3 Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I Originally made this recipe as a cake a few days ago, but unfortunately,  the cake didn’t last long enough for photos after coming out of the oven,  Mother and I ate about  a third of it, and half of what was remaining went to my sister the next day.
This cake recipe calls for 3 types of ginger, rather, ginger in three different states; powdered, crystallized and fresh. The cake is only mildly spicy, considering the copious amounts of ginger is put into it, and the baked product is dense, moist and buttery, I would not recommend making this cake with margarine.
Like a Christmas fruit cake, these cupcakes ( or the cake itself if your making it in a cake pan) will become more moist and dense a few hours later.

Ingredients  Makes 14 large cupcakes

250g butter at room temperature
250g confectioners’ sugar
zest of one lemon
100g molasses
3 eggs, separated
250g all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
3 tsp fresh, grated ginger
1/2 tbsp crystallized ginger, minced + more for presentation

Pre-heat the oven to 350*f.

Cream the butter and sugar for 1 minute on medium speed, using the paddle attachment of a stand up mixer. Add the lemon zest, molasses, and the 3 egg yolks, mix until combined scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, dry ginger, and grated ginger, Mix for another 30 seconds until combined. ( the beauty of this cake is that you cannot over mix it)

In another small bowl, whip the egg whites until they form a soft peak, mix the whipped egg whites into the cake batter followed by the crystallized ginger.

Divide the batter between 14 cupcake pans with grease sprayed cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcakes comes out dry. (if you are baking this in a cake pan, bake for 45 minutes in a buttered and floured ring cake pan) Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

130g cream cheese at room temperature
2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar, ( I just eyeballed it, add as much as is necessary to achieve the sweetness, and or texture that you like, using a small quantity of milk to thin it down if it is too thick)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Cream the cheese and butter in a large bowl using the paddle attachment of a stand up mixer. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, whip until smooth.

 

Ginger Snaps and Cream Pudding

This is probably the easiest dessert that you will ever make in your life. This is a variation of a dessert that my sisters Godmother makes. The first time I had said dessert was at a family party and I liked it so much that a few days later I had a dream that I was eating a treasure chest full of it. Long story short, the lady was kind enough to give me her recipe which is made with bolacha Maria ( Maria Cookies). Here Ive made it with Ginger Snaps just to add a touch of Christmas feel to it and the result was dream worthy <3

Ingredients for 4 – 6 servings
250ml whipping cream
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
15 ginger snaps, crushed

Whip the cream using the whip attachment of an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the sweetened condensed milk and continue to whip on high speed until firm peaks form.

Layer the whipped cream mixture alternating with the ground ginger snaps ensuring that the last layer is the ground ginger snaps.  At this point the dessert can be eaten if it is a last minute dessert, otherwise place in the fridge so that the cream mixture firms up.

Note: You can also make this dessert in individual glasses or bowls.