Spiderweb Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup (about 1 1/4 ounces) crystallized ginger cut into 1/8- to 1/4-inch pieces
- 1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting, at room temperature
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 to 2 teaspoons whole milk
- Make the cupcakes.
- Position a rack in the middle of the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger into a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low-medium speed, beat the melted butter, sugar, and pumpkin until smoothly blended.
- Mix in the eggs and crystallized ginger.
- On low speed, mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated.
- The batter will be thick.
- Fill each paper liner with a generous 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/2 inch below the top of the liner.
- Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
- Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.
- Carefully place the wire rack on top of the cupcakes in their pan.
- Protecting your hands with pot holders and holding the pan and rack together, invert them to release the cupcakes onto the wire rack.
- Turn the cupcakes top side up to cool completely.
- Frost the cupcakes.
- Transfer 1/4 cup of the frosting to a small bowl, and stir in enough cinnamon to make the frosting a light brown color and enough milk to make a thick but pourable frosting.
- Set aside to use for the spiderweb decoration.
- Use a small spatula to spread a scant 1/4 cup of the remaining frosting on top of each cupcake in a smooth even layer.
- Cleaning the spatula often against the side of the bowl will help you spread the frosting smoothly.
- Spoon the reserved cinnamon frosting into a small self-sealing freezer bag.
- Press out the excess air and seal the bag.
- Cut a tiny hole in one corner of the bag, about 1/16 inch long.
- Hold the bag about 1/2 inch above a cupcake and slowly pipe 2 circles, one inside the other, on the frosting.
- Pipe a dot of the frosting in the center.
- Using a toothpick, and beginning at the center, draw the tip gently through the frosting toward the edge of the cupcake.
- Move the toothpick about 3/4 inch away and, beginning at the edge of the cupcake, draw it toward the center.
- Continue pulling shallow lines, alternating the direction of the toothpick, around the top of the cupcake, to form a web pattern.
- Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
- The cupcakes can be loosely covered and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.
flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, unsalted butter, sugar, pumpkin, eggs, ginger, cream cheese frosting, ground cinnamon, milk
Taken from www.cookstr.com/recipes/spiderweb-pumpkin-ginger-cupcakes (may not work)