I just finished watching the semi-final of this year’s Great British Bake Off. In case you’re wondering, I’m team Sophie. I absolutely love watching this show, especially since they have the refrigerator of my dreams on set. Every week I’m astonished by how the producers can manage to make baking seem so extremely tense and suspenseful. It just makes me realize there’s no way I ever would or could put myself through that.
I love to bake, but I also love to keep it simple and need to keep it cheap. Most importantly, I need to keep it delicious. I think that’s one thing about Bake Off that makes it superior to other cooking competition shows like Cake Wars and such. They really focus on flavor, so even if your bake doesn’t look completely perfect, you still get credit for how it tastes, and sometimes, great flavors even win out over beautiful spectacle.
All I’ve got for you are some humble Spice Cupcakes with Maple Frosting, and while they might not win any beauty contests, I assure you, the flavor is on point. Tons of spice comes through, heavy on the ginger and almost hot. And the cake itself is so tender. Then the maple frosting on top is sweet and deep and dreamy.
You could pipe your frosting to make them extra fancy, but I went with a scoop and swirl action, then added a hint of gold sprinkles for a bit of whimsy. It’s not a show stopper, but it’s absolutely awesome.
Spice Cupcakes with Maple Frosting are going to make all your Fall flavor dreams come true.
- 2 cups cake flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces (1 stick) butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 4 ounces (1 stick) butter, room temperature
- 250 grams (2-1/2 cups) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
- Preheat oven to 350 and add 15 papers to your cupcake pan. You may yield a couple more or less. Be flexible.
- Add all dry ingredients, everything from flour to salt, into your mixing bowl and mix on low speed to incorporate all ingredients.
- Add butter and buttermilk and mix on medium until thick and incorporated.
- Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated.
- Scoop batter into cupcake pans, filling half full. This batter will rise quite a bit so don't overfill.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Beat butter and powdered sugar together until smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients and beat until light and fluffy.
- Dollop onto the nearest cupcake and dance with joy.
