One of the wonderful things about the Christmas season is Gingerbread. I absolutely love gingerbread – the warm spices and the smell are so comforting. I like to use a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger and mixed spice in my gingerbread recipes, but you can just use ground ginger and cinnamon if you prefer.
I’ve paired these gingerbread cupcakes with my deliciously creamy White chocolate buttercream. It goes so well with the gingerbread; it is truly a match made in heaven! For the perfect White chocolate buttercream, make sure to use a good quality White chocolate. I like to use Milkybar, but you can use Lindt or a luxury supermarket version.
The dark brown sugar gives these cupcakes a lovely flavour and colour, along with the black treacle. Black treacle comes in a tin and is essential for that classic gingerbread flavour. Some gingerbread recipes use golden syrup but in my opinion, it’s just not the same. Just be warned, black treacle is incredibly messy and sticky (I managed to get it on the outside of the tin and on the counter), but it is so worth it as it gives such a lovely flavour.
For the decoration, I used my favourite Wilton 2D closed star piping nozzle for the buttercream. I also used some mini shop-bought gingerbread men, along with some white chocolate and gold star sprinkles that I had in the cupboard.
I was so happy with how these cupcakes turned out, the gingerbread and white chocolate go so well together.
I hope you love them too!
Adrianna x
Gingerbread & White Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 110 g Butter
- 110 g Dark Brown sugar
- 125 g Treacle
- 120 ml Milk Lukewarm
- 2 Free-Range Eggs Medium
- 175 g Self-raising flour
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Ground ginger
- ½ tsp Nutmeg Optional
- 1/2 tsp Mixed spice Optional
For the Buttercream and decoration
- 270 g Good quality White chocolate I used Milkybar
- 180 g Butter
- 360 g Icing sugar
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract or Vanilla bean paste
- 12 Mini gingerbread men
- White chocolate star sprinkles Available from most supermarkets
- Gold star sprinkles Available from Sainsburys
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160 Fan. Line a 12 hole cupcake/muffin tin and set aside.
- In a bowl, add the flour and spices and whisk together until well combined. Set aside.
- Place the milk in a microwaveable bowl and heat in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until lukewarm. Set aside.
- Using a mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the flour mixture, eggs, vanilla, treacle and lukewarm milk to the butter and sugar. Mix together until just combined – around 30 seconds.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 cases using an ice-cream scoop. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take them out of the tin and leave to cool completely.
- For the buttercream, melt the White chocolate in 20-30 second bursts and set aside to cool. Using a mixer, cream the butter for 1 minute, then gradually add the icing sugar. Mix until pale and fluffy, around 3-5 minutes. Add the vanilla, melted white chocolate and milk. Mix again until just combined.
- Using a disposable piping bag, pipe a swirl of buttercream onto each cupcake using a Wilton 2D closed star tip. Alternatively, spoon the buttercream onto the top of the cupcakes. Decorate with mini gingerbread men and your choice of sprinkles.
Notes
Make sure the white chocolate has cooled before adding to the buttercream
These cupcakes will last for 3-4 days in an airtight container
