Cinnamon Cupcakes with Honey

I tackled artificial cinnamon flavor in my last post, and I was happy to turn to the real thing this time! It was a friend’s birthday, and his girlfriend tipped me off to his love for cinnamon. I had no problem fulfilling her request that it be the flavor of my contribution to the party fare.

I worked from a regular vanilla cupcake recipe, adding a tablespoon of cinnamon to the batter. The frosting was vanilla buttercream with a teaspoon of cinnamon. I added a little honey to both for good measure. If the honey flavor was evident in the cake or icing, it was subtle, but I took care of that. Once baked and cooled, I piped on swirls of cinnamon buttercream and drizzled them with honey.

Much of the honey had been absorbed by the time I reached the party, or run off and made a sticky mess of my cupcake carrier, but the unique flavor of honey sweetness remained.

The guest of honor seemed to approve!