Alice's 'peacemaking' cupcakes recipe
Honestly, Alice from our story didn’t mean to say it – somehow it just came out in the heat of the moment during a row with her stepmum. She instantly regretted it, but couldn’t find quite the right words to apologise. So instead, she’s using a different kind of language – the powerful language of cupcakes – to say sorry. To her huge relief, it works*.
See method- Serves 12
- 20 mins to prepare and 30 mins to cook, plus cooling
- 559 calories / serving
Ingredients
- 225g butter, softened
- 240g soft light brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (optional)
- 300g plain flour
- 30g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 small bar dark chocolate, shaved, to decorate
- 200g caster sugar
- 150g butter, softened and roughly cubed
- 100ml double cream
Each serving contains
- Energy
- 2335kJ 559.0kcal
- Fat
- 35g
- Saturates
- 20g
- Salt
- 0.3g
- Sugars
- 41g
of the Reference intake
Carbohydrate 61.0gProtein 5.0gFibre 2.0g
Method
- First, make the sauce. Heat the caster sugar in a pan with 4 tbsp water, until dissolved, then bring to the boil slowly. Bubble for 3-5 minutes, until you have a dark amber colour.
- Remove from heat and add the butter, stirring until melted. Mix in the cream and a pinch of salt, then leave to cool for 1 3/4 hours.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Cream the butter and brown sugar, until pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well, then add the vanilla, if using. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and mix, until a soft dough forms.
- Divide the mixture equally between a 12-hole muffin tin and bake for 23-25 minutes. Remove from the oven while still quite soft in the centres. Using a small jar, gently press a well in the middle of each. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then put on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Using a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, pipe the caramel into each cupcake, or spoon it in and swirl with the back of a teaspoon. Scatter with a pinch of salt and chocolate shavings. Refrigerate until serving.
- Little help: No time to make your own sauce? Use Tesco Finest salted caramel sauce, but spoon it in rather than piping.
- Leftovers: If you can resist eating it straight away, chop the leftover chocolate into chunks and scatter over ice cream or throw into the mix the next time you make cookies.
- Tip: *These cupcakes are quite rich, so save them for a treat.