With only one week to go until Christmas Day, I'm already dreaming of all the delicious food I'm going to be making (and eating) over the festive holidays. So much so that today, I whipped up a batch of these lovely cinnamon spiced cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to fill my home with a bit of Christmas Spirit.
This year, I've taken on the responsibility of cooking Christmas dinner for 20 at my boyfriend's family home. It will be the first time that I've actually cooked Christmas dinner (or cooked for that many people at once) and I'm rather looking forward to it.
The kitchen has become one of my favourite places over the last few years so I can't wait to spend the final days of 2016 cooking up a storm with a gin and tonic in hand. Armed with a fridge full of tasty, traditional Christmas foods, I can't wait to get my fabulously tacky Christmas apron on and put on a spiffingly-good spread!
What I'm most looking forward to is doing Christmas dinner my way (inspired by my wonderful mother, of course). Homemade soup, fresh bread, cold starters, a hearty main featuring every single seasonal vegetable at its best, followed by a selection of desserts; my tastebuds are tingling at the thought!
But before I spill all of my Christmas dinner secrets, I'll leave you with the recipe for my cinnamon spiced cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Delicious, moist, fragrant and sprinkled with traditional Christmas spices, these cupcakes are the perfect festive treat to bake and share with your loved ones and to really get you in the mood for Christmas.
Happy baking and Merry Christmas!
200g of plain wholemeal flour
200g of dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
160g of unsalted butter
160ml of soya milk
Orange zest
For the icing:
300g of icing sugar
50g of unsalted butter
125g of cream cheese
Walnuts to decorate
Method
1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3 / 170 degrees C.
2. Sift all of the dry ingredients (wholemeal flour, dark brown sugar, ground ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt) into a bowl and combine
3. Add the cubed butter and mix until the mixture resembles sand.
4. Add the eggs, one by one and mix in the maple syrup.
5. Add the soya milk, vanilla extract and zest and beat together until the batter is smooth.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Cool completely before frosting.
8. To make the cream cheese frosting, beat the icing sugar and butter together using an electric whisk until completely mixed.
9. Add the cream cheese and continue to beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
10. Pipe the icing onto each cupcake and garnish with chopped walnuts.
12. Share with family and friends and enjoy the taste of Christmas!
