The February 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living featured a cupcake bonanza. So many different flavors, and I’ve been meaning to make some for ages. So last night I decided Recipe-A-Day Week needed a dessert, and I made the Ginger and Molasses cupcakes because a) most of the others called for buttermilk, which I didn’t have on hand, and b) they seemed more interesting and sophisticated than my usual cakey goods.

These cakes were seriously delicious, like gingerbread, but mine sunk in the middle. The recipe calls for melted butter, which I don’t see often in cake recipes (usually it’s just softened). A couple of comments on the website addressed this, and I think I’d recommend beating the sugar and butter together for longer (like 5 minutes) to really whip them up.

The original recipe makes 26 cupcakes, so I halved it for my purposes. I’ve posted the halved version, you can find the original on the website.

Ginger and Molasses Cupcakes with Whipped Cream (adapted from Martha Stewart Living)
Makes 13

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg
1/6 cup hot water (I eyeballed half of a 1/3 measuring cup)
4.5 ounces (1 piece, 6 inches) fresh ginger, peeled and minced (1/2 cup)
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
Ground ginger, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake tin with paper liners. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl (flour, baking soda, salt).

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer on medium speed until light andfluffy(this is where I think I needed to whip for more time).

Add the molasses and mix.

Add the egg and mix.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients 1/3 at a time, adding the hot water in between the dry ingredients.

Stir in theminced ginger.

Divide the batter among the cupcake cups (I made a couple of extra big ones to use up the batter, since I couldn’t be bothered to make the 13th cupcake on its own).

Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days, unless otherwise noted.

While the cupcakes cool, whip the heavy cream with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer until it forms peaks, 5 to 10 minutes.

Frost the cooled cupcakes with whipped cream, and sprinkle with ground ginger. Serve immediately