Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Cupcakes - Cupcake Recipe
Deliciously Decadant Cupcake Recipes - Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Cupcakes
Some cupcake recipes are definitely for the grown ups - as in the case of this recipe for dark chocolate and strawberry cupcakes.
Rich, dark, decadent and divinely delicious these dark chocolate and strawberry cupcakes are not the sort you put out for a kids tea party ~ they're the sort of thing you want to eat slowly so you can savour the soft, rich, dark sponge in all its glory.
And the quite brilliant thing is that while they're wickedly sinful to eat - they're simply angelically easy to make - and like so many great things they improve with age and taste even better the day after they've been made - if you can bear to leave them that long .
Decadant Cupcakes - Perfect for Valentines Day
Deliously decadant cupcakes are the perfect thing to make for Valentines Day or any other occasion.
Easy to make they can be slipped into a lunch bag as a surprise treat, or served with fresh strawberries or cream as a dessert at the end of the day.
Most importantly as they contain both fruit and dark chocolate you can tell yourself that amongst the wicked decadance - there is a little bit of good.
Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Cupcakes - Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
(makes approx 18 cupcakes - cupcakes can be frozen once cooled after baking)
4oz (approx 100g) caster sugar
2oz (approx 50g) cocoa powder
4 fl oz sunflower oil
3 medium eggs
4oz (approx 100g) dark chocolate - melted
6oz (approx 150g) self-raising flour - or same of plain flour with 1 tsp baking powder
1 jar strawberry jam (approx 1lb /450g)
For the Icing:
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
Few drops boiling water
Icing Sugar to taste
How to Make the Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 170C and line cupcake pans with cupcake cases:
- In a large bowl add the caster sugar, cocoa powder and sunflower oil and stir until fully combined.
- Add the eggs and mix well until combined.
- Add the melted chocolate and stir.
- Add the strawberry jam spoonful by spoonful (leaving one spoonful on the jar to use for the icing) and mix well. The jam needs to be broken up within the mixture so there are no large lumps of jam -small lumps are fine and add to the texture of the cakes.
- Add the flour and fold in.
- Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases, filling each case about 3/4 full.
- Place on the middle shelf of the oven for 20 - 25 mins
- Leave to cool before icing.
For the Icing:
- In a small bowl mix the jam with a few drops of boiling water to make it slightly runny and easier to manage.
- Add icing sugar a spoonful at a time until you have a fairly thick icing.
- Once the cakes are cooled drizzle the icing over them and decorate with sugar sprinkles or other decorations.
Not Sure What to Do With 18 Cupcakes?
One of the challenges with cupcakes is that you tend to get quite a lot of them - it's difficult to just make enough mixture for 2 or 3 - so here are some ideas for what you can do with the extra.
- Make a cake - fill the required number of cupcake cases that you want then put the rest of the mixture in a loaf tin or cake tin. Once cooked it can be frozen so will be perfect the next time you have people round for tea.
- Use the cupcakes as a basis for a trifle - break the cakes into 2 or 3 pieces, place them in the bottom of a bowl and cover custard and cream.
- Leave them for a couple of days then turn them into crumbs in a food processor and freeze them. The can then be used to decorate cakes (chocolate cake crumbs are great for 'earth' or 'mud' effects)
- Take them into work and make everyone jealous with how good a cook you are.
Remember, cupcakes are just mini cakes, so cupcake recipes can normally be used just as well for full sized cakes - they may just need to be cooked a little longer. This dark chocolate and strawberry cupcake recipe could just as easily be used for a 8" / 20cm round cake.
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