Nigella Lawson's Cupcakes

For my sister-in-law's baby shower, I was responsible for making cupcakes for her guests. I wanted to make something sweet but not overbearing, simple yet cute. So I turned to the queen (in my eyes) of baking, the divine Nigella Lawson.

Serves 12 | Ready in 20 minutes

Ingredients

125g self-raising flour

125g caster sugar

125g soft unsalted butter

2 eggs

Half a teaspoon real vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

1 packet instant royal icing

1 x 12-bun muffin tin with 12 muffin papers

1. Preheat the oven to 200⁰C ab and line the tin with the muffin cases. 

2. Put all the ingredients, except for the milk, in the processor and then blitz till smooth.

3. Pulse while adding milk, to make for a soft, dropping consistency, down the funnel. 

4. Spoon and scrape the batter into the muffin cases.

5. Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are cooked and golden on top. As soon as bearable, take the cup cakes in their cases out of the tin and let cool, right way up, on a wire rack.

6. To achieve a flat-top cupcake, I cut off a portion of the top of the cupcakes when they had cooled down. Don't throw away the muffin tops though - they were great to munch on while continuing the recipe ;)

7. I was a bit short on time so I resorted to packet fondant icing and food colouring to decorate the cupcakes.  I followed the packet instructions of Orchard's White Icing packet.

8. For a finishing touch, I used sugar roses. :)

** Original recipe from Nigella Lawson's Cupcakes Recipe **

Mocha Self Saucing Pudding

What a wonderful way to warm up the home and body by snuggling up to a mug of pudding! Combining two of my loves, chocolate and coffee, this was sure to be a winner for me.

Serves 6 | Ready in 45 minutes (plus standing time)
Ingredients 
1²/₃ cups self-raising flour, sifted
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee powder
³/₄ cup brown sugar

125g butter, melted

1 cup milk

Connoiseur Honey and Macadamia Nut Ice-cream, to serve

Sauce 

¹/₄ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted

1¹/₂ teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder

1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 180⁰C/160⁰C fan-forced. Combine flour, cocoa powder, coffee powder, sugar, butter and milk in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Spread into six 1¹/₂ cup-capacity ovenproof dishes.

2. Make Sauce. Place sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder and boiling water in a heatproof jug. Stir to combine. Divide sauce evenly over batter in each dish.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until top of puddings are just set. Stand for 5 minutes. Serve with ice-cream.

Notes and Variations

When I made this, I found the self-sauce to be a little too watery for my liking. To give it a more creamy sauce, re-make the sauce again and add 100mL of thickened cream. Cut around the pudding edge to enable you to access to the bottom of the pudding and then pour your second serve of self-sauce. 

Also, while the recipe suggests vanilla ice-cream, you could use alternatives such as whipped cream or flavoured ice-cream.  I personally love this with Connoisseur's Honey and Macadamia Nut ice-cream.

** Original recipe from Issue 127 (July 2011) of 'Super Food Ideas' magazine **