Christmas Cupcakes

Post-Thanksgiving. Jim and Diane flew home to Duluth. Elena is making tamales from leftover masa because Elena does not waste masa, she converts it into more tamales, which she distributes to neighbors in Maryvale with the efficiency of a one-woman food bank. Roberto is eating leftover carne asada for breakfast, which he considers to be a perfectly acceptable morning meal and which Elena considers to be a declaration of war against his A1C.

The food magazine sent the editorial calendar for the column. Twelve months, twelve themes: January (carne asada — Roberto's story, already drafted), February (Valentine's Day cooking for two), March (the firehouse kitchen), April (competition BBQ), May (Mother's Day and Elena's mole), June (summer grilling), July (Hatch chiles), August (back-to-school meals), September (fall comfort food), October (Dia de los Muertos), November (Thanksgiving fusion), December (Christmas traditions). The arc of a year through food. The arc of my life through food. Each column is 1,200 words plus a recipe. Each column is a chapter of the book Jessica says I am writing.

I wrote the February column this week — the Valentine's Day lamb chops. The story: the taco truck where Jessica cried, the first date, the first Valentine's, the tradition. The recipe: lamb loin chops, rosemary-garlic (the classic, not the Moroccan variation — save that for the book). The words came easily because the story is easy. The story is: I love a woman who bought me a cast iron griddle and made me flashcards and who sees the restaurant before I do. That is the story. The lamb chops are the vehicle.

Christmas planning is underway. I am off shift this year (third year in a row — the rotation gods have been kind). The standing rib roast will return. Elena's tres leches cheesecake will return. The pozole on Christmas Eve will return. Everything returns. Everything comes back around. The fire burns. The food is made. The family gathers. December in Phoenix is cool and clear and the lights go up on every house and the smoke from the grill drifts into the evening air like a prayer. The prayer is always the same: more of this. Just more of this.

Writing the Valentine’s Day column reminded me that the best recipes aren’t the ones you try once — they’re the ones you go back to, year after year, until they stop being recipes and start being rituals. Christmas in our house runs on that logic: the rib roast returns, the pozole returns, Elena’s tres leches cheesecake returns. These Christmas cupcakes belong in that same rotation — simple enough to make on a December evening when the shift is done and the lights are already up, festive enough to feel like the holiday earned them.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 22 min | Total Time: 42 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2–3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Red and green food coloring
Holiday sprinkles or sanding sugar, for decorating

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with holiday paper liners.
Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and granulated sugar with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.
Combine wet and dry. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix on low until just combined — do not overmix.
Bake. Divide batter evenly among the prepared liners, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake 20–22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting. Beat butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar, then heavy cream and vanilla. Beat on high until fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Divide frosting and tint half red and half green with food coloring.
Decorate. Pipe or spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Finish with holiday sprinkles or sanding sugar. Arrange on a platter and watch them disappear before the pozole is even warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Christmas Cupcakes — Because Everything Good Comes Back Around