Merry Christmas from The Dogs Eat the Crumbs!
I've been giving this a lot of thought, and I'm pretty sure that gingerbread is my favorite baked good, so I was unable to resist buying the cookbook Gingerbread for myself for Christmas. I didn't even peek inside before I wrapped it up for Christmas day. But I was still quite interested in gingerbread, so I fed my obsession by baking a couple kinds of gingerbread cookies and these gingerbread cupcakes, which I baked for a friend's Christmas party.
n.o.e.'s notes:
- I had seen a lot of blogs feature Martha Stewart's Gingerbread Cupcakes. Martha uses a vanilla frosting and tops her cupcakes with little cutout gingerbread cookies. I had already baked a bunch of mini-gingerbread snowmen and snowflakes that I could use to decorate my cupcakes.
- The reviews for Martha's cupcakes were a bit mixed, with a few people finding them bland. I've got to say that "land" is the kiss of death for a gingerbread recipe in my book. Luckily my friend Tracy of Tracy's Culinary Adventures gave me a told me that Betty of Eat My Cupcake had rewritten Martha's recipe and ended up with good gingerbread cupcakes. I baked my cupcakes according to Betty's recipe. [edit: I realize that I left out the link to the recipe on Betty's blog. You can find it by clicking here.]
- I weighed the flour on my kitchen scale, estimating 3 5/8 oz per cup.
- I overfilled the muffin cups too much, so my cupcakes weren't as pretty as they would have been had I willed them with the proper amount of batter.
- Instead of Martha's vanilla frosting, I mixed up some lemon cream cheese frosting from Cook's Illustrated.
- My cupcakes were a bit oily when they came out the oven. Next time I'd probably add a bit more flour ( maybe use the measure of 5 oz per cup)
the verdict:
These cupcakes were adorable and I loved the deep spicy gingerbread flavor. I'm sure that these will have a regular spot in my holiday baking repertory.
12 comments:
These are so adorable, perfect for Christmas!!
Katie xox
I would have had to make the cutouts well in advance to finish this recipe! :) Love how they are the same coloration as the cupcake! Perfect! Glad you used Betty's revised recipe - Martha's was more like a muffin, good, but not "cupcake-like". And gingerbread is something that should just taste wonderful, regardless!
Merry Christmas, Nancy! I love the cutouts on top--very cute.
These look just so cheery and wonderful. I love gingerbread as well...there is just something unique about it that says right away "like me or leave me," and I like that about things. You decor is very lovely as well. I like the cupcakes filled just as you did...brimming with happiness!
Deep, spicy gingerbread flavor...glad you found it in these cupcakes! Adorable cutouts.
They are gorgeous! I love them.
Ciao Nancy ! How cute your cupcakes look ! i wish you a very happy new year !!
Yay! Perfect for a holiday party. What? No chocolate frosting!? :P I know you love that combo...
Great Christmas treats! I love anything with ginger in it. I hope your Christmas was wonderful!
What charming holiday decorations, perfect for a party! I was interested in this recipe when I saw the MSC make it, but I feel the same way you do about bland gingerbread; I'm glad it didn't disappoint with Betty's re-write.
I can't wait to see what you bake from the Gingerbread book!
I forgot you'd purchased Gingerbread too - we should bake something from it before winter is over :) Great job on the cupcakes - I'm glad these worked for you! The lemon cream cheese frosting sounds delicious, I'm going to have to try that one someday.
I baked a batch of gingerbread cupcakes for a Christmas party back in December. Delish! I wish gingerbread could break out of it's "holiday/winter" shell and be eaten year round :)
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