Dessert: Mini Spiced Ginger Cupcakes with Pumpkin Icing

I tried the ginger cupcake recipe from a magazine called Clean Eating. Too dry by themselves, and too bitter with the suggested yogurt based icing, I found a sweet complementary icing with pumpkin flavor. These go together very well.

Rows and rows of ginger mini cupcakes.

I probably didn't need 3 of these, but I liked these photos.

A pumpkin iced mini ginger cupcake.

Ingredients:
Ginger Cupcakes

3/4 cup maple sugar flakes
1/2 cup olive oil buttery spread
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extraction1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup skim milk
2 cups gluten-free flour blend, sifted

1 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Pumpkin Icing

1/2 cup butter substitute
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
milk


Directions:
Ginger Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 48 mini muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add 3/4 cup maple sugar flakes, buttery spread, eggs, vanilla and vinegar, and beat with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, fluffy and opaque and maple sugar flakes are dissolved. (Alternatively, mix ingredients in a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium-high speed, then scrape into a large mixing bowl.)
3. In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup yogurt and milk. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Beginning with flour mixture, alternately fold flour mixture and yogurt mixture into egg mixture and yogurt mixture into egg mixture, making 3 additions of flour and 2 additions of yogurt. Fold only until flour is smooth and mixture is just combined; do not over-mix.
4. Spoon about 1 tablespoon batter into each cupcake liner. Bake in center of oven for 12 to 14 minutes, or until cupcake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool in muffin tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tin and let col completely on rack for at least 1 hour.
5. Meanwhile prepare a frosting. The frosting that was suggested with the original recipe was not very good and needed more tweaking than I was willing to do. If I find a good one, I'll be sure to let you know.
6. Cupcakes are best when iced just before serving. Keep icing refrigerated and store cupcakes in a sealed container in a cool, dark place until serving. Cupcakes will keep for up to 2 days. You may also ice cupcakes 1 hour before serving store in fridge.

Pumpkin Icing

1. Put all ingredients (except the milk) into a stand mixer and mix with your whisk attachment.You may need to add milk to adjust consistency.

Other details:

• Makes 48 cupcakes
• Hands-on time: 25 minutes
• Total time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (includes cooling time)
• Nutrition per 2 cupcake without icing given is about 104 calories.
• The icing makes quite a bit (about 3 cups). The nutrition below is for 1 tablespoon of icing. Generally, 1 Tablespoon will ice 1-2 mini cupcakes generously.
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