Hot chocolate cupcakes

  

Hot chocolate cupcakes were quite nice :). The cake was dense, chocolaty.. topped with hot chocolate flavoured cream decorated with mini marshmallows. They were easy to make and tasty. The recipe comes from 'Cake days. Recipes to make every day special. The hummingbird bakery' cookbook.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 240ml milk
• 25g hot chocolate powder
• 80g butter
• 280g caster sugar
• 240g plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Pour the milk into a sauce pan and gently warm the milk without boiling it. Add the hot chocolate powder stirring until dissolved. Then set aside to cool down.

Using electric mixer with paddle attachment slowly whisk together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. 

Pour the chocolate milk into a measuring jug and whisk in the eggs. Pour half of this mixture into the dry ingredients and combine on a low speed. Increase the speed to medium and continue to mix until smooth and thick. Pour in the remaining wet ingredients and continue to mix until the batter is smooth once again.   

Fill each muffin case up to 2/3 full. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack to cool them down completely before frosting.

Ingredients for frosting:

• 60 ml milk
• 30g hot chocolate powder
• 500g icing sugar
• 160g soft butter
• hot chocolate powder for dusting
• mini marshmallows

Warm the milk to dissolve the hot chocolate powder. Set aside to cool down.

Place the butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer bowl. Using a paddle attachment beat them on low speed until sandy in texture. Still mixing on a low speed, gradually pour in the chocolate milk. Then increase the speed to high and whisk until light and fluffy.

Transfer the frosting into a piping bag with nozzle and decorate the cupcakes. Then dust with hot chocolate powder and sprinkle with mini marshmallows.


Enjoy !

Blueberry cream mini tarts

Those tarts are made of digestive cookies, filled with custard cream and topped with fresh berries. Have you ever seen something that looks so delicious ?  Those mouth - watering, delicious and pretty mini tarts are worth the effort. They easy to make although it takes a while to prepare them. The recipe some from Anna Olson show.

Ingredients for 12 tart shells:

• 175g flour
• 140g digestive cookies (11 whole ones)
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 100g butter

Preheat the oven to 180. Slightly grease then muffin tin wholes.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool down. Put the cookies into a blender and turn them into fine crumbs.

Transfer the crumbs into a big bowl add the flour, sugar and salt and mix all ingredients well. Then pour in the butter. Stir well. The mixture should resemble wet sand.

Spoon about two tablespoons of the mixture into each muffin tin whole. Press with back of the spoon or with fingers to shape tart shells.

Put into preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and set aside to cool down completely.  When cooled gently remove from tin. 

baked tart shells

Prepare custard cream.

Ingredients for custard cream:

• 250ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp corn flour
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Prepare the big bowl in which the custard will be cooling down. Put butter on the bottom of the bowl. Set aside.

In a medium sized sauce pan heat up the milk. Add the vanilla bean paste. 

In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks with sugar and corn flour. When the milk is almost boiling pour a small amount of it into an egg mixture stirring all the time. Gently pour in all the milk stirring the mixture continuously. When all the milk is combined with egg yolks pour the mixture back into a sauce pan. Cook it on medium heat stirring all the time until starts bubbles. Remove form heat. Pour immediately through the strainer to the prepared earlier bowl with butter on bottom. Stir the custard with the butter. Place the piece of plastic wrap directly over the surface and set aside to cool down to the room temperature.

When cooled transfer the custard into icing bag and squeeze into baked earlier tart shells. On top of each tart put some berries. I used blueberries but any berries will do. 

 Enjoy !

Honey and lemon muffins

Very tasty, fluffy cake, packed with fibre. Perfect snack on breakfast to go. And of course easy to make. The recipe comes form 'Easy muffins' cookbook.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 50g sugar
• 25g butter
• 150ml buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp honey
• 1 lemon
• 225g flour
• 75g bran or wheat bran (I used wheat bran)
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool down. Put the sugar into a big bowl stir in the cooled butter. The pour in the buttermilk, break in the eggs and add honey and freshly great lemon zest. Mix all the ingredients together. 

In separate bowl whisk together the flour, bran and baking powder. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix until just moist.

Spoon the batter into muffin tin, 3/4 full. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

While the muffins are still in the oven prepare the lemon and honey glaze.

Ingredients for lemon and honey glaze:

•  2 tbsp honey
• freshly squeezed lemon juice

Place the honey and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix them together until combined. 

Drizzle this mixture over each muffin top while they still hot.

Enjoy !

Blackberry streusel muffins

Tasty, not too sweet, spongy cake filled with zesty fruits, sprinkled with aromatic streusel topping.  Very delicious mixture of flavours, perfect addition to cup of tea. The recipe comes from 'The Australian Women's Weekly. Muffins'.

 

 Ingredients for 12 standard or 6 extra large muffins:

• 300g self-rising flour (or 300g plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder)
• 170g frozen blackberries
• 1 medium size apple
• 150g brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 80 ml canola oil
• 80 ml buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Peel of the apple and great the apple coarsely. Set aside.

Sift the flour into a big bowl add the sugar and whisk. Then stir in the apple chunks and frozen blackberries. 

In separate jug whisk the eggs, then add the canola oil and buttermilk and whisk again.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and combine them all until just moist.

Spoon the batter into prepared earlier muffin tin and set aside. Prepare the streusel topping.

Ingredients for the streusel topping:

• 50g flour
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp all spice or cinnamon
• 30g butter

 Place all the ingredients into a small bowl and rub between your fingers. When crumbly sprinkle it over each muffin top.

Bake the muffin about 20 minutes until well risen and golden.

Remove form oven and let them cool for a good few minutes. They are very tasty when worm but the fruits inside are very hot just after baking.

Enjoy !