Ginger Snap Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Icing

I know we are on the brink of summer and ginger is not exactly a summery flavor. However, I had a few gingersnap cookies in my house and wanted to try them out in a cupcake. Gingersnaps are such a delicious cookie but I never even think about them. In fact, I wouldn't even have these cookies in my house if John's Gram hadn't sent them home with John a few weeks ago. I hadn't had them in so long and what's awesome about them is that they are sort if spicy. The sweetness from the molasses is there but eat two in a row and your tongue is definitely feeling the spice. I made this cupcakes this morning and they are very good- although, I'd like them to be a little bit denser in my opinion. I think maybe I'll add more eggs next time.
Here is what I did-
1 stick of butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 heaping tbsp dark corn syrup
about 10 gingersnaps that i ground very fine in my food processor
1 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
I beat all of this together and baked for 20 minutes at 350- it made 12 cupcakes


For the icing I ended up finding a recipe online that didn't call for powdered sugar which is what I needed b/c I'm all out right now. I was skeptical of it but it came out awesome. 
I made it with:
1/2 stick softened butter
6 tbsp vegetable shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 tsp dark corn syrup
4 1/2 tsp flour
1/2 cup milk
1 packet of artificial sweetener
First, I whisked the milk and flour together over low heat in saucepan until it thickened- just like you'd do if you were making a bechamel sauce for pasta or something- once it was thick, I turned the heat off and let it cool.  I them creamed the rest of the ingredients together in another bowl and added in the thickened milk sauce at the end- I beat it for about 5 minutes till all the sugar was dissolved and it had a very smooth consistency. I also added about a tsp of   edible glitter into it so it'd have a little bit of shimmer.I added in the packet of sweetener because i still felt it wasn't sweet enough and it really wasn't going to get sweeter with more brown sugar- the packet was just the boost it needed. I piped the icing on top of the cooled cupcakes and then put on Christmas carols while Charlotte and I taste tested them. Just kidding- no Christmas music but we did eat one..or two.. and they are awesome! I will bake them again only using more egg and AP flour instead of cake flour next time to see if I can get them a bit denser though.