It was Ray’s birthday yesterday, and along with making him a fancy dinner and tiny birthday cake on Sunday, I decided to surprise him with happy hour at our favorite brewpub, Nodding Head.
Of course, it couldn’t be that simple, so I invited a bunch of friends to help us celebrate and baked cupcakes!
As usual, I wanted to bake a cupcake I hadn’t made before. I got to thinking about the season and booze, and I remember how Ray had made us thermoses of chai hot toddies last December before we enjoyed our town’s Holiday parade. He’s also been drinking a lot of Dirty Chai as he works at the coffee shop, so I decided to come up with 2 cupcake different recipes.
For the Hot Toddy Cupcake, I googled “Hot Toddy” and learned that it’s a drink that can be made in a variety of ways. Some people use whiskey. Some people use rum. There can be a variety of citrus, spices, and honey. Basically, it’s whipped up to help whatever is ailing you.
My version of the Hot Toddy is a spiced whiskey lemon cake, using cinnamon and cloves. I whipped up my honey buttercream (one of my favorites), and decided some candied ginger would be the perfect garnish.
Now I’m pretty sure no doctor would ever prescribe this sweet treat, but it is tasty! Our friends who tried this cupcake loved it.
Check back tomorrow to read about the other cupcake I made for Ray’s birthday, the Dirty Chai!
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Line cupcake pans with papers.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves together. Set aside.
Zest the lemons into a bowl, add the sugar and whisk to combine. You should be blasted with a wonderful lemony aroma.
Beat the eggs for 1 minute in the bowl of a standmixer, then add the sugar/zest mixture and mix an additional 2-3 minutes until thick and frothy.
Add the oil and lemon extract, and beat until combined. Alternate the dry ingredients and milk and whiskey (adding the whiskey before the final addition of the dry) and beat until combined.
Divide the batter between wrappers in cupcake tins and bake for 18 minutes.
For the frosting, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of sugar, beating until combined. Add the honey.
Finally, add the remaining sugar gradually and whip until light and fluffy, using cream as needed for texture and consistency.
Pipe onto the cooled cupcakes and garnish with some candied ginger.
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