Christmas Baking - Gingerbread cupcakes

Christmas baking is my favourite type of baking, I usually make a Christmas cake but this year I left it too late (completely forgot) so I decided to make something different. As well as that we have 'Cake Month' at work so I was testing out some ideas for my day next week!

I decided to make Gingerbread cupcakes, with lemon flavoured buttercream. I haven't ever made them before, I usually make lemon, chocolate or vanilla cupcakes so it was fun to try something new.

The recipe is from Homemade Baking, which hosts 175 'old fashioned cake, cookie, muffin and cupcake recipes'. I have slightly edited the mixture, by adding in a bit more spice and taking out the fresh ginger and nutmeg as well as ground cloves. 

Ingredients: 

225g Plain Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon of Salt

2 teaspoons Ground Ginger

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Ground Allspice

125g Cooking Margarine or unsalted butter

150g Soft Light Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

125ml milk

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. 

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a bowl. 

2. Cream the margin and sugar together in a bowl, until pale and fluffy. 

3. Add in the eggs, beating well, as well as the Vanilla Extract, 3/4 of the flour mixture and the milk. 

4. Fold in the remaining flour mixture.

5. Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases. 

6. Bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees fan) for about 20 minutes. 

I then made a lemon buttercream, to go on top and some mini gingerbread hearts! Yum yum yum! 

The lemon buttercream was made as a usual buttercream and then adding fresh lemon juice and zest of 1 lemon. The gingerbread was a standard gingerbread recipe. 

Have you been doing any christmas themed bakes over the festive period? 

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