For our ‘Sweet Treat’ feature, we bring you a taste bud-tingling, saliva-inducing recipe every week.
Whether you simply want to put your baking skills to the test or fancy treating your colleagues to something tasty (hint hint Her.ie girls!), this is where to come.
This week, it’s chocolate and marshmallow cupcakes courtesy of The Primrose Bakery Book by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas…
Ingredients:
Chocolate cupcakes:
115g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
85g unsalted butter (room temperature)
175g soft brown sugar
2 large eggs (separated)
185g plain flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
250ml semi-skimmed milk (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Marshmallow icing:
120g granulated sugar
80g golden syrup
1½ tablespoons water
2 large egg whites
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pink food colouring
Marshmallows and edible glitter (to decorate)
Method:
Chocolate cupcakes:
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/ gas mark 5. Line 2 x 12-hole muffin trays with 16 muffin cases.
2. Melt the chocolate (either in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water on the hob or in the microwave – be careful not to burn the chocolate). Leave it to cool slightly.
3. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together, using an electric hand mixer, until pale and smooth. Slowly add the egg yolks and beat well. Next, add the melted chocolate and beat well again.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a separate bowl and stir together. Measure the milk into a jug and stir in the vanilla extract. Gradually add alternate amounts of the flour mixture and the milk to the chocolate, butter and sugar mixture, beating well after each addition.
4. In a clean bowl and using a clean whisk, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks have formed. Then, using a spatula, carefully fold the egg whites into the main batter until it is all combined.
5. Spoon the mixture equally into the muffin cases, filling them to about two-thirds full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Leave the cupcakes to cool in their tin for about 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Ice them with the marshmallow icing, marshmallows and edible glitter.
Marshmallow icing:
1. Place the sugar, golden syrup and water into a saucepan or a shallow frying pan and cook on a high heat until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage – this is when the bubbles in the mixture almost start to stick together and would drop off a spoon in a smooth, slow stream. This could take about 2 minutes on a high heat. When it reaches this stage, remove from the heat.
2. In the bowl of a freestanding mixer or a food processor, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Now, with the machine on a low speed, slowly and evenly pour the hot sugar mixture into the bowl. Continue to beat on a low speed until all the hot sugar is in the mixing bowl.
3. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue whipping until the mixture becomes thick, glossy and cool. Add the vanilla extract towards the end of the mixing process. Add in pink colouring and beat again.
4. This icing is easiest to work with while it is still a little warm, so try to use it right away. (If you have some left over, store it in the fridge overnight, but no longer.) Use marshmallows and edible glitter to decorate.
