Gingerbread Cupcakes with Carmelized Mango Buttercream

I tend to like to stick to recipes that are pretty easy - not too many steps, not too many ingredients and not too labour intensive. I'm impatient and fairly lazy, so easy recipes are definitely where its at for me. I did make an exception when I bought Bobby Flay's new cookbook "Bobby Flay's Throwdown". This is a cookbook full of labour intensive, all-out recipes! Bobby shares the Throwdown stories and really lets you get to know both himself and the competitors... The cookbook is really well done! And of the few recipes I've tried out of the cookbook, they've all been show stoppers.

When I started making these cupcakes, I didn't really realize how labour intensive they are. They are not a quick easy batch of cupcakes to whip up, but boy are they good! Definitely a great treat to sit down to after all that hard work!!! They're moist with an extra ginger zing added by infusing a simple syrup with fresh ginger. So yummy! The mango buttercream was really interesting. As you can see from the recipe below, they call it buttercream for a reason - it is chock full of butter. Perhaps a bit too buttery for my taste, but pretty neat with the carmelized mango added in. Try out this recipe when you want to pull out all the stops and really impress someone you care about. :)

On to the recipe!

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Carmelized Mango Buttercream

Recipe from Bobby Flay's Throwdown

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 3-inch piece fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
• cooking spray
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tbsp molasses

Carmelized Mango Buttercream Ingredients:

• 2 cups, plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, slightly softened, but still cool, cut into small pieces
• 2 ripe mangos, coarsely chopped
• 6 large egg yolks
• cooking spray
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup finely diced candied ginger, for garnish

Method:

1. To make the cupcakes, combine the granulated sugar, fresh ginger, and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the sugar has melted and the mixture thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let infuse for 30 minutes. Then strain the ginger syrup before using.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners and spray the liners with cooking spray.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves into a medium bowl.
4. Whisk the melted butter, oil, brown sugar, eggs, and molasses together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth.
5. Fill each paper liner with 1/3 cup of the batter, to come about 1/4 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the tops liberally with the ginger syrup. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before removing. Let cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
6. To make frosting, heat the 2 tbsp butter in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the mangos and cook until carmelized and soft (watch them carefully - they will burn easily at this high temperature), about 10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and process until smooth. Pass the mixture through a medium-mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard the solids.
7. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks on high speed until creamy and pale yellow, about 5 minutes.
8. Spray a heatproof measuring cup with cooking spray. Combine the sugar and corn syrup in saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat. Cook without stirring until syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238F- 242F on a candy thermometer. Immediately pour into measuring cup to halt the cooking.
9. Add a small amount of the syrup to the beaten egg yolks, turn the mixer on to high speed, and beat for about 5 seconds. Continue stopping the mixer, adding syrup and beating in the same manner until all the syrup is incorporated. Beat the mixture until it is completely cool.
10. Add the remaining 2 cups butter, a few pieces at a time, beating until incorporated before adding the next pieces. When all the butter ha been blended in, add the vanilla and mango puree and beat until combined.
11. Frost the top of each cupcake liberally with the buttercream, and garnish with candied ginger.

Whew!!! What a load of work, but so delicious. Please don't eat the whole batch by yourself... I doubt you will feel very well if you do... and even if you're still able to walk, you probably won't be able to get dressed because your clothes won't fit you any more!

How is that for a weeknight post folks? Hope you enjoyed and it added some sweetness to your week! Woohoo for tomorrow being Friday! Hang in there!

Happy Baking my Friends!