick cinnamon.

I had several beheaded gingerbread men left over afterwards, so I garnished a few of my cupcakes with them. I just really enjoyed the way they looked sneakily peeking over the top of the frosting. I just couldn't resist.

Recipe adapted from Bakingdom.com

Raspberry Sugar Cookie Cupcakes

Raspberry Sugar Cookie Cupcakes

So here's the deal, guys. I made these cupcakes with the frosting from the original recipe, but they don't need it. In fact, I think it kind of detracts from the overall cupcake. So don't worry about frosting these. Buy or make some whipped cream (it takes three minutes, a standing mixer, a cup of heavy cream, and a tablespoon of sugar) and top it on.

Cupcakes:

3 egg whites

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/3 cup flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) + 1 tbsp soft butter

1/2 cup raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Whisk together egg whites, milk, and vanilla.

In a large bowl, sift together flour and baking powder, then whisk in sugar. Add the butter and beat until combined (the mixture will form fine crumbs, like sand). Add in the egg white mixture gradually.

When ingredients are all combined, the dough will be slightly sticky and thick, like biscuit dough.

Fill cupcake tins about 2/3 full. Bake for 13 minutes, turn, bake 13 minutes. Let cool.

Makes about 12.

When the cupcakes are cool, core them gently using a serrated blade or apple corer. Spoon jam into the hole. Cover with whipped cream.

Frosting:

Seriously, don't make the frosting. But if you want it for another recipe someday (and it is pretty tasty, just not with these cupcakes), here it is:

(don't make it)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup raspberry jam

2-3 cups xxx sugar

Beat butter until fluffy. Add jam. Beat in sugar until you reach the desired consistency; add cream to thin if necessary.

Recipe adapted from The Baking Robot.

(Cupcakes or cookies? It's a tough choice. Click click click)

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes with Mocha Frosting

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes with Mocha Frosting

Cupcakes:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) butter, room temp

1 cup whole milk

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

24 oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Sift together flour, sugar, and baking powder, then add butter and beat slowly until mixture forms sandy crumbs. Slowly pour in 3/4 cup milk and beat until just mixed.

Whisk together 1/4 cup milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the flour and beat until ingredients are combined and batter is smooth, about one minute. Be careful not to over mix.

Split the oreos in half so that one half has the cream and other is smooth. Take the cream side and place one in the bottom of each cupcake liner in your tins, cream side up.

Crumble all but 8 of the remaining naked sides and stir them into the batter.

Fill each liner about 2/3 full -- these rise a fair amount, so don't overfill.

Bake for 14 minutes, turn, bake 14 minutes.

Let cool.

Makes about 24 cupcakes.

Frosting:

2 cups xxx sugar, sifted

8 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp butter, room temp

3 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup strong coffee

Sift together xxx sugar and cocoa powder, then beat in vanilla and butter. Add coffee slowly until icing reaches a spreadable consistency.

In retrospect, I was reminded of why I generally steer clear of cocoa powder in frostings: I think that the confectioner's sugar tends to blend with the cocoa powder in a way that brings out the cocoa powder's less pleasant qualities. The recipe would be less quick, but I think considerably better tasting, if you used bittersweet chocolate, melted with the butter, and blended that into the sugar. If someone tries this recipe, you will have to report!

To finish:

Take the remaining 8 naked-sided oreos and process them in a food processor -- or just crush them really finely using a mortar and pestle or something -- until they become fine crumbs.

Ice each cupcake moderately and sprinkle with oreo crumbs.

Cupcake recipe adapted from The Kitchen is My Playground.

Thin Mint Cupcakes

Thin Mint Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

2 3/4 cups flour, sifted

1 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

5 egg whites

12 thin mint or other chocolate-mint cookies, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift together flour and baking powder in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together one cup sugar and oil. Alternate whisking in the flour mixture and the milk. Add the vanilla, then the cookie pieces.

In a metal bowl, whip the egg whites until they are foamy. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the egg whites while continuing to beat them, until they form soft peaks -- if you lift the beater out of the bowl the egg whites should hold their shape. When they're ready, slowly fold them into the batter. You want to do this as gently as possible, and be careful not to over mix; the egg whites make the batter fluffy, but if you mix them in too hard it will negate the fluffiness.

Divide the batter into cupcake tins, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake for 10 minutes, turn tins, bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool.

Makes 24.

Ganache:

1 cup heavy cream

8 oz bittersweet chocolate

1 tbsp butter

Bring cream to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, add chocolate and butter. Let sit for a little while, then whisk until smooth. Let cool.

Mint Icing:

1/4 cup flour

1 cup half-and-half cream

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp

1 cup superfine sugar (also sold as baker's sugar or extra fine sugar; you can make your own by putting regular sugar in a food processor)

2 tbsp Creme de menthe

Green food color

Sprinkles for decorating

Whisk the flour and cream together in a bowl over medium heat until it thickens. This happens fairly quickly, about five minutes. Move it to a container of some kind and put it in the fridge for about twenty minutes until cool.

Meanwhile, beat the sugar and butter together until fluffy. When the flour mixture is cool, whip it in until the icing is smooth. Add the Creme de menthe and food color.

To combine:

Using a spoon or spatula, spread about 2 tbsp of ganache on top of the cooled cupcakes.

Put the icing in a piping bag with a star tip and pipe a spiral of icing on top of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles and leftover thin mint cookies.

I'm not going to lie, I think these were some of the best cupcakes I have made so far in this project. The icing especially is totally amazing -- it has a wonderful airy texture but it tastes great, and it holds its shape perfectly, plus it really has no flavor until you add extracts or liqueurs to it so you can make it to go with any type of cupcake you want. I'm definitely going to be using the recipe again.

Adapted from Zoebakes.com