Spekuloos Cupcakes

I picked up a bottle of the "good stuff" several weeks ago.  What, pray tell, is the "good stuff"?  Spekuloos.  It's a gingerbread spread that I picked up from the Wafels & Dinges food truck earlier this summer.  It was a warm, gooey and spicy topping for a crispy, sweet waffle, so of course I devoured the whole thing.  Then my friend Katie and I each took a jar of the "good stuff" home.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I didn't envision a cupcake right away.  Then I happened to be checking out one of my favorite blogs, Cupcake Project.  Stef had made peanut butter cookie dough that was safe to eat.  I thought that was pretty interesting, but I didn't get inspired by the recipe until I saw her next post: peanut butter cookie dough frosting.

I'm not particularly interested in making cookies.  They're not my dessert of choice, though I rarely turn one down.  But this frosting business sounded pretty tasty.  I whipped out my jar of spekuloos in anticipation.

I got down to business using the spekuloos in a batch of frosting.  I smeared this frosting over a batch of white cupcakes that I whipped up.  How was it? The frosting ended up not being for me because I think it was a little too heavy for the white cake.  If I could somehow lighten up the frosting a bit then I think I would like it more.  But in terms of flavors, I definitely got the sweet gingerbread taste that I was after.

Spekuloos Cupcakes

slightly adapted from A Sweet Spoonful's Salted Caramel Cupcake recipe

yields ~24 cupcakes

Print Recipe

• 1 cup 2% milk
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2) In a bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the milk with the egg whites and vanilla extract.

3) In the bowl of a mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

4) Add the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of milk.

5) Beat at a low speed until blended, then beat at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.

6) Add the egg white mixture in 3 additions, beating the batter on medium-speed for 20 seconds after each addition.

7) In another bowl, using a mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form.

8) Stir 1/3 of the whipped cream into the batter, then fold in the rest with a spatula.

9) Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full with the batter. Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean.

10) Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes in the cupcake tray.  Then remove them from the tray and allow to cool completely.

Note: I used the same cupcake recipe for my Salted Caramel Cupcakes.  I had issues at the time with the wrappers peeling away from the cake.  This time I used a mixture of paper and foil cupcake liners and didn't have an issue with either one.  I think I had the problem before because it was humid outside.

Spekuloos Cookie Dough Frosting
adapted from Cupcake Project's Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Frosting
yields ~4 cups

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup spekuloos spread
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoons each of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg (I would go easy on the spices and add more later if you need too.) 
• 6-7 teaspoons milk

1) Mix all ingredients together in a big mixing bowl, with the exception of the milk.

2) Add the milk slowly.  Add more milk for a creamier frosting or less milk for a thicker frosting.

3) Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes.