mississippi mud cupcakes

These are one of my most favourite cupcakes to whip up, mainly due to the fact that I’m yet to hear a bad review about them but also because the addition of dark chocolate in this cupcake makes a world of difference, resulting in a dense, moist and ever-so-rich cupcake. Make sure you try stealing a bite of one when they’re fresh from the oven! Despite using buttercream icing in this instance, I normally use and prefer chocolate ganache to complement these cupcakes. The recipe for the cupcakes, icing and ganache are as follows.

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes

250g softened butter, chopped - 200g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely - 2 cups (440g) brown sugar, firmly packed - 1 1/3 cups (330mL) milk - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract - 1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour, sifted - 1/4 cup (35g) self-raising flour, sifted - 1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder, sifted - 2 eggs

Buttercream Icing

125g softened butter, chopped - 1 1/2 cups (240g) icing sugar, sifted - 2 tablespoons milk

Dark Chocolate Ganache 

1/3 cup (80mL) cream - 200g dark eating chocolate, coarsely chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150ºC/130ºC fan forced. Line two 12-hole muffin pans with paper cases.

2. Combine butter, chocolate, sugar, milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan, and stir over low heat until smooth. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and cool for 15 minutes. Whisk in sifted flours, cocoa and then eggs.

3. Pour mixture into cases to about three-quarters full. Bake for 30 minutes, remove from heat and cool.

4. To make the ganache: bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan, remove from heat and add chocolate, whipping till smooth. To make the buttercream: beat butter in a small bowl with an electric mixer until it is as white as possible. Gradually beat in icing sugar and milk, finishing with food colouring if desired.

5. When the cupcakes are cool, pipe the buttercream or spread the chocolate ganache on top and decorate.

Thil

xx

bruny island

A little bit of proof for my lovely Brisbane friends that Tasmania definitely has its perks amidst rumours of the existence of six fingered people. It’s just filled with countless places to explore, so much natural beauty and a sense of adventure. Whilst I am yet to experience all that Tasmania has on offer, Bruny Island gave me a small glimpse into one of many stunning locations that lie scattered around this gorgeous state.

xx

weekend inspiration

Photos taken from Google Images.

Whether you decide to sleep in then laze around, catch up with friends over brunch, create delicious cocktails, or pack your bags for a quick getaway, here's some food (and drink) inspiration for the long weekend.

Thil

xx

peanut butter and chocolate

Due to the never-ending reminders from my friend requesting (ie. demanding =p) me to bake something using peanut butter, I decided to attempt these peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. With three different components, the cupcakes took longer to make than I had expected - though, with raving reviews it was definitely time well spent.

In this recipe, note that confectioners’ sugar is equivalent to icing sugar, all-purpose flour is simply plain flour, and frozen whipped topping can be substituted with thickened cream. I used thickened cream and whipped it until it was less runny and thicker in consistency to ensure the frosting held well when piped. For the piping, a Wilton 1M decorating tip was used. And as a final touch, chocolate shavings can be sprinkled on top – something I completely forgot to do!

Thil

xx

macaroon, not macaron

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love macarons but with the recent hype surrounding them, I think everyone’s forgotten about macaroons. I remember coconut macaroons being one of my favourite treats as a child and probably what fuelled my love for coconut. When whipping up a batch of macaroons, you can get them into the oven within a few minutes and the end result is deliciousness (especially if you’re a coconut addict). This recipe can be found here.

xx