Bake a new batch of cupcakes each week? What was I thinking?! Sweets from Martha Stewart’s Cupcake Cookbook are beautiful to look at but unnecessarily difficult to make…and the taste and quality of some is questionable. Her first recipe “Chocolate Chip Cupcakes” is a bit convoluted and not near as good as Betty Crocker’s. But, the degree of difficulty didn’t stop me in my tracks when trying to commit to a weekly baking extravanganza, it was my state of denial, thinking I wouldn’t eat them (or just have one). Ha! When one needs to lose more pounds than they’d like to admit, one does not commit to a weekly cupcake challenge.

Many were given away, as the Carrot Cupcakes, on page 25, were a neighborhood favorite. Unfortunately, Charlie wouldn’t let me give away too many so the project had to end, given my lack of self-restraint when it came to the taste test. I’m like a junky when sugar is involved so I had to put the kabash on the temptation.

However, some unusual ingredients in my pantry needed to be used, recently, and I found the perfect cupcake in which to incorporate said ingredients. Mistakenly anticipating catching Charlie’s cold, I bought a chunk of fresh ginger, which I thought I’d use for tea. Plus, I had an unopened jar of molasses that came out of mom’s kitchen when we moved them to Alabama Oaks. One can count on Martha Stewart to include some strange items in her even stranger recipes and she did not disappoint…voila…Ginger and Molasses Cupcakes, page 52.

Except for the labor-intensive peeling and mincing of the fresh ginger, the recipe is quite easy and results in a moist cupcake which only needs a dollap of whipped cream to complete. The gingerbread flavor is sharp and, every once in a while, you’ll bite into a piece of fresh, tart ginger root which, for me, is quite pleasing. Even the grandkids liked these. I figured they wouldn’t get near them. If you’re looking to get away from chocolate, these are really tasty and satisfying for that needy sweet tooth. Two (fat) thumbs up!