Sugar and Spice Cupcakes

Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of. Since this week I made cupcakes for a friends baby shower, and she is having a girl, I thought, "what would be better than a Sugar and Spice cupcake?" I mean can you imagine a better cupcake for this special occasion? I think I did a little dance of joy when I finally thought of this.

I just couldn't fathom another occasion that would arise where I had a better cupcake idea that paired perfectly.

The cupcakes are like a spice cake and vanilla cake combined. If a spice cake and vanilla cake had a child, these cupcakes would be the end product. Just to give you a slight idea of the amazing flavor of these little beauty's.

And the first time you open the oven door to take these gems out, your showered with a heartwarming, cinnamony sugar, ooo lala smell. YUM!

This also gave me an excuse to buy these cute mini cupcake wrappers and picks on amazon.com. Too perfect for words I tell ya.

Anyways, since this week Thor (my guinea pig) and I travelled over the mountains and through the woods to my parents house we went, I had no stand mixer. I didn't realize how thankful I am for that little gem to be in my life until I was making these cupcakes. I swear I kissed that thing when I came home after the weekend. It really is my savior.

I found this recipe on Bake Space where I changed the amount of spice in the cupcakes. I didn't want the cinnamon to be the main focus of the spices, I wanted them all to shine through the same. I mean I wasn't making sugar and cinnamon cupcakes, but sugar and SPICE. And when mixing the dry ingredients together, a "pinch" didn't seem to be enough. They smelled like cinnamon.

Plus, everyone's pinch is different. So I put the plastic lids back on the top of the jars and just dashed the nutmeg and cloves to give the cupcakes a little more spice. And let me tell you, that was the best decision I could of made. I believe that's what made these cupcakes. I felt like Emeril. 

So these cupcakes are pretty simple to quickly throw together. Literally.

combine all the liquid ingredients in one bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients in another, then mix the wet and dry ingredients together and scoop into the cupcake liners. BAM!

When I started making the frosting for the cupcakes, I really started missing my stand mixer. I really don't know how I didn't have super strength arms before when making the frosting with an electric hand mixer. That was a work out.

Now I know I said something recently about how I was going to try to refrain from making a cream cheese frosting for a while. But I couldn't help myself. I swear I'm in a relationship with cream cheese frosting sometimes. But it really was the perfect frosting for these babies. I almost tried to make a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, but the regular was the right choice.

I mean everything goes great with cream cheese frosting.

P.S. Thanks to my wonderful mother for taking these photo's since I was running late to the baby shower and for helping me put them together and getting them ready to go! 

Sugar and Spice Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes, or 3 dozen mini cupcakes

• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• large dash nutmeg
• large dash cloves
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium size microwave safe bowl, then mix in the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla until fully combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until no lumps remain. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full and bake for 15-20 minutes (8-10 minutes if you make mini's) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack and let cupcakes fully cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1/2 block cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and fully combine. Add in the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, fully beating each time until all ingredients are fully combined.