Friday, December 19, 2008

Eggnog Cupcakes

Last night we had a baked goods exchange with our Cookin' Minnesota group. Matt took a variety of the cookies I've been baking the last couple of weeks but I decided to go another route. I've been wanting to make an eggnog flavored cupcake every since Matt had one from Sprinkles that didn't taste like eggnog at all & this was the perfect opportunity.
Eggnog Cupcake
I looked at a few different eggnog recipes & came to the decision that the two ingredients I needed to get the flavor right were rum & nutmeg. I used eggnog in the cake batter instead of milk to up the flavor even more. The cupcake itself came out really tasty with a great texture but its really the frosting that makes this taste & smell like eggnog to me. These are quite rich so I'm glad I made mini cupcakes this time around, just the perfect little bite. They certainly seemed to be a big hit last night.
Eggnog Cupcakes

Eggnog Cupcakes

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 c + 3 T sugar
2 t rum
1/8 t vanilla
1 1/3 t baking powder
2/3 t salt
2 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c eggnog
5 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 48 mini cupcake tins or 18 regular.

In a mixing bowl cream the butter & 1 1/3 cups of sugar together until light & fluffy. Beat in the rum & vanilla. Add the baking powder, salt & 2/3 cup flour, beat until combined. Beat in 1/3 cup eggnog. Then beat in another 2/3 cup flour, followed by the rest of the eggnog & then the rest of the flour.

In another bowl beat the egg whites until foamy. Add in the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter until completely combined then fold in the remaining egg whites.

Divide the batter between the cupcake tins, filling each one 2/3 full. Bake 15 minutes for mini cupcakes or 22 for regular. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

Cool completely on a rack.

Spiced Rum Buttercream

1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1/8 t cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 T rum

In a mixing bowl beat the butter until soft & creamy. Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time until all the sugar is absorbed. Beat in the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg & rum. Frost cupcakes & sprinkle with more nutmeg.

Makes 48 mini cupcakes or 18 regular

You can substitute run extract for the rum but I think it has a stronger flavor.

Update 12/28/08: There was originally a typo in this recipe & I wrote baking soda instead of powder. Powder is correct. Thanks to Danya for catching it.
I also had the wrong amount of sugar (I must have been drinking the rum when I wrote this!). Its correct now.

14 comments:

  1. I'm going to make these for my wife (a huge eggnog fan) as part of her Christmas gifts. Thanks for the great recipe :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love your photos with the ornaments!
    I am going to bake these cupcakes for Christmas.
    Stace

    ReplyDelete
  3. These sound really good! I'm so surprised at the Sprinkles eggnog cupcake. I was a little skeptical of it myself ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The spiced rum buttercream sounds amazing. Vanilla finishing salt would also add a nice touch.

    If ever so inclined, take a peak: www.secretsalts.com

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those cupcakes paired with that frosting sounds so delicious and festive :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think you're on to something - great idea and I like that they're mini's. Eggnog is enough to blow the diet out of the water but small tastes are perfect. Love the packaging.

    ReplyDelete
  7. already today i've seen eggnog pancakes and eggnog fudge--i had no idea it was so versatile! great cupcakes, kat, but even better frosting... :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I LOVE the little box with the window to see the cupcakes! Maybe I'd find that at the container store? Question...does this recipe also need baking powder? I tried these last night and somehow failed more miserably than I ever have with cupcakes. They were totally deflated. I've been trying to figure out what I might have done, but wondered if baking powder was missing? Thanks for posting the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. OMG Dayna, you are correct. In all the rush of the holidays I must have typed it up wrong. Sorry your had to fail to catch this. I've updated the recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oooh, those are so decadent. Mini cupcakes are definitely the way to go. They look wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I was just wondering the ingredients list says 1 1/3 cup of sugar + 3 T, but the directions say 2 1/2 cups of sugar, then later on the 3 T of sugar.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ashley - The amount in the ingredients list is wrong. Thanks for catching that & I fixed the directions.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments! Matt & I love to read them but if you link to online drugs or real estate or such in anyway we will delete you. Due to the amount of spam we are now moderating all comments.