Super soft, moist gingerbread cupcakes with a perfect crumb and an amazingly festive flavor profile! Filled with an eggnog pastry cream filling and a fluffy cream cheese frosting!
These gingerbread cupcakes are one of my favorite Christmas treats ! A delicious holiday-worthy eggnog variation of my classic pastry cream recipe and a pipeable version of my cream cheese frosting recipe .
Usually, around this time of year I’m frantically baking a gingerbread house . But this year, my husband is swamped with work so he can’t help me with decorating the house and going it alone is boring.
So I ditched the gingerbread house and made these Gingerbread Cupcakes with an Eggnog Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting instead! He’s more than willing to help eat these, of course.
Why I love these gingerbread cupcakes
Soft, moist cupcakes spiced with ginger and gingerbread spices, filled with a sweet and creamy eggnog pastry cream, and then topped with a fluffy cream cheese frosting. As far as gingerbread cupcakes go, these are truly the best I’ve ever had!
I tested this particular recipe SIX times to perfect it and make sure it was foolproof! Really. I love ginger cookies , gingerbread truffles , gingerbread cake etc. this time of year, but I really wanted to perfect these gingerbread cupcakes too.
I had a particular texture that I wanted for these gingerbread cupcakes and it took some trying to get there. But the result is super soft cupcakes with a perfect crumb and a great balance of flavor! From the sweetness of brown sugar and molasses, to the spice and warmth of ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves, everything was just perfect about these cupcakes.
If you’re planning on making cupcakes for the holidays, you cannot go wrong with these moist, flavorful gingerbread cupcakes! You can also check out my chocolate cupcakes , santa claus cupcakes , classic pound cake , eggnog pound cake , and this cheesecake stuffed gingerbread cake for more delightful cake and cupcake inspiration for the holidays!
Eggnog custard for the pastry cream
Eggnog pastry cream
I was first thinking of an eggnog buttercream frosting, but then decided to keep the flavor of cream cheese frosting and add another level of texture and flavor with an eggnog pastry cream filling. It’s so good, you’ll be eating it straight with a spoon! 🙂
I made these gingerbread cupcakes to use in these adorable Santa Claus cupcakes as well! Those cupcakes used a more stiff cream cheese frosting in order to be able to pipe that Santa Claus shaped topping. There’s a step-by-step video tutorial and printable there to help you nail that easy Santa Claus shaped frosting. 🙂
Cream cheese frosting for these gingerbread cupcakes
The frosting used for these gingerbread cupcakes however is more soft and fluffy. You also have the option of mixing the frosting with a little molasses before you pipe it so that your frosting has a beautiful gold ombre look.
Or you can simply decorate them with some gold dust and mini gingerbread cookies on top. Either way, you’ll love these cupcakes just for their robust, spicy, warming ginger flavor and that soft, moist, addictive texture!
For other delicious ginger-spiced treats, check out these soft ginger cookies , gingerbread truffles , ginger millionaires shortbread cookies , and this cheesecake stuffed gingerbread cake !
Recipe
Gingerbread Cupcakes with Eggnog Filling
Ingredients
Gingerbread cupcakes
- 115 g unsalted butter melted. 1 stick / ½ cup
- 70 g brown sugar
- 100 g molasses
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 200 g flour
- 2 tsp ginger
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ allspice
- ¼ cloves
- ¼ nutmeg
- ⅔ cup milk
Eggnog pastry cream
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ tbsp corn flour corn starch
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ⅓ cup whipping cream cold and whipped
Cream cheese frosting
- 170 g unsalted butter 6 oz, softened
- 225 g cream cheese 8 oz, softened
- 680 g confectioner’s sugar 1 ½ lbs, sifted
- 2 tsp vanilla
- Pinch sea salt
- 2 - 3 tbsp cream if needed
Instructions
Gingerbread cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Place the melted butter, salt, brown sugar and molasses in a bowl and whisk until thick, smooth and creamy.
- Add the eggs (one at a time), whisking well between each addition. Follow with the egg yolk and whisk it into the mix well. Whisk in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and the spices.
- Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of the milk. FOLD THEM INTO the batter - do not over beat.
- Line a regular cupcake tray with cupcake liners.
- Fill all 12 cupcake liners with the cake batter (about ⅔ - ¾ way up) and bake in preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes, until the cupcake tops are slightly springy to the touch.
- Take the cupcakes out of the oven, and let them cool down completely.
Eggnog pastry cream
- Place the milk and white chocolate in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat to melt the chocolate. Stir frequently to make sure the chocolate melts.
- Whisk the egg yolks with the corn flour (corn starch) until smooth.
- Temper the egg yolks with a little (about ¼ cup) of the hot milk mix. Make sure to whisk the egg yolks consistently to avoid them from turning into scrambled eggs.
- Add the tempered egg yolks back into the rest of the hot milk mix and whisk to combine.
- Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk the custard over medium heat to mix well.
- Whisk frequently while cooking the custard until it has thickened, and the mixture starts to break the surface with a “blop”.
- Remove the custard from the stove and pour it into a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap (with the plastic wrap touching the surface to prevent a skin from forming), and let it cool down completely. This custard will be a very thick paste once it cools down.
- Once the custard has cooled, add half of the whipped cream into the eggnog custard and fold it in to combine. Add the rest of the cream and fold it in to mix well and distribute evenly.
- The pastry cream can be stored in a piping bag and refrigerated until needed.
Cream cheese frosting
- Place the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer bowl and using a whisk attachment, whisk until the butter and cream cheese mix is light and fluffy.
- Add the salt and vanilla, and whip to combine.
- Add confectioner’s sugar in batches and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape the sides to make sure the frosting is mixed properly.
- Whip the frosting on medium-high speed until light, fluffy and creamy.
- If you prefer a softer frosting, add the cream and whip the frosting for another minute.
- Place the frosting in a large pastry bag with an open star tip (or any pastry tip you like).
Assembly
- Using a melon baller, carefully remove a small half sphere from the center of the cupcakes (see photo in blog post).
- Once all the cupcakes have a hollow center, fill it with eggnog pastry cream.
- Pipe the cream cheese frosting on top.
- Optional - drizzle some molasses on top, or sprinkle some cinnamon or gold dust on top, or decorate with mini gingerbread cookies. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe from The Flavor Bender by Dini Kodippili
Gingerbread Cupcakes with Eggnog Filling https://www.theflavorbender.com/gingerbread-cupcakes-with-eggnog-filling-and-cream-cheese-frosting/
