Recipe for Christmas cupcakes

Nigella Lawson’s Christmas chocolate-gingerbread cupcakes

The recipe for Christmas cupcakes is culinary holiday magic in every bite! These fluffy and slightly moist chocolate cupcakes, enriched with the aroma of gingerbread spice, are an excellent way to conjure up a festive atmosphere at home. Indulge in the taste of Christmas with this delicious cupcake recipe!

Christmas Chocolate-Gingerbread Cupcakes Notes

Today I invite you to try delicious and very simple to make chocolate cupcakes with gingerbread spice from Nigella Lawson’s recipe. I was recently browsing Nigella’s book “How to Be a Domestic Goddess” in search of holiday sweets and stumbled upon this recipe. I liked it so much that I made them right away – especially since I had all the necessary ingredients. Nigella’s cupcakes turned out very tasty, soft, and slightly moist, so I can recommend them here without hesitation.

Essential Ingredients for Christmas Cupcakes

To prepare these cupcakes, you will only need very basic ingredients. Below I provide a shortened list with possible substitutes.

• chocolate – to prepare the cupcakes, you will need dark chocolate – here I added 75 g of dark chocolate – if you buy an 80 g package, you can use it all.
• gingerbread spice – I added 1 teaspoon of gingerbread spice to the cupcakes, but they were still very aromatic. This is thanks to homemade gingerbread spice, which turns out very aromatic. If you don’t make such spice at home, but buy it, be sure to pay attention to its composition. Look for one with only spices, do not buy one with flour, sugar, or cocoa listed in the first positions. They mainly contain flour and only a little spice – it will not be aromatic and will not add flavor.
• sour cream – Nigella Lawson uses sour cream for these Christmas cupcakes – it can be 18 or 12% cream, I used thick Greek yogurt because I very rarely buy sour cream.
• baking soda – in the cupcake recipe, I used both baking powder and baking soda. I added only half a teaspoon of baking soda, but it is stronger than baking powder, and that’s perfectly enough. However, if you don’t have baking soda, use only baking powder – just add up to 2.5 teaspoons.
• sugar – Nigella added dark brown sugar to the Christmas cupcakes, I preferred to use powdered sugar. I mixed a slightly heaped cup of powdered sugar with soft butter. If you use regular sugar or brown sugar, use 3/4 cup – a cup of such sugar weighs more than powdered sugar.
• coffee – to enhance the flavor, 1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder is added to the cupcakes. If you don’t like coffee, you can omit it. If small children are to eat the cupcakes and you are concerned about adding coffee, you can substitute it with cereal coffee.

Preparing Christmas Cupcakes – Tips

These chocolate-gingerbread cupcakes are creamed cupcakes. Here, I creamed soft butter with powdered sugar until fluffy. This adds fluffiness and a velvety texture to the cupcakes. For such creamed cupcakes to rise well, it is important to mix the remaining ingredients briefly and only until combined.

You can also use room temperature ingredients. You can place eggs in hot water and keep them there for a few minutes. You can take sour cream or yogurt out of the fridge earlier, or briefly heat it in the microwave. Also, remember to take the butter out of the fridge in advance to soften it.

For these cupcakes, the chocolate needs to be melted, and here, exceptionally, it is melted in hot water. To make the chocolate melt quickly, it’s good to chop it with a knife. Then add half a cup of hot water and stir until the chocolate melts. Pour this mixed chocolate into the cupcake batter – I didn’t let it cool, I just poured it in immediately and mixed thoroughly with a spoon.

How to Bake Christmas Cupcakes?

Place the batter for chocolate-gingerbread cupcakes in cupcake liners into an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius (top/bottom heat mode) and bake for about 20 minutes. Every oven bakes slightly differently, so towards the end of baking, check with a skewer if the cupcakes are ready. Simply insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake; if it comes out clean and dry, the cupcakes are ready. If the toothpick is covered with wet or sticky batter, bake them for a little longer. Remove the baked cupcakes immediately from the oven and let them cool.

How to Decorate Christmas Cupcakes?

I decorated my gingerbread cupcakes with a simple icing. I took the opportunity to use Sally’s icing recipe, which she recently showed on her Instagram. I often make icing for my baked goods, but I usually make it with two ingredients – powdered sugar and a liquid to dissolve it. Sally’s recipe also adds a bit of corn syrup (I replaced it with liquid honey) and vanilla. The syrup or honey is supposed to make the icing shinier and prevent it from drying out too much. I think the icing turned out very nice and I will use it again – probably for Christmas gingerbread cookies. Remember to add water to the sugar gradually so that the icing doesn’t become too thin. However, if it turns out that there is already too much water, add more powdered sugar.

Here, I set aside a few teaspoons of icing and added green food coloring to it. I transferred the green icing to a piping bag and cut off a corner – just minimally. On the white icing, I piped zigzags of green icing around the edge, and then I ran a toothpick through the middle, mixing the icings. This created a pattern that resembles a Christmas wreath. Then I added a few red sweet sprinkles, and a super simple Christmas decoration was ready! You must try it, because it’s not difficult. However, if you don’t have green food coloring, sprinkle colorful sprinkles over the icing, or arrange pomegranate seeds – the cupcakes will definitely look amazing.

How to Make Christmas Cupcakes in Other Flavors?

Not a fan of gingerbread spice and gingerbread cookies? No problem! Instead of gingerbread spice, use just cinnamon; the cupcakes will acquire a slightly sweet and warming aroma. Or completely forgo adding warming spices and opt for a fruity twist. Add grated orange zest to the cupcake batter to give them a winter and festive character.

Maybe you like the combination of chocolate and plum jam? If so, you can add plum jam to the cupcake batter instead of sour cream or yogurt. If your jam is sweet, you can immediately use a little less sugar – unless you have a sweet tooth and sweeter cupcakes will be perfect for you!

How to Store Chocolate-Gingerbread Cupcakes?

Store cupcakes decorated with icing in an airtight container with a lid, or on a cake stand with a glass dome. In such conditions, Christmas cupcakes can last for several days.

Can chocolate cupcakes be frozen? Yes, you can freeze these cupcakes – once they are completely cooled, wrap them in cling film or aluminum foil and place them in the freezer. You can freeze them with or without icing, but it’s better to freeze them without icing and decorate them with fresh icing after thawing – they will look nicer then.

I hope that these Nigella Lawson Christmas cupcakes will appeal to you and your loved ones, and that you will often use this recipe. If so, I would be extremely happy if you share your impressions and comments under the recipe. Thank you in advance!

Recommended Recipes for Christmas Cupcakes

Be sure to try my other recipes for delicious cupcakes perfect for the holidays. Here I recommend, among others, these three recipes: