Sticky Ginger and Molasses Cupcake recipe

Sticky treacle-ish, dark christmas'y, ginger & molasses cupcakes.

These are flipping marvelous little things! I made them for my daughter after she demanded gingerbread... Gingerbread men? I enquired? No she said emphatically. Ginger bread. Hmmm.. I thought an actual loaf of it might disappoint so set about making these little buggers to impress her.

You will need

220g self-raising flour
1 tablespoon of ginger powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon of all spice
1 teaspoon of bicarb of soda
110g unsalted butter
100g golden syrup
110g dark muscovado sugar
100g thick 'n sticky black molasses
½ teaspoon of vanilla essence
250ml milk
1 medium egg
A little icing sugar to dust the finished cakes

To make

Bang your oven on at 180 degrees.

Put your flour, ginger, all spice and cinnamon into a bowl with the bicarb of soda and mix together with a spoon

Add the butter to the floury mix and rub it between your fingertips till it becomes crumbly

Measure out the molasses, muscovado sugar, vanilla essence and syrup in a bowl

Warm your milk gently in a pan, after a few minutes scrape your sticky mollasses, sugar and syrup mix into it

Bring your sticky, dark molasse'y mix to the boil whilst stirring lots then switch the heat off

Let it cool for a few minutes we do this so that when we add the egg it doesn't scramble!

After it has cooled add the sticky dark liquid to the flour mix, stir it in and added the egg. After a bit more of a stir it will look like this fine dark brown bubbling joy!

Spoon or wallop (your choice) in to a greased muffin tray. Fill to about two thirds

Cook for 12-15 minutes depending on the ferocity of your oven. Like all little cakes you can stick a skewer in one and if it comes out clean they are ready

When they are ready get them out of the oven and let them sit for ten minutes before poinking then out to finish cooling on a rack

Mmmm, yummy! Let them cool and then using a sieve, sieve some icing sugar over them. It makes them look awful pretty!