Double Chocolate Mud Cupcakes with Cookies and Cream Icing

I have to confess I was shopping with the kids at our local Coles supermarket the other day and my little boy Blake pointed out some cupcakes that took his eye in the bakery section, and that my friend’s is where my inspiration came from to create a similar cupcake like these ones, made from scratch at home.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MUD CUPCAKES

60g dark eating chocolate, coarsely chopped.
2/3 cup (160ml) water
90g butter, softened
1cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup (100g) self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup (40g) almond meal

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C/150 degrees C fan- forced. Line a 12 hole standard muffin pan with paper cases.
2. Combine chocolate and the water in small saucepan, stir over low heat until smooth (I used a bowl over simmering water method, as I never trust chocolate).
3. Beat butter, sugar and eggs in bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Stir in sifted flour and cocoa, almond meal and warm chocolate mixture. divide mixture among cases. (I found mixture to be very thin, I added some extra self-raising flour but I really think you would be fine without it and should end up with an even moister cake then I did).
5. Bake cakes for about 25 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.

COOKIES AND CREAM ICING

INGREDIENTS
125g (4oz) butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar (I use Coles brand soft icing mixture)
2 tablespoons milk
150g packet orio biscuits (I used about 10 biscuits from the packet)

METHOD
Have butter and milk at room temperature, place butter in small bowl of electric mixer, beat until butter is as white as possible, gradually add about half the sifted icing sugar, beating constantly,add milk gradually, then gradually beat in remaining icing sugar, mixture should be smooth and easy to spread with a spatula.

To make icing cookies and cream flavour I used 10 original Orio biscuits and processed them to a fine crumb in food processor. I then mixed them thru the Vienna cream evenly. Garnish with a little bit of Orio biscuit crumb.
I chose to pipe the icing on the cupcakes but that is completely your choice, they will taste the same regardless!!!

The end result was Happy customers. What more could a Mama ask for???

Fairy Cakes

Every time I bake these little gems they are a fabulous hit. It has been quite some time since I last baked them so I thought now is as good a time as any to make a batch. I am taking them in to ZaGrandma’s and ZaPop’s (my mum and dad) for them and the beautiful families they have staying with them at the moment. They have all had a challenging week to say the least and I hope that a little bit of homemade goodness and perhaps a hot cuppa will help them soldier on for the rest of the week. Love you all.
The best thing about this recipe is the fact that everything goes in the bowl altogether and then you mix. No creaming needed its great!!!
As I have said before I am a huge fan of The Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbooks and that’s where I originally found this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
2/3 cup castor sugar
125g butter, softened (I cube it up and zap in microwave for about 10 seconds)
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup jam or lemon butter, approximately
300ml thickened cream, whipped

METHOD

1. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with muffin cases
2. Sift dry ingredients into bowl of electric mixer, add butter, eggs, milk and essence. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until mixture is smooth and slightly lighter in colour.
3. Drop approx 2 heaped tablespoons of mixture into prepared cases. Bake in moderate oven about 20 mins or until lightly browned, cool in pans.
4. Using a fine-pointed knife, cut circles from tops of cakes about 1 cm from edge and 1.5cm down into cakes.
5. Place about 1/2 teaspoon of jam or lemon butter into cavities of cakes, top with whipped cream. Place tops in position. Dust with sifted icing sugar.

Note: If you want the cakes to be butterfly cakes cut the circle cut out in half and pop on the cream like wings, you could even pretty them up with a few silver sprinkles.

Cupcake for my beautiful sister Kayla

This is a decorating idea I used for the cupcakes I made my beautiful sister Kayla for her 23rd birthday hence the ‘K’ on top of the cupcake. I know it looks like the ‘K’ from the special K cereal that’s because I used it as my tracing pattern under a piece of baking paper. I melted chocolate, poured into a snap lock bag, snipped a very fine opening and piped about 24 k’s onto the baking paper I had traced the K’s onto. I let them set for 5 minutes in the fridge and then did another layer of chocolate to thicken them up for handling. You just have to experiment.