Spice Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

I have developed quite an attraction to anything maple.  My most recent addiction, thanks to my friend Sherra, has been the Maple Leaf Cookie from Trader Joe’s.  Can I just say YUM!!!  If you like maple you are going to love these cookies!

Knowing my growing attraction to anything maple and cupcakes, Sherra sent me a recipe for Nutmeg Cupcakes with Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream.  I have been trying to make them for the last week and finally got to it yesterday.

I made a few changes to the recipe and am quite happy with how they turned out.

Instead of using straight nutmeg I decided to use the new Baking Spice I recently purchased from Penzeys.  If you don’t have a Penzeys locally I highly suggest you mail order yourself some Baking Spice and throw in a bottle of Double Strength Vanilla while you are at it.  Baking Spice is a combination of cinnamon, ground anise seed, allspice, mace and cardamon so you could make up your own blend or you could just use nutmeg!

I also decided to use my favorite buttercream frosting recipe as the frosting recipe Sherra sent looked a little labor intensive and the frosting looked a little too “shiny” for my texture issues!

These cupcakes may look a little familiar.

They look a little bit like those yummy Banana Cupcakes I shared a few months ago but they’re not!  I just ran out of time and creativity and couldn’t think of anything else to put on top as a garnish except for chopped nuts.  I did use hazelnuts this time instead of pecans!  And besides that they are sitting on my new cute little green cake stand!

The frosting has maple syrup and brown sugar and is truly divine.

Combine the maple syrup, brown sugar and the Baking Spice blend and you have a truly wonderful Fall inspired treat.

Spice Cupcakes with Maple Syrup Frosting

3 eggs

1/2 C butter, softened

1 1/2 C sugar

1 C buttermilk

1 tsp double strength vanilla or 2 tsp regular strength

2 C flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp Penzeys Baking Spice (or nutmeg)

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.

Cream 1/2 C of butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs and mix well until combined.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spice blend and salt.  Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk combined with the vanilla alternately in three parts.    Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 16-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and frost.

Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

1 C butter, softened

2 3/4 C powdered sugar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp maple syrup

Put butter in bowl and mix until whipped.

Mix in powdered sugar and beat for about a minute.  Scrape down the sides and add the brown sugar and maple syrup.  Mix for another 2-3 minutes or until frosting is fluffy.  Frost cooled cupcakes and garnish with chopped nuts – hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts.

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