On the tenth day of Christmas The Pink Whisk sent to me…… Gingerbread Cupcakes

Gingerbread Men Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes
Ingredients:
Cakes

115g butter, softened

55g dark brown sugar

50g caster sugar

1 large egg

150ml treacle

310g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4tsp ground ginger

230ml greek yoghurt
Gingerbread men (optional) to decorate
Frosting

500g icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp meringue powder/meri-white/egg white powder
or
1 x box of Silver Spoon Royal Icing Sugar
90ml lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 160c fan/180c/Gas Mark 4.
Cream together the butter and the sugars.

Add in the egg and give it another good mix up.

Measure out all the dry ingredients together.

Next is this recipe’s secret ingredient…okay not so secret Total Greek Yoghurt.

Measure the treacle, yoghurt and add to the mixture along with all the dry ingredients.

Thoroughly combine until you have a fairly thick cake mixture.

Add to cupcake cases filling them each 2/3rds full. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For the decoration I have made some teeny tiny miniature gingerbread using a super cute teeny tiny gingerbread man cutter. (Link to the set at the end of the post).
The little men are purely optional but do look lovely!
Ingredients:

75 g soft brown sugar

2 tbsp syrup

1 tbsp treacle

1 tsp ground ginger

110g butter

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

225g plain flour
Sorry I have photo fail here as I forgot to pick up the camera but I’m sure you can manage it.
Place the sugar, butter, syrup, treacle and ginger in a pan and heat over a medium heat until fully melted and combined.Take off the heat and stir in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix with a wooden spoon into a dough.Place the dough in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for one hour.Once chilled, roll out the dough, cut into gingerbread men and place on a greased baking tray.Bake in the oven at 180c/170c Fan/ Gas Mark 4, for 10–12 mins for full size gingerbread men and only 3-4 minutes for the tiny ones for decorating these cakes. Allow to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Mix up the royal icing – 500g icing sugar, one tablespoon of egg white powder/meringue powder/meri-white and approx 90ml lemon juice. The lemon juice stops the royal icing from setting rock hard and works really well with the gingerbread cakes. I use meringue powder all the time for royal icing but you can just use a box of royal icing sugar powder from the supermarket if you prefer.
Pipe or dot buttons and eyes onto the miniature men with the icing.

The frosting should be thick and spreadable. Using an angled small palette knife is the best tool for the job, but if you don’t have one a table knife will work just fine.

Place a good dollop onto the top of a cake and holding the cake in one hand and the knife in the other start spreading the frosting to the edges working around the cake in a circular motion.

Top with a little gingerbread man – keep your eye on it so that it stays upright and fixes in place.