Candied Ginger Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350° and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.

Sift flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg into a bowl and set aside. Sifting is important here because the ginger, cloves, and nutmeg can cause clumping in the flour.

Add the butter to your mixer bowl and beat until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and continue to mix for 2-3 more minutes. Put in the vanilla and egg and continue mixing. Add the apple sauce and fully combine everything (it gets a little curdled effect here but that is normal).

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Add the candied ginger pieces and mix them in by hand.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In a large bowl or mixer, add the cream cheese and shortening and beat together until nice and smooth. Mix in the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, until nice and smooth. Add the cream or milk to get the consistency you like. I only needed 1 tbsp.

Place the frosting in the fridge for about 20 minutes so it firms up before piping. Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost, add edible decorations, and enjoy!