Merry Christmas

Christmas season just makes me want to bake stuff whenever I have time. I whipped up these gingerbread cupcakes for fun today. I must say I am impressed with the recipe I found. I was also impressed with the $1.50 stand I found at the thrift store this week ;-) But back to the cupcakes, they cooked up beautifully with a few modifications I read in the reviews.
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Makes approximately 1 dozen cupcakes
Recipe modified from the Food Network

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
• 1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten with a fork
• 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, molasses. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Add orange and lemon extract.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Whisk the molasses mixture into the flour mixture until evenly combined.

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda and baking powder. Whisk the hot water into the batter until just combined. Transfer the batter into the prepared cupcake liners. Bake at 325 for about 18-22 minutes. After they have cooled top them off with cream cheese frosting (I added a little lemon juice to my cream cheese frosting for a little kick). Garnish with crystallized ginger and enjoy!

So yummy and very moist. It's not a very strong gingery cupcake which I actually prefer. I think this would be good any time of year - not just the holidays.

Merry Christmas! May your holiday be restful... just like my dog Rocco!

~Cara Lee