Week 6: "Tastes of Childhood" Gingerbread Muffins With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I think it's pretty obvious by now that I love holidays. And seasons. And themes! Continuing the trend, then, when we got back from Thanksgiving break, I went the Christmas route with...

Gingerbread Muffins (With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting)

Let's get a disclaimer out of the way first: These muffins are not for novices-- novice bakers and novice eaters alike, consider yourself warned. Gingerbread seems to, at least in my admittedly limited experience, have a tendency of emitting smoke while baking if in for too long or at too high a temperature. I definitely have yet to master the art of avoiding this completely, although I'm improving with each endeavor. Cookies, though, are a lot easier to control than these muffins, which filled the kitchen with smoke and made James very unhappy :(

The recipe didn't specify how much batter we should spoon into each muffin cup, and so we went with the usual, filling them approximately to the brim. The batter didn't hold up well. It took a lot longer than anticipated to bake-- and was less moist than I would have liked-- and the muffin top collapsed. It was also a bit of a nightmare trying to get them to come out, and very few came out looking like actual muffins:

Slightly deformed, but oh-so-spicy! Can you handle it? ;)

With a dollop of lemon cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Despite the... err, difficulties these muffins gave us, the recipe was definitely something of a success. (One of my friends gushed, "This tastes of my childhood!", which is a great compliment.) Most of the people who didn’t care terribly for the results had opted out of the cream cheese icing; they complained that the gingerbread muffin base was too spicy. The people who had both together, though-- the gingerbread and the icing-- thought that the balance was oddly and unexpectedly perfect. The lemon really made the muffin: it's not an obvious flavor to pair with gingerbread, and yet, it pulled all of the flavors together in what can only be described as, in my opinion, delicious harmony.

The recipe, as posted below, isn't quite what I'd like it to be. I've already adjusted the ginger and spice ratios, but the lemon cream cheese frosting could use a little more tweaking. I'd beat it up the way it's written here, then adjust slightly to taste-- lemon zest, for example, might be a good idea if you want to kick up the citrus; more confectioner's sugar and/or whipping cream might be necessary if you think the mixture tastes a little too much like cream cheese. (Although the icing will taste slightly different-- better-- with the gingerbread muffin rather than without, so be careful of overcompensation.)

"Tastes of Childhood" Recipe (Gingerbread Muffins With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting - Modified; Original/Base Recipe here, courtesy of Kevin Ryan, AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients:
Muffin Batter:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (King Arthur's)
1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground all-spice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup hot milk

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. whipped cream cheese, creamed
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
splash of whipping cream

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter or line with paper liners a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Cream 5 tablespoons of the butter with the white sugar. Add the molasses, the egg, and the egg yolk.
3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, all-spice, nutmeg, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the hot milk mixture. Pour the batter evenly (about 2/3 full) into the prepared tin.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes or until slightly springy to the touch. Allow to cool a few minutes in the pan and remove to a rack to cool.
5. To Make Frosting: Cream the whipped cream cheese; beat in the confectioner's sugar until fluffy. Add a splash of whipping cream and the lemon extract and beat. When the muffins are cool, drop a generous dollop of frosting on each and serve.

"And I had but one penny in the world. Thou should'st have it to buy gingerbread."
William Shakespeare, Love's Labours Lost