Double truffle gingerbread cupcakes with honey ginger and frosting chocolate sauce

 
This post today is being brought to you in conjunction with Little Bertha cupcakes. cupcake company.

Handmade Christmas cake decorations 

Written by Sarah Grey
Sarah is a food writer with a passion for cake decorating, especially intricate handmade features

I’m not the biggest fan of fondant decoration, mostly because the icing doesn’t taste that nice and I prefer the look of a more rustic or creamier textured cake. Fondant is great for smooth finishes and big cakes for special occasions, but there is something undeniably satisfying and heart warming about a lovingly handmade cake decorated with creamy icing. Bakery Little Bertha is a fine example of delicate and minimal cake decoration.

Apart from birthdays, Christmas is one of my most favourite times of year for cake decorating. Each year it’s a new quest to top last years design and make it more and more inventive. I also seem to be making each cake a little taller each year because small, tall cakes just look nicer!

Some of my favourite designs this year are a lot simpler than usual so I think I am going to stick to a more minimalist design, and my favourite way of doing that is with soft meringue icing.

By whipping your egg whites with white sugar to a soft creamy consistency you can make a beautiful snowlike icing that just whispers Christmas through soft peaks. Delicately spread the icing over the cake with a spatula, creating little peaks here and there. This alone makes a beautiful cake topping, especially if you have a decadent chocolate cake inside. However if you wanted to add onto it, you can always prepare some buttercream icing and dark green dye to pipe on a Christmas tree and then sprinkle over some icing sugar to create a snowy effect. So simple, yet very effective and delicate, looks amazing once you cut into it too.

If you wanted to get a little more creative and start making figures, you can use fondant to shape figures to top your cake. Take note of the snowman and Santa below, simple coloured balls of fondant stacked and then detail added to create more specific features. You could also make little penguins or reindeer if you’re feeling a little adventurous! 



To accompany this very informative and decorative post, I bring you a dessert cupcake for this festive season


 
This cupcake is more of a dessert than anything, but how can you say no this festive season to a boozy truffle gingerbread cupcake with a chocolate sauce?





 

The booze use here is in the truffle middle and in the ginger bread. Guiness brings a richness to this heavily spiced cupcake cake. Normally heavy and tasteless cakes are given out during the festive season, not this one. It is richer in taste and soft in texture.

 

Modelled after the quake cake, a chocolate cake covered in broken up cake bits; I decide to make my own pompom cupcakes dotted with two tones of gingerbread.

 Doesn't the texture of them remind you a fluff ball? 

Also it means that you can save on decorating equipment this festive season and as a bonus get a cupcake icing that people ACTUALLY want to eat!

 One traditional cake, one modern adaption but together they work in harmony to bring back memories of a time when Christmas was not filled with panic and distress. This cupcake not only has the looks but has wonderful aromatic scent and flavor which sets it apart from other cakes. Life is too short to eat bad cake in my books!



 

The middle is filed with a rich Guinness dark chocolate and hazelnut truffle which complements the Guiness ginger bread.  The truffle filling acts as a moistener for the pallet which means these cupcakes have the perfect contrast between soft and fluffy; and rich and soothing. 

Yes these cupcakes do require some love, but this is season for indulgence and over the top-ness isn't it? 






Double truffle gingerbread cupcakes with chocolate sauce
Barely adapted from David Lebovtis, Ready for desserts via Finecooking.com


For the dark cupcakes:

60ml stout beer, such as Guinness

60ml mild-flavoured molasses

60ml vegetable oil

1g baking soda

80g packed light brown sugar

105g all-purpose flour

3g baking powder

1 tsp.ground ginger

1/5 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. table salt

1 large eggs, at room temperature



For light cupcakes

60ml apple cider

60ml mild-flavoured molasses

60mlvegetable oil

1g baking soda

80g packed light brown sugar

105g all-purpose flour

3g baking powder

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/5 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. table salt

1 large eggs, at room temperature



Make the Dark cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a standard 6-cup muffin tin with your paper cases.

Over medium heat bring the stout, molasses, and oil to a boil in medium pot. Remove from the heat and whisking in the baking soda (The mixture will foam up, then settle down.) Whisk in the brown sugar, then let cool until tepid.

Into a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

Crack you egg in to the wet mixture in the pot. After fold in your flour mix tot his wet mix

Divide the batter into your muffin pan and bake until the cupcakes feel just set in the center, 22 to 24 minutes. Let cool completely.



Make the Light cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a standard 6-cup muffin tin with you paper cases.

To make the dark cupcakes,

Over medium heat bring the apple cider, molasses, and oil to a boil in medium pot. Remove from the heat and whisking in the baking soda (The mixture will foam up, then settle down.) Whisk in the brown sugar, then let cool until tepid.

Into a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

Crack you egg in to the wet mixture in the pot. After fold in your flour mix tot his wet mix

Divide the batter into your muffin pan and bake until the cupcakes feel just set in the center, 22 to 24 minutes. Let cool completely.



Make the Honey ginger frosting:

200g unsalted soft butter

160g pure icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

60ml honey

1tsp ground ginger

2tsp grated fresh ginger



In a stand mixer with the paddle mixer, cream the butter and icing sugar together until till light and fluffy. It should take about 5 minutes

Add your honey, vanilla extract and ginger and beat again till fluffy once more. This should take about two minutes.

Finally add in the grate fresh ginger and cream once more for 2 minutes.

Use on cupcakes





Stout hazelnut truffle

300g dark 70% chocolate, finely grated

50g finely chopped hazel nuts

200ml Stout beer

20ml cream

20g salted butter

In a large pot, reduce the stout by 2/3. You need a thick syrup. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Whisk in cream to the stout mix. In the same sauce pan, bring the mixture to the boil. Add your chocolate and gentle stir it until it fully melted. 

 After add your salted butter cubes and hazelnuts
 Stir until combined.

Fridge to cool for at least 2hours.

Once cool, roll 1-2 teaspoon spoons of truffle mix into logs about 3cm by 1.5cm. this will be placed in the middle of the cupcakes.

Place these logs on a piece of baking paper on a baking tray and transfer to the fridge till needed.



Assembly

Using an apple corer core out the middle of all your cupcakes. Save this middle filling as it is the decoration for the top of the cupcakes.

With a sharp knife halve and quarter the left over cake bits. You can do this any shape you want.

Place your truffle log in the cored cupcakes. Cover with honey ginger frosting.

Place random spots of left over cake bits on top of the frosting (from coring the cupcakes). You may need to gently push down and shape it to get it round.

Transfer to fridge to cool for 2 hours before serving.



Serve with chocolate sauce from directly from Taste.com