'Mr Nutella' Chocolate Cupcakes | Weekend Bake Recipe

In honour of Ferrero Rocher chocolate tycoon Michele Ferrero, or 'Mr Nutella', who sadly died this week, I had fun developing these Nutella inspired treats. Warning: These cupcakes contain a combination of ingredients so indulgently sweet as to probably be capable of inducing a heart attack. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients (Makes 6):

2 eggs (room temperature)

2oz caster sugar

2oz self-raising flour, no need to sift (or plain flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder) 

2oz unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter icing: icing sugar, unsalted butter, vanilla extract, 1 dessert spoon of Nutella

Method:

1) Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5

2) Cream together sugar and butter

3) Mix in eggs and vanilla extract

4) Fold the flour into the mixture

5) Spoon half of the mixture into 6 muffin cases

6) Add a teaspoon of Nutella in the middle of each case

7) Spoon the rest of the mixture into the cases, so that it covers the Nutella blob in the middle

8) Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven and allow to cool on a wire rack when baked

9) Decorate with a sprinkle of icing sugar or a dollop of Nutella butter icing

Terry's Chocolate Orange Christmas Leftover Muffins

The full title of this inventive recipe is 'Terry's-chocolate-orange-New-Year-sweet-Christmas-leftover-muffins'. By the time Boxing Day rolls in, as do Christmas' survivors, leftover turkey is usually seen as the order of the day. But surely too much credence is given to our seasonal savoury companions - turkeys, geese, duck, pork, usually the preserve of stodgy sandwiches - what of leftover sweets? In the spirit of New Year celebratory baking, and clutching some of the remaining Christmas Terry's chocolate orange, I decided to turn my sweet leftovers into a muffin recipe. As the saying goes, adversity is the mother of invention. And so leftover chocolate was the mother of this invention.

Ingredients (Makes 12)

3/4 Terry's Dark Chocolate Orange

2 large eggs

4oz self-raising flour (or baking powder and plain flour)

4oz caster sugar

4oz soft butter

For decoration (see below)

Method

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5 (or equivalent)

Cream together the butter and sugar until soft

Add the beaten eggs to the mixture gradually, a bit at a time

Fold in the flour until combined

Chop the chocolate orange segments into chunks

Stir chocolate chunks into the mixture

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes

Decoration

For decoration I went (again) with leftovers - in the form of glace cherries, mini meringues, chocolate chunks, chocolate stars - so go wild and dangerously and experiment with whatever you happen to have to hand!

Good luck and comment below or tweet your progress!

Weekend Bake: Celebration English Cupcakes Recipe and Tips

Whether it's a birthday, an unbirthday, a summer barbeque or the Wimbledon final, it's always great to get baking and try an English version of sweet American cupcakes. With more flour and less sugar, these cupcakes are more Victoria sponge and work perfectly for tea parties.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

6oz self-raising flour

6oz caster sugar

6oz butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1) Cream together butter and sugar

2) Fold in flour into the mixture in stages

3) Break in the eggs

4) Spoon into cake cases

5) Bake in a Gas Mark 4/350F/180C

Chef's Tips:

1) Sift flour and icing sugar fully before combining

2) Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the mixture for extra taste sensation

3) Combine all the ingredients until smooth

4) Leave to cook until bouncy and golden

5) Decorate with chocolate and other flavoured icing, when cooled, by adding cocoa powder to icing sugar and water

Carpe Diem xx

Chocolate and Banana Cupcakes | Recipe

 Ingredients:

120g plain flour

120g caster sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

A pinch of salt

80g unsalted butter, at room temperature

120ml semi-skimmed milk

2 eggs

2 large bananas, peeled and mashed

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 170oC (325oF) Gas Mark 3

2) Put cupcakes cases in 12-hole cupcake tray

 3) Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and butter (preferably in a freestanding electric mixer otherwise your arm will get very tired!)

4) Slowly add milk, and then eggs, beating well

5) Evenly disperse mashed banana into the mixture

6) Spoon the mixture into the paper cupcake cases

 7) Bake in preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes

 8) When cool decorate with chocolate frosting/icing and sprinkle with hundreds and thousands!

Chocolate frosting:

250g icing sugar, sifted

50g cocoa powder

50g unsalted butter, at room temperature

125g cream cheese, cold (I used Philadelphia Light)

(Adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook)

Carpe diem xx

70 (Wedding) Cupcakes

Silver Spoon Royal Icing.........

Seventy cupcakes made for the reception of a summer wedding on 1st June.

Cupcakes: The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, vanilla cupcakes

Icing: Silver Spoon Royal Icing

Flowers: Dr. Oetker Regal-Ice, blue

Carpe diem xx

Here's one I made earlier....

Hummingbird Vanilla Cupcakes

Cupcake batter

Iced, decorated and finished!

(From The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook)