Maple 2: Electric Boogaloo

So I may have been finished up with ginger, but I wasn't quite done with this maple thing. When it came down to it, I realized I hadn't really had maple anything outside of the wide world of pancakes and waffles. I did a little perusing and found a maple cake recipe I wanted to try, tweaked it, and here I am.

Yes, the frosting is still marshmallow.  What can I say, I really enjoy that creamy, fluffy, smoothness. You'll notice, though, that I swapped the sprinkles out for the chopped pecans. I think the difference is...what makes it.

But in all seriousness, these look exactly like the last cupcakes I posted, so I had to do something to distinguish them.

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Maple Spice Cupcakes

2 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
1 c pure maple syrup
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.Beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating in between each. Add maple syrup and vanilla. Switch to low speed and add flour alternately with water, being sure to end with flour. Fill liners about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Makes 22.

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These aren't maple-y in the sense I was expecting, but they are good nonetheless. The nutmeg comes through a little heavy, but not in a bad way. The cinnamon doesn't come through very well, but might be accentuating the nutmeg. These would get a 3.6 out of 4 if I actually rated cupcakes.

Maple Ginger Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

First and foremost, I didn't like these one bit. It may well have been the worst cupcake I've ever had. That being said, someone else said that they weren't that bad. Not good, mind you, but not *that* bad. Who might enjoy these? People who like the taste of ginger without the spice, marshmallow fluff without the taste, or the smell of maple syrup without any other trace of maple syrup.

They look pretty though, don't they? Note that I didn't want to put sprinkles on because these wouldn't have been a sprinkle cupcake even if they DID come out delicious, but I was basically forced to do it. So there's that.

I knew I was going to be using up the rest of my candied ginger. That was all I knew when I started this. From there I decided, "Well maple syrup doesn't sound like it would do too bad with ginger." And then, "Marshmallow and maple syrup sounds pretty good!" which is how I ended up here. I stand by my reasoning that these things could very well taste good together if done properly.

Another thing: the structural integrity of the cupcake is a bit shaky. You can get an idea from the picture. Having put too much candied ginger in a fairly watery batter, it all sank to the bottom and detached while baking. So yeah. There's that too.

Here's the recipe anyway:

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Maple Ginger Cupcakes

2 eggs
1 tbsp maple extract
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c milk
1 tbsp butter
1 1/4 c chopped candied ginger
1 tsp ground ginger

Beat eggs and maple together until blended. Beat in sugar. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and ground ginger together in separate bowl. Add to egg and sugar mixture. Heat butter and milk together until butter melts. Add to mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in candied ginger. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Makes 12.

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The marshmallow frosting came from here and is the only thing I liked about this cupcake. Or rather, would have if I could taste it.