Happy November! This week I wanted to try my hand at baking cupcakes. I've actually never made them before. I think I've always believed that cupcakes are like playing with dolls - the older you get, the more childish they seem. Saturated in frosting, too much sugar in the batter, etc. In my mind, I equate cupcakes with hyper children like Honey Boo-Boo and that's a huge deal breaker for me. Cake and pie - now that's grown folk food! However, in light of the growing designer cupcake trend and cupcake competitions, I figured I'd give it a try.
In honor of November, I wanted to put a few of my favorite fall spices together; cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper. I used the ginger and cayenne to give the cupcakes a spicy kick.
WHAT YOU NEED (yields approx. 12 cupcakes, 24 mini-cupcakes)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (if you like your cupcakes very sweet, add a little more.)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Frosting:
1-2 containers of buttercream frosting (easy! or you can make your own using Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe)
2 teaspoon ginger
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners for the cupcakes (I bought some cute fall ones from Walmart for about $2). In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a separate medium-sized bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate stirring the flour mixture and milk into the butter-sugar mixture, making sure its evenly blended. Stir in your vanilla extract and cinnamon. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes.
BUTTERCREAM TIME
While the cupcakes are rising, blend your buttercream with the ginger. Scoop the mixture into a large zip-lock bag. Cut a small hole at one of the ends of the bag to use as a frosting applicator. :) BE CREATIVE! Swirls, roses, etc! You may want to refrigerate the frosting in the bag for about 30 minutes so the frosting will be a little stiffer. After your cupcakes have had time to cool, apply and ENJOY!
