Cardamom Cupcakes With Maple, Bacon And Cream Cheese Frosting
These cupcakes have a lovely balance of spice and sweetness. But let’s face it, it’s the frosting that really counts when it comes to cupcakes. Our Maple, Bacon, and Cream Cheese version is a showstopper on virtually any cupcake flavor, including classic vanilla, carrot cake, or chocolate.
Ingredients
Makes 12 cupcakes
- 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
- Maple Bacon and Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Fill a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
- Sift onto a large sheet of wax or parchment paper to make pouring it into the mixing bowl more convenient.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium-high speed.
- Add the eggs one at a time, waiting until each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
- Add the vanilla.
- Reduce the mixer speed slightly and alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake pan, filling each cup with about ⅓ cup of the batter.
- Bake the cupcakes until a cake-tester comes out clean when inserted near the center, 18-22 minutes.
- For even cooking, rotate the cupcake pan halfway through the baking time.
- Cool the cupcakes for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a rack and cool completely.
- Frost with Maple, Bacon and Cream Cheese Frosting.