Tea & Friends

Today, my living room was filled to capacity with lovely mummas and their beautiful babies.  I whole-heartedly believe that homemade goodness is always better shared with wonderful friends alongside tea and energetic banter, and such was the case today.  These gorgeous white chocolate mud cupcakes went down a treat, with a few little people stealing nibbles and ending up with more than a little buttercream over their chubby chops!

Served alongside raspberry-jewelled dark chocolate brownies, my mud cupcakes are morning tea perfection. Creamy, luscious bites: these darlings will not disappoint and are worth every little bit of care and attention that goes into them.  Definitely for sharing with some special people.

White Chocolate Mud Cupcakes

250g unsalted butter

150g good quality white chocolate, chopped

2 cups caster sugar

1 cup milk

1/2 cup SR flour

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, beaten lightly

Preheat over to 140 degrees. Melt butter, chocolate, sugar and milk together over a low heat. Continue stirring, without boiling, until smooth. Pour mixture into your mixing bowl and leave to cool. Whisk in sifted flours before mixing in vanilla and eggs. Share mixture into cupcake papers and bake for 45 mins or until springy when touched. A skewer will not come out clean with these cakes.

Allow to cool before frosting with White Chocolate Vanilla Buttercream.

White Chocolate Vanilla Buttercream

125g unsalted butter, softened

90g good quality white chocolate

1/2 tsp vanilla bean seeds (or extract)

1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted

Melted white chocolate in the microwave (use intervals of 40 seconds, stirring in between). Set aside to cool. Beat butter for 4-5 mins until very light in colour. Fold in cooled white chocolate so well combined. Stir through the vanilla before adding icing sugar. Once icing sugar is incorporated, beat on a high speed for 2-3 minutes.

F. x

Sweet treats

It's no secret that my favourite dessert is Sticky Date Pudding. In fact, I display an abnormal compulsion to order it should it appear on a menu. It's perfection in all its juxtaposing facets: spongy in texture and dense in flavour. Who can go past its sickly sweetness and deep amber colour?

This recipe is slightly more versatile than one I have previously shared. It is baked as a cake and easily prepared in the food processor. You can serve large squares of this incredible pudding cake with warm caramel sauce and ice cream and stick to the traditional, or (as I have done today) cut it into "two-bite" sized bars with a smear of caramel for a light afternoon morsel. No one is going to accept a bowl of hot pudding and ice cream for afternoon tea but they'll be all over this is a jiffy.

The secret to getting neatly cut bars is to put the cake (once cooled) in the freezer for half an hour before cutting. This firms it up and takes off the stickiness that makes slicing difficult. Once out of the freezer, use a serrated-edge knife to portion the cake as you wish. These little bars suit me because you never feel quite as guilty stealing a second one! If you are serving in this way, also set aside your sauce for a couple of hours to cool (and thus, thicken sufficiently). This naughty sauce is a perfect one to have stashed in the fridge for topping ice cream, drizzling over cakes or shortbread (the sweetness cuts through a tart cheesecake remarkably well) or for attacking with a spoon when no one else is looking.

Sticky Date Cake

315g fresh dates

375mL boiling water

1 1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarb)

150g unsalted butter, softened

175g brown sugar

3 eggs

225g SR flour, sifted

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees C. Place dates, water and bicarb in the food processor with the cutting blade. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.  Pulse the processor 3-5 times to roughly chop the dates.  Change to the mixing blade before adding butter and sugar. Process until well combined.  Mix in eggs and flour until just incorporated. Pour mixture into a greased and lined 30cm square slice tin. Bake for 30 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in tin for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Sticky Caramel Sauce

150g unsalted butter, chopped

250mL single cream

265g brown sugar

Place all ingredients into a saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.  Bring to the boil, keep stirring and cook for 8 minutes.  Caramel will thicken as it cooks.  Serve hot for a thin sauce or at room temperature if you prefer it thick and gooey.

Don't you wish you were at my house for afternoon tea today?

F. x

Keep Calm

Just a little happy snap of the beautiful cup of tea that I've been looking forward to for....oh, about 6 hours! Finally, it's all mine and I even got 5 minutes to sit on the couch to drink it. Mm mmm mmm!

As I sit here, I'm also taking in the sweet smell of some deliciousness baking in my oven. I can't wait to share the finished product with you later, but until then, can you guess what it is?

F. x