Valentine's Day Cupcakes

I love baking, but I'm really not into decorating my creations. Don't get me wrong, I love to look at others baking masterpieces and can spend hours online doing so. In my own kitchen, however, I prefer to concentrate on flavour. While many cakes, cupcakes, cake pops and biscuits look amazing, I don't enjoy eating fondant with a side of cake. These Valentine's Day cupcakes are simply decorated, yet delicious. The cake has the flavour of chocolate mud cake but with a lighter texture. A quick drizzle of icing and some heart sprinkles is a yummy yet polished way to finish off a treat for a loved one. This recipe makes a big batch- perfect for sharing the love!

 
 

 

  Valentine's cupcakes (adapted from The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook)

 3 tbsp instant coffee

3/4 cup hot water

250g butter

300g dark chocolate

4 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

2 cups plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 1/2 cups castor sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups icing sugar

water

heart sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line three muffin trays with baking cases.
2. Dissolve coffee in hot water. Put the butter, chocolate and coffee in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir continuously until melted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, oil and milk together.
4. In another bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and cocoa and mix to combine. Make a well in the centre and stir in egg mixture until well combined. Add the chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.
5. Spoon batter into cupcake cases, filling each to around 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before icing.
6. To make the icing, slowly add water to the icing sugar until you reach the desired consistency. To ice the cupcakes, scoop up a spoonful of icing and let it drop back into the bowl for a second before zigzagging it over the cupcake. Sprinkle with hearts to finish.