Well, it’s officially the Christmas season. If you ask me, it’s been the Christmas season since the beginning of November, but to some people the Christmas season has just begun. I love this time of year more than anything. It’s such a cozy, lovely time of the year, and you can’t help but feel the happiness in the air, unless you are the Ebenezer Scrooge sort. Of course, there is the actual celebrating of Christmas that makes people happy, but I think that the entire season is more than that. This is the time of the year that family and friends come together, forget their differences and just enjoy being in the company of one another. I think it’s more than just celebrating Christmas, or any other holiday around this time. It’s about seeing little kids light up with joy when they see that one toy that will make their dreams come true. It’s about looking back on your year, and remembering the good times and the bad, and looking forward to the New Year to come. Then there are things like people gorging on treats until they are utterly ill, but then making New Year’s Resolutions to do better next year. It’s a good time of year.

One of the best things about this season is the Christmas music. As soon as November came storming in, I ditched my usual playlist of my boy-band and swing kings, and promptly made the transition into my massive collection of Christmas music. I always listen to music while baking; there is not an exception. It’s almost as important to my baking process as the ingredients themselves. People have asked me, “Why is this so good?” I never have an answer, but maybe it is because when I’m baking the good spirits from my joyful singing and interpretive dancing make their way into the batter. Along with the change in music came the change into making holiday treats.  There aren’t a whole lot of things one can do for the holidays, at least when it comes to branching out in the baking field; people like what they like. There is gingerbread, fudge, peppermint, fruit cake, eggnog, and maybe the most important of all, sugar cookies. Taking a classic, such as one of these, and adding a twist to it is my favorite thing to do. I firmly believe inspiration can strike anywhere anytime, and while singing a terrible rendition of the song “A Marshmallow World,” I got an idea. The idea being gingerbread cupcakes with a white chocolate marshmallow cream frosting. I’ve made types of marshmallow frosting before, but I’ve always been incredibly disappointed with the turn out. This time, I decided to give it a go, and try making up my own recipe. I’m not perfect at baking, nor did I ever claim to be, which is probably good, considering I screwed this frosting up so many times. In one of the trials, I forgot to let the white chocolate cool before putting it into a batch of frosting consisting of egg whites. The egg whites cooked, leaving me with a frosting that frosting tasted and smelled horrible. It took several tries, but when I finally got exactly what I wanted, and it was worth the trouble.

You don’t have to be a wiz in the kitchen to be able to make something delicious that will make people happy. You just have to have the time and the patience. Spending a little longer baking something from scratch not only makes you feel pretty darn successful, but it also shows people that you bake for that you care about them, because you took the time to make something, which is another thing this season is about.

Gingerbread Cupcakes w/ White chocolate buttercream

For Cupcakes:

• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup unsulphered molasses
• 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper baking cups (may make more than 12)., and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.
3. Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full; making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cupcakes cool a few minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For Frosting:

• 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
• 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4 oz white chocolate, melted and cooled

1. Put sugar and egg whites into heatproof bowl, and set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved.
2. Transfer mixture to an electric mixer and beat on medium-high until fluffy and cool (about 10 minutes).
3. Reduce speed to medium-low and begin adding the butter. If at any point in this process the mixture starts to separate, even slightly, stop adding butter and increase mixer speed to high. Mix until frosting comes together and appears smooth and fluffy. Then continue adding remaining butter. Beat in vanilla and white chocolate. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.