Gingerbread Cupcakes with Spiced Almond Cream Cheese Frosting

All the familiar ginger cookie flavors in cupcake form, topped with an almond cream cheese, spiced with nutmeg & cinnamon, adorned with a darling mini gingerbread man! 

I can't believe Christmas is only a few days away! This month has been pretty relaxing for the most part. I tend to pack in all my Christmas shopping/wrapping and everything else before the first week of December - that way the rest of the month can be more focused on service, our various Christmas traditions/outings, my kid's Christmas parties at school, and the bazillion December birthdays my family has (okay, so it's five, but that's a ton!). 

It also gave me more time to squeeze in a few brand new recipes for you. :) 

This one, is going to be an instant favorite, and I think a new family tradition! 

Each year, we decorate gingerbread houses and make ginger cookies. I knew this year that gingerbread just HAD to be in a cupcake, and asap! I started in the kitchen with just a few ideas jotted down in my black notebook, and went to work. 

First, I knew I wanted to start off with a spiced cake mix - it's lots of fun to build the flavors onto the flavors it already has. I added molasses, ginger, and a touch of cloves - all my favorite flavors in gingerbread and ginger cookies in one! Add all that into my usual brew (sour cream, buttermilk, eggs, oil, etc) and it seriously smelled like Christmas heaven in my kitchen from these beauties! 

Next, I wanted to pair something light in color, but gorgeous in flavor on top of the cupcakes I created. My almond cream cheese was a no-brainer, but how to take it up another level?

Cinnamon and nutmeg. Just enough to taste, but nothing too overpowering. It was seriously a match made in heaven, and went perfectly with the soft gingerbread cupcakes. You can omit the almond if you'd like, but I've tried it with/without, and it worked well either way. 

Finally, I topped them all off with these cute Wilton gingerbread men. I'm sure it would taste superior having a homemade gingerbread man on top, or a gingerbread cookie, but hey! You're already making cupcakes, let's keep it simple! The next time I made these, I added some gold shimmer sprinkles, and white nonparelis (echoing the eyes and buttons on the gingerbread man), and it turned out just darling. 

Hope you all enjoy your Christmas weekend! I love you all dearly, and can't wait for all the excitement 2018 is sure to bring! :) 

Gingerbread Cupcakes with 

Spiced Almond Cream Cheese Frosting

makes 24 cupcakes

ingredients:

cupcakes: 

3 whole eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

2/3 Cup sour cream

2/3 Cup buttermilk

1/4 Cup vegetable oil

1/2 Cup molasses

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1 box spiced cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

buttercream: 

2 sticks (1 lb) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1 block (8oz) cream cheese

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 Cup heavy cream

4-6 Cups sifted powdered sugar

gingerbread man for garnish

method:

1. Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prep cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Set aside. 

2. In a medium bowl, stir together all the ingredients except for the cake mix, until thoroughly combined. Sift in the cake mix and stir until just combined (don't overmix, but make sure all the dry mix has been incorporated). Fill cupcake liners about half full, then bake for about 15 minutes (check and add time if needed, don't overbake! Should spring back when touched in the middle, but still soft). Let cool in cupcake pan for a minute, then cool on a wire rack until room temperature. 

3. Buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together butter and cream cheese on high speed until thoroughly creamed together. Add in vanilla, almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and heavy cream. Mix together, then slowly add in the powdered sugar about a half cup at a time until frosting has reached your desired consistency. Add more powdered sugar to make it a harder consistency, and more heavy cream (a tablespoon at a time, if needed) to make it more of a thin consistency. 

Fill piping bag with desired piping tip (I used a Wilton 1M star tip for these ones, but loved doing a large round tip recently with these). Pipe on frosting, then tip with mini gingerbread man. 

Enjoy! 

Recipe source: Baking with Blondie Original