In the Kitchen with a Southern Sushi Chef

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Green Tea Glaze

I think being Southern and having a sweet tooth are synonymous. No matter what I’ve eaten, I always save a little room at the end for a bite of dessert. I like to rationalize that if a Japanese meal is traditionally ended with sips of green tea, desserts that follow sushi should contain green tea.

This recipe combines two of my very favorite things: cupcakes and gingerbread. Cupcakes offer the perfect sized treat - not too much but just enough. And spicy gingerbread is fully flavored requiring only a tiny bit if any enhancement rather than the typical thick coating of frosting most cakes require.

For these lovely gems, I opted to make a simple green tea glaze and topped each one with purchased mochi balls (sweet glutinous rice balls) filled with red bean paste for dramatic effect.  You’ll need matcha powder, a special type of powdered green tea, in order to make the glaze. If you’re unable to find matcha powder, serve cupcakes with a small scoop of purchased green tea ice cream, which is available in most grocery stores. 

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Green Tea Glaze

12 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour (not self rising), plus more for flouring the pan

1 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp finely ground black pepper

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, softened plus more for buttering the pan

1/4 cup brown sugar (dark)

1 egg

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup warm water

12 purchased mochi balls, optional

Green Tea Glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour each cup of a 12 cup muffin tin generously. Alternately, place a paper muffin liner inside each cup.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, black pepper, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Beat for 1 minute.  Add half of the flour mixture and beat until well incorporated. Add half of the warm water and beat until incorporate. Repeat flour and water additions, making sure that the mixture is well combined.

Pour batter into muffin cups so that each cup is 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool pan on wire rack for 10 minutes before removing cupcakes from pan. Allow cupcakes to cool completely on wire rack before adding green tea glaze.

Green Tea Glaze

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 1/2 TBSP matcha powder, or more to taste 

2-3 TBSP milk

Stir powdered sugar and matcha togther in a bowl. Add 1 TBSP of milk and stir. Continue to add milk, 1 TBSP at a time, until desired consistency has been achieved.

To glaze cupcakes, place cupcakes on a wire rack set on waxed paper to catch any drips. Place a spoon full of glaze on top of the cup cake and allow glaze to flow freely over the edges. Allow glaze to set for 1 minute before placing mochi balls on top.