Gingerbread cupcakes with clementine buttercream recipe

Gingerbread cupcakes with clementine buttercream are the perfect Christmas cake treats! They're so cute, decorated with mini gingerbread men, and they only need 5 minutes prep time which makes them perfect for anyone with a busy schedule who can't spend hours in the kitchen baking. You can make these gingerbread cupcakes with the kids who can help decorate them, but be warned, things might get messy. You might want to do the icing yourself and get them to help stick mini stars or sprinkles on top.

Ingredients

For the cakes:

• 150g butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g self-raising flour
• 3 medium eggs
• 2tbsp milk
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• 1tsp ground ginger
• ¼tsp ground cloves
• ½tsp ground cinnamon
• Zest of 2 clementines

For the buttercream:

• 160g unsalted butter, softened
• 500g icing sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• ½tsp clementine zest (about 1 clementine)
• Juice of about 2-4 clementines
• Edible glitter or sprinkles and icing stars, to decorate

Method

1. Set the oven to 190°C/Gas 5.
2. Place all the cupcake ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth.
3. Divide the mixture between 12 cases, and bake in the centre of the oven for 18-20 mins, or until the cakes have risen and are just firm to the touch in the centre.
4. Remove the cakes from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool before decorating.
5. To make the buttercream, just mix the icing sugar, butter, vanilla extract, clementine zest and the juice of one clementine together. Then add more clementine juice as needed in order to achieve the correct consistency for piping.
6. When the cakes are cool, use a bag with a star nozzle to pipe the buttercream onto the top of the cakes. Decorate with sprinkles and stars and serve.

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