MSC Cupcake Club - Gingerbread Cupcakes

Hello Sweet Readers! Today is the day for the December edition of the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. Our assignment was gingerbread cupcakes. Here they are beautifully displayed on my sweet new gift given to me last night for my birthday (which is tomorrow!). My dear friend Debbie gave it to me. She did the glass etching herself. Doesn't it look wonderful? I love it! What a sweet gift :) Some of my wonderful girlfriends took me out to dinner and treated me to a special night. They are all so thoughtful and I am so thankful to have been blessed with such great friends.
So, I had to bake these today, and this is why I am a little late in posting. I usually post in the morning, but since I had to bake the cuppies today, well, here they are. The above photo is the sifted dry ingredients. It included 2 tablespoons of ginger. That's a lot, but it is actually not overwhelming in the cupcake.
And a little bit of unsulphered molasses...
The batter was a rather thick one..
The cupcakes cooling with my sweet present to add to the photo (get ready, you will be seeing more of it). I made a dozen regular sized cuppies and three and a half dozen minis with this recipe.
I made the gingerbread throughout the week since I am packing it in gifts as well. These are some of the cookies I made on top of the cupcakes. I actually used the recipe from her magazine rather than the one in the book. I have used it before and like it. I double the recipe, however, and got a royal mess in my 600 watt mixer. Poor little baby was having a hard time with the thick dough, so I had to help it out.
Had to include these shots of my present. I just love it. I know I have been taking lots of pictures for my blog with my Christmas tree in the background, but I love the look and the bokeh that the lights make. I have to take advantage of it while I can!
Here is another of the cuppies topped with a candy topper I made. It has little bits of peppermint in the white bark. Yum!
And just a little peek at my gingerbread cookies. I will not blog any more about them because I am sooo bad at piping that I have officially deemed them unworthy. Just had to post this so you would know I did actually make them.
So the verdict on the cupcakes? I liked them. They were tasty and moist, but not as great as I expected them to be. They were spicy, but not too spicy. I like the cookies better! I did like my version of the buttercream. I added brown sugar and cinnamon and a tad of nutmeg. That, I really liked, but I I like things sweet.

Have a great day!