Dark & Stormy Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup ginger beer
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons dark rum (Goslings) or 2 teaspoons rum flavoring
1 egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons ground roasted ginger*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt


frosting

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour or line 6 wells in a cupcake pan. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, rum, and ginger beer beat well. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until the batter is light and fluffy. Fold in the ginger. Fill each well 2/3 of the way. Bake approximately 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the middle cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Frost with dark & stormy frosting and top with a slice of candied ginger.

*McCormick makes it. Look for it in the spice aisle.

My thoughts:

The Dark & Stormy, (or as trademarked by Gosling's the Dark 'n' Stormy) a drink that consists simply of dark rum and ginger beer, is the unofficial, official drink of Bermuda. Perfect for warm weather, the drink is crisp and spicy with a caramelized sweetness. When my husband said that he thought a dark & stormy cupcake would be good I leapt into action, quickly developing a recipe (based on a ginger cupcake recipe I created ages ago but never posted) and the cupcakes were in the oven within an hour. Like my original and often imitated Cuba Libre cupcake recipe before, the Dark & Stormy combines a sweet caramelized note with a crisp flavor, in this case, the ginger beer. Much zestier than ginger ale, ginger beer, although nonalcoholic, packs quite a punch. These cupcakes do too, sweet & spicy, they make the perfect end to any meal.