This recipe will yield delicious, spiced cupcakes with a luscious caramelized white chocolate frosting. The spiced cupcakes are soft and spongy, topped with a caramelized white chocolate ganache. Every bite guarantees a satisfying spicy taste of the cupcake, coupled with the nutty delight of the whipped caramelized white chocolate ganache.
I finally found an excuse for incorporating chocolate into my spiced cakes, besides hot chocolate truffles. Caramelized white chocolate ganache, made like you would a regular ganache.
Note that, this frosting does not taste like chocolate, but more like a mix of nuts and roasted milk, as I would describe. However, it is equally luscious, delicious and melts in your mouth like chocolate.
I love making spiced cakes, cupcakes, loaf cakes, basically spiced desserts. Why? because they are so easy to work with. All you need is cinnamon, ginger, chai, pepper, nutmeg and cloves added into the cake batter. In addition, most of the time, these desserts do not necessarily require any frosting. However, if frosting is necessary, caramel and cream cheese frosting are good considerations. If neither of these piques your taste buds, click here for a list of recommended frosting ideas.
Spiced desserts bring a warm, comforting feeling that usually reminds us of holidays. From Cinnamon spiced cupcakes to pumpkin spiced cakes, we can all agree that spiced desserts are preferred and indulged by many.
What is a spiced cupcake/cake?
A spiced cupcake/ cake is a vanilla base cake with added spice. The number of different spices added depend mostly on the flavour you are going for. Examples of spices used in spiced cakes are;
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Pepper
- Chai
These spices are mostly used interchangeably in most spiced cakes, with variant amounts for specific flavours. For example, in Gingerbread spiced desserts, ginger is the targeted flavour hence more of this spice will be used, even though cinnamon and nutmeg will also be used.
Sometimes these spices are used to enhance subtle flavours. This is observed in Pumpkin spice cakes, Carrot cake cupcakes, Apple desserts, and zucchini cakes.
Most spiced cupcakes have a characteristic moist and dense texture brought about from molasses. Molasses is a syrupy dark brown thick paste, usually added to the cake batter. Sometimes, brown sugar is used instead, since molasses is present.
How to make spiced cupcakes with Caramelized white chocolate frosting.
1. Source a bar of baking Caramelized white chocolate.
Caramelized white chocolate, also known as Blonde chocolate, can be found in most chocolate or candy stores. However, if you have a bar of regular white chocolate, you can easily make your homemade caramelized white chocolate by roasting it slowly in an oven for about 40 minutes. It is cheaper, convenient and you get a lot of leftover caramelized chocolate to use in different desserts.
2. Make the Caramelized white chocolate Ganache.
Start by chopping the bar of chocolate into smaller pieces. Mix this with an equal amount of heavy cream, and heat this mixture in a microwave or using the double boiler method. Remove from heat and stir in cold heavy cream, mix this mixture until homogeneous.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until cold. Afterwards, using a hand mixer or stand mixer whip the ganache until light and fluffy.
3. Make the spiced Cupcakes.
To make the cupcakes, start by mixing and sifting the dry ingredients( flour, baking powder, salt and spices) and set them aside.
In a separate bowl, cream butter with brown sugar until fluffy, add vanilla extract, then add eggs one by one, mixing at every turn.
Finally, mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients alternating with milk, folding in carefully not to overmix.
4. Bake the cupcakes.
Bake medium-sized cupcakes in a preheated oven at 170C for 17-23 minutes. The cupcakes will be ready when a small knife or a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. However, do not open the oven before the 15-minute mark since this might alter the oven temperature thus, sinking the cupcakes.
5. Frost the cupcakes.
Cool baked cupcakes on a cooling rack before frosting.
Fill your pastry bag with the ganache and frost each cupcake.
Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 7 days.
Notes For Success.
- Completely cool the cupcakes before frosting, otherwise, frosting on hot/warm cupcakes will melt the ganache.
- Make caramelized white chocolate ganache a day before and leave it overnight in the fridge.
- If the ganache is too stiff after removing from fridge, let it come to room temperature before whipping.
- Use good quality caramelized white chocolate bar to make the ganache.
Other frosting Ideas to try.
- Vanilla swiss meringue buttercream
- Salted Caramel buttercream.
- Cinnammon spiced buttercream.
- Condensed milk frosting
- Dulce De Leche buttercream.
SPICED CUPCAKES WITH CARAMELIZED WHITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING.
Course: Dessert, cupcakesDifficulty: Medium12
servings23
minutesIngredients
270 gm cake flour
130 gm butter
80 gm brown sugar
70 gm granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
120 ml milk
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
- Whipped Caramelized white chocolate ganache
200 grams caramelized white chocolate
350 ml Heavy cream
Directions
- Whipped Caramelized white chocolate ganache
- Finely chop a bar of caramelized white chocolate and mix with 200 ml of heavy cream. Heat this mixture to melt the chocolate using the double boiler method or using a microwave.
- Remove from heat, then stir in the cold remaining 150ml heavy cream. Mix completely, let it cool then, cover with a cling film. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Afterwards, using a stand mixer, whip the ganache until light and fluffy.
- Spiced cupcakes.
- Preheat the oven to 170C, place cupcake paper cups in the cupcake tins, set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix and sift the dry ingredients, then set them aside.
- In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, cream butter, vanilla with the sugars until light and fluffy. Afterwards, add the eggs each at a time, mixing at every turn.
- Fold the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients mixture, alternating with the milk. Afterwards, fill every cupcake cup with the batter. Bake for 17-23 minutes until a skewer inserted in one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Afterwards, let the cupcakes cool on a cool. Frost the cupcakes and serve.
Related Recipes.
- How to make Homemade caramelized white chocolate.
- Mexican hot chocolate truffles.
- Cinnamon caramel cupcakes
- Caramelized white chocolate cookies.
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