These are my hubby's FAVORITE cupcakes! I'll admit, the combination of flavors is a little hard to imagine...but holy moly!! The gingerbread is super delicate, not heavy at all, and the orange juice in the batter just adds to that. The lemon butter cream is super light and bright, not too sweet, which pairs perfectly with the light spiciness of the cake. Scrumptious!! You can make this with either a regular yellow cake mix, gluten free yellow cake mix, or even a sugar-free yellow cake mix. I've tried all three, and they all work perfectly!
Gingerbread Cupcakes with Light Lemon Frosting
Ingredients
Cooking Directions
Preheat oven to 350༠. Line two cupcake sheets with cupcake liners. It should make 16-20 cupcakes. For the cupcakes: mix first 4 ingredients together. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low for the first 30 seconds, and then on medium until the batter is smooth. Fill the cupcake liners with 1/4 cup of the batter and bake for 15-18 minutes. Mine usually go the full 18 minutes.
As the cupcakes cool, make the frosting: Rinse the lemon really well with water and zest enough rind to make 1 teaspoon of zest, being sure to avoid any white pith. then squeeze enough juice to make 3-4 tablespoons of juice. Add juice and zest to the room temp butter and powdered sugar. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Frost cupcakes, and enjoy!
