I recently made these gorgeous cupcakes for a family party. I wanted something that would transport well in the heat and would look good when I got to the party and that I could make in advance.
It is a really easy recipe as the wet ingredients are melted together and then mixed in with the dry so there is no whisking or beating.
I found this recipe in an Australian Women's Weekly publication. The recipe makes a dozen cupcakes.
Ingredients
250g/ 10oz butter
150g/6 oz white eating chocolate ( I used Green and Blacks as it is really got a good vanilla taste)
250g/10oz caster sugar
250ml/9floz milk
300g/12oz plain flour
125g/5oz self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Baking time - approx 50 minutes
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C/ gas mark 3. Place your cupcake cases into a 12 hole cupcake tin.
Chop the butter into small pieces and break up the chocolate. Combine the butter, chocolate, sugar and milk in a saucepan and melt over a low heat stirring until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Whisk in the sifted flours, vanilla extract and lightly beaten egg. Divide the mixture between the cake cases. It will be quite liquid but don't worry it is meant to be like this.
Bake the cupcakes for about 50 minutes until they are firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean.
The cupcakes will develop a thick sugary crust whilst baking and some cracks may appear but this is fine.
Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack.
The cakes will keep for a week in an airtight container or can be frozen for for 3 months.
To decorate.
I decorated the cakes with a chocolate ganache. This is a mixture of melted chocolate and cream. It is easy to make.
White Chocolate Ganche
360g/11.5 oz white chocolate
125 ml/5floz pouring cream
Break the chocolate into pieces.
Bring the cream to the boil in a small saucepan and remove from the heat.
Add the chocolate to the cream and stir until smooth and all the chocolate has melted.
Cool to room temperature and then cool in the fridge for about half an hour.
Beat with an electric mixture until the mixture becomes fluffy and spreadable.
Use this mixture to spread across the top of the cupcakes as your first layer of decoration.
Roll the icing until 5mm/ a quarter of an inch thick.
Using a textured embossing mat roll on top of the icing to make a pattern. Use a rolling pin to firmly press and the pattern onto the icing. Using a 7 cm/2.5 cutter cut out 12 rounds from the icing. Carefully place the rounds onto the cakes.
Place the cakes into some lacy cupcake wrappers to hide the plain white cupcake cases.
