Ginger Molasses Cupcakes

It’s getting near that time of year, it seems every store switches over to Christmas right after Halloween. I went to Starbucks yesterday thinking I’d get a pumpkin spice latte, but was lured in by their holiday offerings–mainly the gingerbread latte. From there Dylan and I decided a ginger themed cupcake would be a great addition to our arsenal of cupcake flavors!

The cake on this one is a ginger-molasses cake. The modification on it was simple, take the water out of the recipe and replace it with beer. We decided to use Ninkasi’s Sleigh’r (LOVE the name), which is a dark double alt ale, a great beer for the colder months. The roasted malt flavor, along with hints of molasses and spice, it was a great match up for a ginger molasses cake.

For the frosting we used a ginger cream cheese and topped it off with finely minced candied ginger. I didn’t know that you could just find candied ginger in the store, thankfully Dylan found some, so I didn’t have to try to make that one from scratch.

While baking these Sunday afternoon, it made the whole house smell like sweet gingerbread. The cake was dense and moist, and the frosting, with that candied ginger on top, really gave it that extra kick. We brought a dozen of these over to Dylan’s sister’s family, and they were well received by all. I think these could get added to our official flavor list, they would make a great holiday dessert!

– Jackie & Dylan