Better than a Gingerbread Boy

“Had I but a penny in the world, thou shouldst have it for gingerbread.”

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Nothing evokes fond memories of my childhood than bedtime stories of the Gingerbread Boy and Hansel and Gretel.

"Run! run! as fast as you can!
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

And so throughout the ages, gingerbread was celebrated for its magical flavours. Steamy dark and warmly rich or delicately crisp, gingerbread is a glorious amalgamation of molasses, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and of course ginger.

I like sticky gingerbread bars, oozing with deep, penetrating layers of molasses and brown sugar. Gingerbread boys (and gals!) I have religiously baked year after year and decorated with royal icing and red hot cinnamon candies. Today, I herald the coming of the holiday season with a batch of Gingerbread Cupcakes! How unbelievably good is the aroma of warm gingerbread cupcakes on a warm, sunshine filled afternoon.

This gingerbread cupcake recipe is from cupcake-creations.com. I tweaked the original recipe a little bit to suit my liking:

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Thai galangal powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
90 g butter, softened
1/4 cup milk (optional)
2 tablespoons dark molasses
1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 330 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 12 muffin pan with cupcake papers. Sift the cake flour together with the baking soda, galangal powder, cinnamon into a large bowl . Add the remaining ingredients. Meanwhile, cream the butter with egg and sugar. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Combine well.

Divide mixture into cupcake cases. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 1 dozen cupcakes

More gingerbread fun in here.