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Spice cake is one of my favorite desserts, but it’s not as satisfying to eat between January and October. So in November and December, I try to eat as much spice cake as I possibly can. With smaller gatherings happening this year, it certainly doesn’t make sense to make an 8″ 3-layer cake like I normally would, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want my spice cake fix! These spiced cupcakes satisfy my spice cake craving and, let’s be real, my cream cheese frosting craving, too. Being able to make just 3 cupcakes is the perfect way to get those holiday flavors without having extra cake laying around. Enjoy!
Small Batch Spiced Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
A recipe that makes just 3 deliciously moist cupcakes with the perfect ratio of spice cake to cream cheese frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
Spiced Cupcakes
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg (we'll only use half the egg here)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 7 tablespoons flour (¼ cup and 3 tablespoons)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons milk
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese spread1 (or 1 oz from a block of cream cheese)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Spiced Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 3 wells of a muffin tin with cupcake liners (you can leave the other wells of the tin empty).
- Whisk vegetable oil (2 tablespoons) and brown sugar (¼ cup) together in a small bowl until combined.
- We are going to add the egg next, but since this is such a small recipe you only need half an egg, or about 2 tablespoons of egg. Here's the easiest way to do that: crack your egg into a separate small bowl. Using a fork, whisk the egg really, really well, like for at least 30 seconds.
- Carefully measure out 2 tablespoons and add it to the oil and brown sugar. If it's hard to get the egg to fill a whole tablespoon, you can measure out 6 teaspoons instead.
- Add the vanilla (½ teaspoon) and sour cream (2 tablespoons) to the bowl and whisk until combined.
- Add the cinnamon (½ teaspoon), allspice (¼ teaspoon), ginger (⅛ teaspoon), nutmeg (⅛ teaspoon), and salt (⅛ teaspoon) to the bowl and whisk until the spices are evenly distributed in the batter.
- Add the flour (7 tablespoons) and baking powder (¼ teaspoon) to the bowl, and whisk very slowly until you just can't see streaks of flour anymore.
- Add the milk (2 tablespoons) to the bowl and whisk very gently until all the milk is absorbed.
- Add about 3 tablespoons of batter to each cupcake liner (an ice cream scoop usually gives you the right amount here).
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs on it.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Microwave the butter (2 tablespoons) in 5 second intervals until it softens. Softened butter should still feel cool to the touch. Your finger should make an indent but not slide off the stick. In my microwave this only takes 5-10 seconds for 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Add the butter and cream cheese spread (2 tablespoons) to a small bowl and use a hand mixer to beat them together until combined.
- Add the powdered sugar (¾ cup), salt (¼ teaspoon), milk (1 teaspoon), and vanilla (½ teaspoon) and mix with a spoon or rubber spatula until the ingredients start to combine (this is really just to prevent powdered sugar from flying everywhere when you go back to the hand mixer).
- Use the hand mixer to beat the ingredients until a smooth frosting forms. This will feel like not enough frosting, but I promise you it's enough frosting for 3 cupcakes. Mine were generously frosted plus a little frosting left for snacking!
Assembly
- Decorate the cupcakes as you see fit! If you'd like to pipe the frosting on but you're intimidated by using one, check out my post on How to Prepare a Piping Bag.
Spiced Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 3 wells of a muffin tin with cupcake liners (you can leave the other wells of the tin empty).
- Whisk vegetable oil (2 tablespoons) and brown sugar (¼ cup) together in a small bowl until combined.
- Crack the egg into a separate small bowl and whisk it very well. Measure out 2 tablespoons of egg and add it to your butter and sugar.
- Add the vanilla (½ teaspoon) and sour cream (2 tablespoons) to the bowl and whisk until combined.
- Add the cinnamon (½ teaspoon), allspice (¼ teaspoon), ginger (⅛ teaspoon), nutmeg (⅛ teaspoon), and salt (⅛ teaspoon) to the bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour (7 tablespoons) and baking powder (¼ teaspoon) to the bowl, and whisk until just combined.
- Add the milk (2 tablespoons) and whisk until all the milk is absorbed.
- Add about 3 tablespoons of batter to each cupcake liner and bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Soften butter in 5 second intervals in the microwave.
- Using a hand mixer, beat the butter and (2 tablespoons)until combined.
- Add the powdered sugar (¾ cup), salt (¼ teaspoon), milk (1 teaspoon), and vanilla (½ teaspoon) and beat until a smooth frosting forms.
- Decorate the cupcakes however you’d like!
NOTES
1. Usually cream cheese frosting requires a block of cream cheese instead of cream cheese spread (the spreadable cream cheese you buy in a tub to put on your bagel). Since this is such a small recipe, the water content in cream cheese spread doesn't impact the recipe like it normally would, and I thought it'd be easier than using just 1 oz of an 8 oz block of cream cheese. Either will work just fine here, though!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!