Gingerbread Spelt Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

These gingerbread spelt cupcakes are slathered with a rich, tempting vanilla cream cheese frosting. They make a wonderful alternative to gingerbread cookies so popular this time of year, with all the usual spicy Christmas flavours we’ve come to love. 

I’ve mentioned before that like many countries, Sweden loves all things gingerbread in the run up to the festive season. I have made my own pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies) in the past but to be honest, the ones available in the shops are so good (and cheap) that I find my time better spent elsewhere. 

I adapted these gingerbread spelt cupcakes from Sally’s Baking Addiction, and I topped them with my own vanilla cream cheese frosting. I made them for some of my students as an end of term treat and they loved them. Like really loved them.

I watched them eating them as they in turn watched a Christmas movie and it was so much fun to see their little personalities in action. Some dived right in and scoffed the cupcake down in three bites. Others nibbled gingerly, taking their sweet time. Some licked off all the yummy frosting before eating the cake. I even saw several chewing on the cupcake case when they’d finished, scraping up every last crumb of deliciousness. So, I think we can safely say “result!”

I like my gingerbread spicy. However, because it was for small kids, I wanted to make sure these gingerbread spelt cupcakes had a flavour didn’t overpower. You could definitely add more ginger and cinnamon, if you like a strong hit of flavour.

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Gingerbread Spelt Cupcakes

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 115g butter (softened)
• 100g dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 120ml milk
• 150g dark syrup (or molasses or treacle)
• 150g spelt flour (see note 1)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger (add a further ¼ teaspoon if you like)
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon allspice

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 200g cream cheese
• 50g butter
• 250-350g icing sugar
• 1½ teaspoon vanilla sugar (or essence)

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 180°C. Line a 12 hole cupcake pan with liners.
• Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy, then add in the egg.
• Beat in the milk and syrup/molasses/treacle until combined. Please note that the ingredients will look mottled rather than smooth.
• In a separate bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients and fold into the wet ingredients.
• Drop into the cupcake cases (to around ½- ¾ full) and bake for 18-20 minutes. An inserted skewer will come out clean when they are ready. Leave to cool completely.
• For the frosting: beat the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla sugar and as much icing sugar as needed to make a thick frosting. Decorate with something festive. Enjoy!

Notes

1. You can use regular flour for this recipe, too. 
2. I use grams in my recipes as weighing ingredients is the most accurate method. However, if cups are your thing, you can convert my measurements at Cook it Simply.