Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting

From The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Katie Luber and Sara Engram

Next time your kids mention gingerbread, surprise them with these cupcakes. Better yet, let them help you make them. Molasses and brown sugar form a rich flavor stage for some of our favorite spices to dance on. Feel free to adjust the spice in the frosting to your own preference. Orange zest would be a nice substitute for the lemon. Allspice or cinnamon would work well in place of the cardamom, too.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup molasses
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon dried lemon zest
¼ teaspoon salt

Cardamom Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground green cardamom

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease 12 standard-size muffin cups or line them with paper cups. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses, egg, and vanilla. In a small bowl, stir together the boiling water and the baking soda until dissolved. Stir the baking soda water into the molasses mixture.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, lemon zest, and salt into a small bowl. Whisk the flour mixture into the molasses mixture until the batter is combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of one or two of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. Cream together the cream cheese and the sugar in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and cardamom and beat until fluffy and smooth. Chill the frosting in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the pan. Place the cupcakes on a rack to cool for 30 minutes. Spread the cream cheese frosting generously over the cooled cupcakes.

Makes 12 cupcakes