Gingerbread Cupcakes

I hope everyone is familiar with gingerbread, at least the biscuit version.  Well, it comes in cakey form too!  I must say, that in cake form it is very good.  I found it had a more intense gingery, sweet flavour than biscuits and it provides the joyous opportunity to apply icing in a range of flavours.  Mmmm.  I made the gingerbread into mini cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream.

This recipe comes by way of my friend Em, who made gingerbread slice in one of her food classes.

Recipe Adapted From: school recipe

Ingredients
150g butter
125g brown sugar
150g treacle
200g golden syrup
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarb soda
2 eggs
250mL milk
300g flour


Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.


2. Put patty pans in a cupcake tin, it can be big or small.  I used my mini tin.  Alternatively, you can make the gingerbread in slice form (line a 22cm x 32cm slice tin with baking paper).


3. Heat butter, sugar, treacle, golden syrup, ginger and cinnamon in the microwave until butter is melted.  Whisk the ingredients together.


4. Stir in bicarb soda.


5. Add eggs and milk, whisk well.


6. Add flour and whisk until there are no lumps.


7. Spoon mixture into the patty pans or pour into the slice tin.

8. Baking: for large cupcakes, bake for 20 - 30 minutes; for mini cupcakes, bake for about 15 minutes; for slice, bake for 35 minutes.  To check, stick a skewer into a cupcake/in the middle of the slice; it should come out clean, and the top of the gingerbread should be springy.

9. Cool.


10. Ice with buttercream or lemon icing.

Lemon Icing
Mix together 200g icing sugar, 1 tbsp water, 2 tsp lemon juice and 1 tsp vanilla essence.

Cinnamon Buttercream

I don't have proper ratios for this (because I'm lazy), but here goes.

Whip softened butter until fluffy, add icing sugar until it's sweet enough for you.  Whip some more.  Add a whole pile of cinnamon until it tastes cinnamonny.  If the buttercream is not soft enough to pipe/spread, add a tablespoon of milk at a time until it's softer.