Gingerbread Cupcakes

Gingerbread sponge, gingerbread buttercream and fondant gingerbread men

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cupcake

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1 5

Servings

Calories 461kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/350F/Gas Mark 4, and line a cupcake tin with cases
Melt the butter, golden syrup, light brown sugar and black treacle together in a pan on a low heat. Once it is all melted and combined, leave to cool for 10 minutes
Whisk the eggs and milk together in a mixing bowl
Slowly pour the butter and syrup mixture into the eggs, whisking as you pour, until everything is combined
In another bowl, stir together the self raising flour, ground ginger and mixed spice
Slowly pour the egg and butter mixture into the flour, whisking as your pour, until everything is combined
Divide the mixture equally between the cupcakes cases, I find it easier to use a jug to do this as the mixture is quite wet
Bake them for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown and risen, or until a thin skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, remove them from the tin and place them on a cooling rack to cool down fully
To make the buttercream use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix the butter on it's own for a few minutes, then add the icing sugar, vanilla extract and ground ginger and mix together until smooth. You may need to add the milk to loosen it, depending on the type of butter you use
Pipe or spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes, then add gingerbread man icing shapes and sprinkles if desired
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in a cool place for 2-3 days

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter, milk and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
I used a baking spread for the cupcakes and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
If you can't find light brown soft sugar, you can use all caster sugar for the cupcakes instead, or golden caster sugar.
It's much easier to weight the golden syrup and black treacle directly into the pan, with the scales underneath the pan. You can also dip your spoon into vegetable oil and then scoop out the syrup or treacle - it will then slide right off the spoon!
The little gingerbread men decorations I used are from a brand called Culpitt. I got them on Amazon. You could also decorate with small gingerbread biscuits, or crushed gingernuts.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.