Happy first day of December coffee lovers! Only 24 days to go until its Christmas, most of us are busily decorating our homes with Christmas ornaments, and some are already starting to wrap some gifts to put under the Christmas tree, and some of us are busy catching up to finish the year-end deadlines, and some are having their weekends spent with their family and friend. The month of December is really “the busiest time of the year.”

To start the joyful month, we have something sweet, and gingery for our coffee weekend treat.

When it comes to festive foods, gingerbread is a traditionally baked goodie served during the holidays. Gingerbread is a pastry that symbolizes the Yuletide. This confection has many styles of edible houses to candy-studded gingerbread men to spiced loaves of cake-like bread. In Medieval England, the term gingerbread simply meant ‘preserved ginger’ and wasn’t applied to the desserts until the 15th century. Nowadays when we say gingerbread, the term is now broadly used to describe any type of sweet treat that combines ginger with honey, treacle or molasses.

For our coffee weekend treat, we are going to make gingerbread but not the traditional one, instead, we will bake a gingerbread cupcake with cinnamon cream cheese on top.

Let’s Start Baking!

Gingerbread Cupcake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Recipe

Recipe by: King Arthur Flour

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3/4 cups of any Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or use King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup water

FROSTING

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8-ounce package cream cheese softened
• 4 cups (1-pound box) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, enough to make a spreadable frosting

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 24 small paper brioche cups, and place them on the baking sheet.
2. To make the cupcakes: Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, and egg.
4. Add 1/4 cup of the water to the melted butter mixture, then half the dry mixture, and stir. Add the remaining water and dry mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared brioche cups.
6. Bake the cupcakes for 20 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool for 30 minutes.
7. To make the frosting: Beat together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
8. Add the sugar and cinnamon, beating well.
9. Add the milk a little at a time, until the frosting is spreadable.
10. Fill a piping bag with the frosting, and pipe large swirls on top of the cooled cupcakes. Or simply frost by hand.

What type of coffee goes best with the cupcake?

Since the gingerbread and the cinnamon gives a strong flavor, it’s best to go easy with your coffee. Caffè Americano is an ideal coffee pairing to the gingerbread cupcake, a long black coffee with a robust flavor is also good, and black coffee with no sugar is also a perfect pair with the pastry.

All the recipe credits and featured photo shall go to King Arthur Flour.