Let’s cook – fall in love with our chocolate Valentine’s Day cupcakes
Ok, I hear you thinking, it’s just a cupcake – what’s so special about that? But folks, it’s a cupcake taken to the next level of scrumptious, guaranteeing culinary adoration from all those that taste them. Follow the jump for my tips on how to take your cupcakes to the next level this Valentine’s Day!
It’s not a lie when it’s said people eat with their eyes first. With that in mind, go the extra mile with decorating cupcakes for your loved ones – or simply those you want to impress – with epic baking and decorating skills which are a cinch to master. After all, I want to be fancy without spending forever in the kitchen. Any dense chocolate cake recipe will do, but I love this Thermomix recipe – it tastes just like a mud cake. Yum!
Boiled Chocolate Cake ingredients
200g sugar
200g water
120g butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
200g Self-Raising Flour
2 eggs, beaten
Method
- Preheat oven at 170°C. Prepare a 12 hole cupcake / muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Place sugar, water, cocoa, and bicarbonate soda in the Thermomix mixing bowl. Cook for 10 minutes / 100 degrees / Speed 2.
- Remove the lid and allow mixture to cool to 70 degrees.
- Insert the butterfly into the mixing bowl. Add flour and beaten eggs to the mixture. Mix for 15 seconds / Speed 3.
- Pour into cupcake liners in cupcake tray, no more than ¾ full. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Once ready, cool in tin for 2 minutes before transferring to wire cooling rack.
What next?
Once cooled completely, it’s time to get icing. I use buttercream because I love the way it stands up when piped. The hearts I made from ready-to-roll fondant from the supermarket that I dyed myself – though cake decorating stores do sell small quantities of coloured icing, so be sure to check what’s available locally to you!
Fondant hearts
Add a few drops of Americolour Colouring Gel to the fondant and knead it until the colour is even. Keep adding a couple of drops at a time until the desired colour is achieved. Don’t forget to wear disposable gloves if you don’t want red fingers! Lightly roll it flat and cut using a heart punch, cutter or template your fondant hearts and set them aside to dry out while you make the buttercream icing.
Buttercream icing ingredients
120g butter
300g icing sugar
30g milk
Method
- Place butter and icing sugar into the Thermomix bowl and mix for 4 minutes / Speed 2 / Reverse. After 15 seconds, with the Thermomix running, pour in the milk. (You can also do this in a Kitchenaid or similar mixer by creaming the butter first).
- Fit a large piping tip to a piping bag and fill with your buttercream icing. Carefully pipe the icing onto your cooled cupcakes. While the buttercream is still wet, add sprinkles and your fondant hearts.
This recipe yields 13 delicious cupcakes and a quantity of icing to ice them all generously with love!
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