Day 7 Christmas Countdown - Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes

So, who doesn't love the festive Gingerbread Lattes from our beloved coffee shops? Well this got me thinking and I found myself trawling through Pinterest one day in search of a gingerbread latte cupcake recipe and to my delight I found one. And let me tell you these are absolutely delicious plus what's better at Christmas time than a gingerbread latte cupcake!

This recipe makes around 12 cupcakes and you'll need your oven on approximately 160c - 180c. The ingredients that you will need are as follows:

Cupcake mix:

-120g golden syrup

-120g black treacle

-200ml double cream

-250g plain flour

-2 tsp baking powder

-1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

-1 tsp ground espresso beans or instant coffee

-2 tsp ground ginger

-1/2 tsp ground all spice

-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

-135g butter (cubed and soft)

-125g dark brown sugar

-2 eggs

Coffee, cinnamon butter cream mix:

-120g butter (cubed and soft)

-1tsp vanilla extract

-500g icing sugar

-3 tbsp milk

-2 tbsp ground espresso beans or instant coffee

-1 tsp ground cinnamon

-Mini gingerbread man biscuits for decoration

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 180c or 160c for a fan over. Put the golden syrup, treacle and double cream into a saucepan and heat gently until just melted. Do not boil. 

2.Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, ground espresso beans, ginger, all spice, nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a bowl. Mix the butter and sugar in a separate bowl and beat until pale and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time and beat until fully combined before adding the next one. Now gently fold a third of the dry ingredients into the mix. Once combined add the syrup mixture and the remaining dry ingredients and beat until well mixed. 

3.Pour the mix into the muffin cases and bake for around 25-30 minutes or until well risen and a toothpick comes out clean. Once cooked, leave to cool completely before decorating.

4.Whilst the muffins are cooking, make the buttercream. Put the butter in a bowl and beat until soft and smooth, stir in the vanilla extract and sift half the icing sugar into the bowl, beating until combined. Now add the second half of the icing sugar and cocoa powder and beat slowly. Now pour in the milk and when it is mixed, beat fast and for around 3-5 minutes (this is easier to do with a handheld whisk). Mix the espresso beans with the cinnamon and 1.2 tsp of hot water, once fully dissolved and mixed add to the buttercream mixture and beat in. 

5.Now all that's left to do is decorate the cupcakes with the buttercream and gingerbread biscuits.

Enjoy! xx