Rose and Ginger Cupcakes

It was a gorgeous sunny day with blue skies and puffs of white clouds last week Thursday.  On that morning I had already gone on my walk, already spent time in my garden, and already prepared lunch for the family, and still had time on my hands, so I decided to bake.  With such a beautiful day in front of me, a spring inspired cupcake seemed very appealing.

IMG_5372

IMG_5373

Any dessert with candid ginger tastes awesome!

This recipe from marthastewart.com for Rose and Ginger cupcakes on marthastewart.com looked like a light and springy cupcake to try.  I also LOVE anything sweet with ginger!  It’s funny, my daughter Anjali helped me bake these when she was taking a break from online class and laughed when I told her I wanted to make this recipe 😀 “Mom, you love anything with ginger and roses, I’m not surprised you want to make this one 😀🌹.”

IMG_5309

IMG_5411

Rose essence and candied ginger a perfect pairing

This rose and ginger cupcake recipe is your standard cake recipe, with the addition of ginger powder and candied ginger.  The rose flavor comes more in the form of the glaze which is flavored with rose water. But I did modify the recipe a bit as the batter didn’t have much of any flavor. The ginger powder doesn’t partake its aroma or spiciness so I added vanilla and 1/2 tsp of rose essence to the batter.  I also thought the small amount of candied ginger – just 2 tbsp was so little for 24 cupcakes. So  I upped the quantity to 1/4 cup and believe me its awesome in the cupcake!  Now every cupcake has enough candied ginger to give it a zing of gingery spiciness.

IMG_5381

IMG_5399

All natural food coloring to the rescue

Another modification I made is in the glaze. I didn’t want to use pink gelatin for the coloring so Anjali and I decided to experiment with natural pink colors from what we had in our refrigerator.  As you can expect the go-to natural food color is beets, but we didn’t have that so we experimented with raspberries.  We mashed the raspberries and added it to the glaze and it turned the glaze a beautiful pale pink color!  Albeit you do get the raspberries seeds in the glaze, but if you’re okay with that, then raspberries work great for that natural pink colored glaze.

IMG_5397

IMG_5390

IMG_5423

Decorating is half the fun!

Decorate the cupcakes with little miniature roses  for a natural looking decoration. It may not look as professional as the original recipe, but it looks pretty gorgeous to me!

IMG_5410

IMG_5411

IMG_5415

IMG_5417

IMG_5419

Don’t have roses? Use the fresh raspberries and candied ginger and these cupcakes look just as spectacular!

IMG_5397

IMG_5400

IMG_5404

IMG_5405

Cake is delicious on its own too!

Personally I love this cake just as is without the glaze as I found the glaze to be very sweet. The cupcake on the other hand is outstanding!  It’s soft and fluffy and you get this candied ginger in every bite along with a delicate hint of rose essence. For sophisticated and delicious cupcakes give this recipe a try!

 

IMG_5417

Rose and Ginger Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Rose and Ginger cupcakes on marthastewart.com
with a few modifications

Ingredients For the Cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp rose essence or 1 tsp rose water

For the Rose Glaze

  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons rose water.   I used 1 tsp rose essence an 1 1/1/2 tsp rose syrup which I had in my pantry.

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.
  • Sift together flours, ground ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  • With a mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar until pale, about 4 minutes.
  • Beat in eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add the vanilla and rose essence.
  • Then add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk, and beginning and ending with flour. Beat until smooth and creamy.
  • Stir in candied ginger until evenly distributed.
  • Divide batter among 24 liners, filling halfway. Bake until golden and set, about 20 minutes. Transfer tin to rack to cool for 15 minutes. Remove from tin; let cool. Store in an airtight container up to 2 days.
  • Make glaze. Whisk milk and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add rose water and rose essence. Mash 3 fresh raspberries and add for pale pink color and stir.
  • Using a spoon gently pour glaze on cupcakes (about 1 tablespoon each) just until flush with top of liner.  Or  dip the top of the cupcake in the glaze and let set.  Decorate with sugared rose petals or fresh raspberries, fresh roses and candied ginger.

IMG_5411

IMG_5417

IMG_5423

IMG_5397

IMG_5400

IMG_5406

IMG_5405

 

9 thoughts on “Rose and Ginger Cupcakes”

  1. I’m going to have to try those. My pink rose tea party got cancelled. But u have inspired to make something fun anyways for my family. I love the baby roses on top. Thanks regards Nancy

    1. What a lovely name for a party!! I love the sound of Pink Rose Party! I am sorry to hear that it got cancelled. Yes, please do make these cupcakes, they are very good! I’d love to hear how you liked them, and have fun decorating them too!

Leave a Reply