They say print media is dying.  And while it is true that we don’t subscribe to The Los Angeles Times, TD and I have had the pink-plastic wrapped Wall Street Journal delivered for years.  TD, the excellent news consumer that he is, reads it every morning cover to news-printy cover.  Me?  Not so much.  But, I do enjoy their weekend editions and have, surprisingly, found the WSJ to be a source of some excellent recipes.  This is one of them.

Spicy and sweet, these cupcakes start out with a homemade chai blend.  I found my cardamom pods at Whole Foods.  Notice the peppercorns are black.  Not pink.

The spice mixture is used to scent and flavor a cake with a dense but moist crumb, perfect consistency for a cupcake in my opinion.

The aromatic cake is further enhanced by a ginger-infused cream cheese frosting that takes five minutes to throw together.

The Wall Street Journal version is actually a layer cake.  However, I think these cupcakes are just that much more festive.  And we are celebrating. At this posting, not only are TD and I leaving on a jet plane for the land of down-under, but I am also about to have one those events that involve blowing out candles.

Like, forty of them.

Soundtrack

Amos Lee

Chai Cupcakes with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from the Wall Street Journal, February 2-3, 2013 (who adapted the recipe from One Girl Cookie, Brooklyn New York)

For the Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 30 cardamom pods
• 7 black (not pink) peppercorns
• 6 whole cloves
• 4 C all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• 12 ounces (24 TBS) butter at room temp
•  2 ½ C sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ C sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line  2, 12-cup cupcake pans with liners.
2. On a cookie sheet, toast cardamom, peppercorns and cloves until fragrant (about 8 minutes.  Once spices are cool, grind to a fine powder in a spice or coffee grinder.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and ground spices.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a  paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar mixing until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
5. Set mixer on low speed and add eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Mix until fully combined, 2-3 minutes.
6. Set mixer on low speed, add in flour in three parts alternating with sour cream beginning and ending with flour.  Mix until just combined after each addition.
7. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix for an additional 10 seconds.
8. Scoop batter into cupcake liners adding until just under the top of the liner.
9. Bake for about 25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through.  Test with toothpick.  Cupcakes are done when the toothpick comes up with moist crumbs.
10. Allow to cool completely.

For the Frosting

Ingredients

• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 6 TBS of butter, softened
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 1 lb confectioner’s sugar (more if desired)
• 1 ½ TBS ground ginger
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 C toasted and chopped pistachios if desired

Directions

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle, beat cream cheese, butter and salt on medium until smooth.  Scrape down sides of bowl.
2. Add confectioner’s sugar, grounds ginger and vanilla.  Mix on medium speed until all ingredients are combined and the frosting is smooth.
3. Frost cupcakes as desired and sprinkle chopped pistachios over top to garnish.