Gingerbread Cupcakes

I love gingerbread, ginger snaps, and pretty much anything else connected with this holiday-ish spice flavor (except for the Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks - YUCK!). I was poking through the free recipe e-book our CSA, Full Circle Farms, sent us for the holidays and saw this recipe for a Gingerbread Bundt Cake. It sounded delightful. Andy was on his way home to watch White Christmas with me, so I made this cake (in the form of cupcakes), brewed some tea, got out the blankets, and had a nice date night in.

**One thing to note: I think these are better warm, so if you have one the next day, pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds. It gives it that right out of the oven warmth. Yum.**


Gingerbread Cupcakes
Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tsp cardamom (this is my addition)**
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Generously grease a round Bundt pan, making sure all creases get covered. Or grease two muffin tins - this batch made 18 cupcakes for me.

3. In a large mixing bowl combine the flours, spices, cocoa powder, zest, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl combine the egg, oil, molasses and brown sugar, then slowly add the boiling water while continuing to mix. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and stir to incorporate.

4. Scrape batter into the greased pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean. If making cupcakes, cook for 13-15 minutes. Let cake cool completely before tipping it out of the pan.

5. Serve with a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a drizzle of homemade caramel.