Fresh ginger juice, chewy candied ginger and a little white pepper give these ginger beer cupcake bites a slow heat that arrives after the sweetness. They were first made for a soda-themed cupcake challenge. The idea was to bake the spicy, Jamaican-style ginger beer flavor rather than a mild ginger ale. Each cupcake is small enough to eat in one bite.
A sour lime buttercream sweetened with brown sugar balances the spice. You taste lime and butter first, then soft cake, then warmth at the back of the throat.
Ingredients
Ginger sugar (optional but ideal)
- Sugar left over from rolling homemade candied ginger. Dry it and grind out any large clumps in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle. Plain sugar also works, but the cakes will taste milder.
Cakes
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, soft, cut in tablespoons
- 1/2 cup ginger sugar
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large knob fresh ginger, peeled
- 1/2 cup milk minus 2 Tbsp
- 2 egg whites
- 2 Tbsp chopped candied ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
- Pinch of cayenne
Lime buttercream
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (light, or dark for more molasses)
- 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, soft, cut in tablespoons
- Zest and juice of 1 medium-large lime
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- Sprinkles, optional
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line a miniature muffin tin.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
- Grate the fresh ginger and squeeze it by handfuls into a clean bowl until you have about 2 Tbsp of juice. Stir the juice into the milk.
- Cream the butter and ginger sugar in a stand mixer. Add the dry mixture and the ginger milk in three additions each, alternating. Scrape down the bowl.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high, add the egg whites and beat just until fluffy, 5 to 10 seconds. Add the candied ginger, ground ginger, white pepper and cayenne, and mix about 5 seconds.
- Fill the liners and bake 10 to 12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. The tops should not brown.
- Cool completely. For the frosting, whisk the egg whites, brown sugar and cream of tartar in a mixer bowl set over simmering water for about 5 minutes, until hot, light and frothy.
- Beat on high for 2 to 3 minutes into a stiff, glossy meringue. Switch to the paddle at medium-high and add the butter one piece at a time, letting each disappear before adding the next. If the mixture curdles, keep mixing and it will come back together.
- Mix in the lime zest, juice and ginger. Pipe onto the cakes with a star tip, add sprinkles and refrigerate.
Tips and variations
- Let the unfrosted cakes rest overnight so the ginger flavor deepens.
- Replace some or all of the milk with dark rum for a deeper, warmer note.
- Cook the meringue base until it is hot to the touch. The egg whites are cooked this way, so do not skip the simmering water.
- Keep the finished bites refrigerated, and let them sit out briefly before serving so the buttercream softens.