Sweet tooth...satisfied!

Tonight, we are madly packing for a flying trip to Brisbane for my father's birthday.  Despite this, I just had to try out this recipe that I've been turning around and around my head for days!  These cupcakes are sweet and rich and divinely fudgy.  Delicious chocolate morsels are a sweet surprise inside these heavenly cakes.  There isn't much better - except maybe for the choc-hazelnut buttercream with adorns these beauties.  Cupcakes for grown-ups...a indulgent hit of whisky means that no kiddies will be licking this bowl!

Fudgy Chocolate Mudcakes

175g good quality dark chocolate

175g unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

80 mL whisky

200g brown sugar

200g caster sugar

3 eggs, beaten

225g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

110g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Melt chocolate, butter, vanilla and whisky together until smooth and glossy (I do this in the microwave).  While the mixture is still hot, beat in the sugars.  Add the eggs and combine well before mixing in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt.  When batter is well-mixed, stir through the chocolate chips.  Distribute batter into baking cups and bake for 20-30 minutes.  Baking time will depend on the size of your baking cups.  When cooked, cupcakes will have a hard crust and a skewer, inserted, will be mostly clean.  Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Choc-hazelnut Buttercream

125g unsalted butter

3 cups icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp nutella

3 tbsp cocoa, sifted

Beat butter and sugar together for 10 minutes until almost white.  Mix in vanilla, nutella and cocoa. 

F. x

Delightful, darling!

Buttery, crumbly, rich, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread.  This is it. 

This week, I squeezed my baking fix into 20 minutes after pulling a few easily accessible ingredients from my fridge and pantry. This recipe produces quite a 'grown-up' custard shortbread that is buttery and gorgeous but not sickly sweet. The drizzle of rich dark chocolate across the top perfectly compliments the creamy biscuit which could only be improved with an accompanying cappucino...delightful, darlings!

Chocolate-Drizzled Custard Shortbreads

250g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups plain flour, sifted

1/2 cup custard powder, sifted

dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line two baking trays with grease-proof paper.  Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. When colour lightens, mix in flour and custard powder.  Roll teaspoon sized amounts of the mixture into balls and place on the trays.  Press each ball down a little before putting in the oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  When cool, drizzle melted chocolate across the top of the biscuits.

F. x