A ginger icing workout

Never is the need for a stand mixer more apparent than when you need to make cream cheese frosting without it. I mean, even with the butter and cream cheese at room temperature, it is a difficult endeavor to get a completely smooth consistency. That said, I done made it happen last night (and got a wicked shoulder workout in the process). This recipe is an original amalgamation of a couple variations that I came across online; it came out pretty delicious:

Ginger Cream Cheese Icing

8oz cream cheese, at room temperature
6T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1T fresh ginger, finely grated
2t powdered ginger
1t powdered cinnamon
1T + 1t fresh orange juice
1T orange zest
3c powdered sugar

"Simply" whip all these ingredients together until you get a velvety-smooth consistency. If you have a stand-up mixer, this is pretty easy: put the cream cheese and butter into the mixer and let it go for about 5 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients, one at a time; when you get to the powdered sugar, add it in three 1c increments. In short, just let the mixer do its thing until everything is fully combined.

Without the mechanical assistance, the procedure is basically the same, but know that you are in for 30-60 minutes of exertion. I mean, you need to pulverize all these little pieces of butter or cream cheese, each desperately trying to hang on to their individual lipidic identities. And while a noble ideal, it certainly makes your life as a kitchen alchemist more difficult. But, like I said, it's totally possible; in this case, the last ingredient is, uh, elbow grease.

So, if you're dedicated, you'll end up with a spicy-sweet - and rich! - icing to put on any number of cake-like devices, large or small. For example, you may want to top some zucchini pine nut muffins or an orange carrot cake with the stuff. Me? I went the seasonal route - and continued my minor obsession with the pumpkin:

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

DRY
4c cake flour
1T + 1t baking powder
1T powdered cinnamon
1T powdered ginger
1/2t ground allspice
1 1/4t ground cloves
1 1/4t ground nutmeg
1t kosher salt
1/2t baking soda

PUMPKIN
2c pureed pumpkin
1c whole milk

BUTTER
8oz unsalted butter
2c brown sugar
4 eggs
2t vanilla extract
2t dark maple syrup (grade B)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. And set up a muffin tin or two with about 20 "jumbo" - about 2" high - baking cups (cupcake wrappers). You can use smaller ones to make more cupcakes, of course, but then reduce the baking time in step #5.

2. Sift everything in the DRY ingredient list together in a medium-sized bowl. Then, in a separate (but similarly-sized) bowl, combine the two items in the PUMPKIN list.

3. In a large bowl - this will be the one that everything ends up in - cream the butter and brown sugar together (again, if you have a stand-up mixer, use it here!), then add the eggs, one at at time (mixing each one in as you go); finally pour in the vanilla extract.

4. Still with the large bowl, fold in - gently - a third of the DRY bowl, followed by a third of the PUMPKIN bowl; repeat in an alternating fashion until you've got one big, delicious mixture of spiced pumpkin cupcake batter. Remember that you want to keep the batter as light as possible (while still making it homogeneous); in short, don't over mix (similar to what I said about pancake batter).

5. Spoon the batter into your baking cups to about two-thrids of the way to the top. Toss the muffin tins into the oven (as central as you can get them) and bake for about 20 minutes.. or a little less if you're using a smaller cupcake size. Use a toothpick test to determine "doneness".

6. Let the cupcakes cool completely, and top with a generous portion of Ginger Cream Cheese Icing (which you can make while the cupcakes are baking/cooling). I found that the icing recipe above made about twice as much as I needed for the cupcakes, so either double your cupcake output, or slather that icing on HIGH!

Note that the cupcakes will be somewhat dense (even if you were careful mixing the batter), so you might want to eat them with silverware; in other words they be as rich at the icing yo! In fact, I may try increasing the amount of baking powder and baking soda - just a tad - next time I make them (to see if I can develop a little more "loft"). Another than that, I say enjoy!