Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

Milk chocolate cupcakes filled with a devastatingly-good hot fudge sauce and swirled with a rich chocolate frosting – oh my gosh these cupcakes are amazing!

I haven’t made any cupcakes in a while and came across the perfect excuse to last week. It was a friend’s birthday and I searched the shops for a birthday card – they were all terrible. I did toy with the idea of getting him a My Little Pony ‘You’re 2!!!’ birthday card but got talked out of it. Apparently those sort of cards aren't suitable for men in their 50s. Hmph.

If I wasn’t going to get him a card, I had to get him a present. But what? Men are impossible to buy for, so that led me to a dead end. Then the wonderful idea of cupcakes came to me. Everyone loves cupcakes! Or so the internet says. Cupcakes and cats. And I wasn't allowed to couldn’t buy him a cat.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes, but he only got 6 of them for his birthday. The other 6 had to go through a rigorous test tasting just in case someone sneaked into the kitchen and added something poisonous like vegetables or a sugar substitute.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cocoa

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

3/4 cup cream

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 cup grated chocolate

Frosting:

3/4 cup softened butter

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

3 tablespoons cream

1/3 cup cocoa

2 cups powdered sugar

Hot Fudge Sauce Filling:

You can find the recipe for my Hot Fudge Sauce here.

You only need about ½ a cup.

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 350°C. Whisk together the egg and sugar until it thickens and takes on a lighter color.

2. Pour in the milk, butter and vanilla and mix well.

3. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa and grated chocolate and fold into the wet ingredients.

4. Divide evenly into 12 cupcake liners and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. Whilst the cupcakes are baking, prepare the frosting. Beat together the butter, vanilla and milk until well mixed. Add the cocoa and powdered sugar and beat until thick and fluffy.

6. To assemble, cut the centre out of each cupcake and fill with hot fudge sauce. Cut the top section off the piece of cupcake you removed and replace it like a lid. Top with the chocolate frosting.

These cupcakes are best stored in the fridge and served at room temperature.

I hope these cupcakes have made your Monday and little brighter. Unfortunately they’ve made mine a little more sad because I know they’re all gone!

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Skinny Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Box Cake

The title’s a bit of a mouthful but I couldn’t think of a better way to describe it. It’s a skinny ice box cake made of chocolate, peanut butter and cookies – what else could I call it?

The main downfall I find with skinny or healthy recipes is the amount of dessert they make. Healthy brownies are fantastic, but if you end up eating the whole pan of 16 brownies I’m not sure that you can still call them ‘healthy’.

I see loads of bloggers who upload posts of delicious sweet treats every day and I just don’t get it. What do they do with all these desserts? There are only two of us at home, so if I make a pan of brownies or a round of cupcakes it usually takes a week for us to get through them. How do these girls get through so many desserts?! I’m sure they don’t eat them all themselves.

This recipe only makes 1 small portion, making it ideal for anyone counting the calories because they can’t pig out because there is only one! Unless they’ve doubled/tripled/quadrupled the recipe, but that’s neither here nor there.

Skinny Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Box Cake

Ingredients

3 chocolate chip cookies

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons melted chocolate

Recipe

1. Place the first cookie face down in your mold. Whisk together 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, peanut butter, vanilla essence and 1 tablespoon powdered sugar.

2. Pour into the mold on top of the first cookie. Take the second cookie and place it on top of the peanut butter yogurt mix. Place in the freezer for about 5 minutes to firm up.

3. Beat together the other 1/4 cup of yogurt, melted chocolate and remaining tablespoon of sugar. Remove the mold from the freezer and pour on the chocolate yogurt mix. Nestle the third cookie on top – make sure you push it far enough in so that you’ll be able to stand the dessert up on a plate.

4. Place in the freezer for around 2 hours to set fully. Remove 10-15 minutes before you’re ready to eat to give it time to soften up.

Enjoy your skinny dessert without piling on the pounds! 

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Double Chocolate Whole Wheat Buttermilk Scones

It’s finally Friday and I’ve worked my butt of this week, punching more words into my keyboard than I ever thought possible, reaching unbelievable deadlines and foolishly taking on even more work so I can contemplate buying a pretty shiny Samsung S3 next month. I deserve some chocolate in my breakfast and you do, too!

I’m not just talking about a couple of dark chocolate chips in otherwise boring muesli, or maybe a hot chocolate instead of the usual tea or coffee. Oh no.

I’m talking about great big fully chocolate scones that look more like XXL chocolate cookies. Coat these scones in butter, peanut butter or even Nutella if you’re looking for a chocolate overdose and enjoy with the thought that the weekend is only a couple of hours away.

Double Chocolate Whole Wheat Buttermilk Scones

Adapted from Cocoa Buttermilk Breakfast Biscuits – How Sweet It Is

Makes 12-15 scones

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup chocolate chips

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

Pinch salt

¾ cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C and combine flour, cocoa, sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk until combined.

2. Rub the cold butter into the mix with your fingertips until you have a consistency which is mostly small crumbs with some larger coarse crumbs of butter.

3. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla until just combined – be very careful not to over-mix! I did and my scones turned out much flatter than they should have.

4. Use ¼ cup measure to drop batter onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the scones are solid and just beginning to turn golden on the edges.

These scones get very lonely on their own and are best eaten in 3s or 4s.

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Super Easy Mini Chocolate Pies

What’s a girl to do when it’s Friday night, she’s had a hectic week at work and her man won’t tear his eyes away from the TV screen for two seconds? Make these Super Easy Mini Chocolate Pies and scoff as many as you can before he notices ‘PIE!’

I’m quite lucky in that My Official Treat Taster isn’t too bothered about soccer/football, except when something big is going on. Right now Euro 2012 is taking place which means I get dragged to a lot of bars full of rowdy men yelling at TVs. I’ve tried several times to get into the swing of the matches, but I always end up curled up in a corner with my Kindle.

I’ve decided that a much better use of my time is to stay home and make tiny bite-sized portions of chocolate-cream heaven. It dawned on me earlier this month that I’m 21 and my favorite way to spend my Friday nights is in the kitchen, baking. When did I turn into a 1950’s housewife? At least I’m a badass 1950’s housewife – whenever I bake alone, it always seems to involve strawberry coconut mojitos.

Super Easy Mini Chocolate Pies

Ingredients

Pastry

1 cup flour

4 tablespoons sugar

3 ½ tablespoons butter

3 ½ tablespoons lard

water

Filling

½ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup butter

½ cup whipping cream

Recipe

1. Stir together the flour and sugar. Rub in the butter and lard with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

2. Add small amounts of cold water – you should need between 2 and 3 tablespoons in total – and knead until the mixture forms a stiff dough. Place in the fridge for around 30 minutes to chill.

3. Preheat the oven to 360°F/180°C and remove the dough from the fridge. Roll out onto a lightly floured surface until it’s about ¼”/1/2cm thick. Using a round cutter or glass, cut out 12 circles slightly larger than the dips in your shallow muffin tin.

4. Place the dough circles in a greased muffin tin and prick evenly with a fork. Bake for around 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is lightly golden.

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

6. Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave or in a double boiler and divide evenly amongst the pie crusts.

7. Whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks and pipe it on top of each pie. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for the chocolate filling to set. Grate some chocolate on top of the cream for extra decoration.

Devour as many as you can before half time.

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Milky Way-Stuffed Chewy Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Now take a deep breath. The name is a bit of a mouthful, but I thought every single one of those words deserved to be highlighted in the title. I suppose you could also refer to them as the ultimate cookie – that’s definitely how I see them. No other cookie I’ve made even comes close.

Soft, chewy dough sprinkled with melted dark chocolate chunks wrapped around a sweet and gooey Milky Way centre... I’ll wait whilst you run into the kitchen to check you've got all the ingredients.

My Official Treat Taster and I got invited to visit someone’s house for a look around. I realise that it sounds quite strange – neither of us really know these people, yet they invited us around just to see their house. But it’s not an ordinary house, oh no. They live high up in a rural part of the island in a huge rustic house with an even bigger garden. And the best bit? Their house and garden rival an exotic zoo.

I thought it would be rude (not to mention just plain weird) to turn up at a stranger's house to have a wander and look at all of their animals empty handed, so I set to work on making these cookies. I could only bring myself to wrap half of them up and give them away, but I think they appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

We were greeted at the gate by two gorgeous fluffy dogs with hair so long and soft that they sort of looked like they'd be good dusters, although I kept that thought to myself. We were taken on a tour of the garden and saw 20+ turtles and tortoises ranging from tiny ones that would fit in the palm of my hand to massive ones which were both older and bigger than me.

There were far too many species of birds to keep count. Our hosts even keep an incubator full of eggs which are due to hatch. We were shown a tiny pheasant egg, where the chick had just started pecking to get out. To give the chick a hand, our host took the shell apart and brought him/her into the world! 

There were swans, ducks and the cutest little ducklings. Chinchillas, rabbits and a huge pen of about 20 guinea pigs – some of which were pregnant with adorably round tummies. There were a few cats wandering around, too – one of which was completely blind but managed to avoid the ponds and all the other animals without a problem. One of the cats had recently had a litter of kittens. Our hosts were trying to find good homes for them and I was more than happy to snap up an adorable bundle of fluff, but My Official Treat Taster was quick to remind me that playful kittens wouldn't make the best companions for our guinea pigs back home.

We had such a fun and interesting afternoon – maybe I should have given them the whole batch of cookies.

Milky Way-Stuffed Chewy Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Basic cookie recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is

Makes around 15 large cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cups oats

pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chunks

2 tablespoons milk, if dough is crumbly

Around 15 small chunks of Milky Way

Recipe

1. Beat the butter and sugars together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing well until combined.

2. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon before beating in the oats until the dough comes together. If the mixture isn’t forming a dough, slowly add a small amount of milk until it comes together.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F/170°C. Fold in the chocolate chunks and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge and separate into 15 balls. Flatten each ball and place a chunk of Milky Way in the centre. Wrap the dough around the Milky Way and roll back into a ball.

4. Place the cookies on a baking sheet about 2 inches/5cm apart and lightly flatten each one with the palm of your hand. Bake for 9-11 or until the cookies are solid and very light brown. Remove from the oven and leave on the baking tray for an additional 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. 

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Healthy Mini Chocolate Donuts & Muffins

Welcome to the magical Pink Recipe Box bakery where you can eat as many chocolate donuts as you like without putting on a single pound. Okay, that might be a bit exaggerated – I work in marketing so what do you expect? – but it’s not far from the truth. These chocolate donuts really are healthy. You won’t find any oil or butter in the recipe and you won’t have to step anywhere near a deep-fat fryer.

They are a combination of oats, egg, cocoa, apple sauce and yogurt essentially, with a few other ingredients thrown in for good measure. I was skeptical at first when making the batter – it was really thin and the ingredients just didn’t sound appealing together. Then I tried a spoonful of the batter – a very important quality control measure all bakers will know about wink wink – all ready to pull my what-on-earth-have-I-done?! face, only to be pleasantly surprised. The batter tasted great and if the raw batter tastes great, you just know the final creation will be fantastic.

Because there is hardly any fat in these donuts, feel free to add a few handfuls of chocolate chips – I promise I won’t tell. My donuts are covered in a chocolate glaze – 1 part melted butter to 2 parts melted milk chocolate – which isn’t healthy, but as soon as I find a way to make a butter and chocolate combo that’s good for you, I’ll let you know.

I bought this mini donut pan from Amazon a while ago. It’s fantastic – the donuts pop out really easily and don’t stick at all. If you don’t have a mini donut pan, you can always pour the batter into muffin cases and make Healthy Chocolate Muffins that you can eat for breakfast. Don’t forget the chocolate chips!

Healthy Mini Chocolate Donuts or Muffins

Inspired by Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins from Healthy is Always Better

Makes around 36 mini donuts or 12 muffins

Ingredients

½ cup + 2 tablespoons oats

1 egg

1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup hot water

2 tablespoons apple sauce

2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Pinch salt

Optional chocolate chips

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/170°C and grease a mini donut pan or line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake papers.

2. In a blender or food processor, blend together all of the ingredients until the mixture is smooth.

3. Fold in chocolate chips is using and half fill your donut mold or fill your cupcake liners 2/3 full. If you want chocolate chips to sit on top of your muffins like mine, sprinkle a few on top of the muffins before baking.

4. Bake donuts for around 12-15 minutes or until they spring back when touched. Bake muffins for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out almost clean. 

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Chocolate-Caramel Sorbet

For the first time this year I had a complete and total creative block. I opened a blank Word doc yesterday and just stared at it, waiting for a sparkling blog post to magically appear – which unfortunately did not. I should have guessed it was going to be a bad day when I had eaten all of my emergency homemade chocolate chip granola bars I keep in my desk before 10am.

You know how I pulled myself out of it? I ate a huge helping of Chocolate-Caramel Sorbet. Ice cream really doesn’t do it for me unless it’s covered in thick hot fudge, studded with chocolate stars, layered with brownie bits and smothered in whipped cream. But I adore sorbet. I love the crunchy, icy texture and think it’s much more sophisticated than ice cream. If I sit down to a great big bowl of sorbet in front of the TV at 2am, I can kid myself I’m actually being very grown-up and cultured instead of being a child shoving ice cream in her mouth whilst watching cartoons after bedtime.

If you ever find yourself stuck in a creative black hole you just don’t know how to get out of – make this sorbet! I guarantee you’ll be right back on track in no time. Or you’ll have a smile on your face to say the least.

Chocolate-Caramel Sorbet

Ingredients

1 ½ cup coconut milk

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ cup honey/maple syrup/golden syrup

½ cup chilled caramel sauce

Recipe

1. In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk, cocoa powder and syrup to a simmer over a medium heat, whisking constantly.

2. Remove from the heat after 5 minutes and place in a container suitable for freezing. Leave to cool to room temperature before placing in the freezer.

3. Remove the sorbet from the freezer after 2 hours – it won’t be fully set yet – and stir. With your fingers, pinch small amounts (about ¼ teaspoon) of the chilled caramel sauce and drop randomly into the nearly-set sorbet until you’ve used all caramel.

4. Stir the sorbet and put it back in the freezer for another 2 hours to fully set. Remove from the freezer 5 minutes before serving. 



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Healthy Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Okay, so maybe calling these Healthy Chocolate Chunk Brownies is pushing the boat out a little, but they’re healthier than regular brownies. They aren’t packed with vegetables or beans, but instead they completely replace any added butter with a much healthier alternative – Greek yoghurt.

This is quite a serious statement to make, but I have taken a lot into consideration and can honestly say that these are the best brownies I’ve ever made. Wonderfully soft and velvety, whilst densely fudge-like at the same time – they are everything I look for in brownies.

The original recipe called for flax seeds – something that I’ve never ever seen in a Canarian supermarket – in place of eggs. I didn’t want disappointingly flat brownies, so I whipped, whipped, whipped two egg whites and folded them in to get air into the batter. I also sifted all of my dry ingredients to make the result as light and airy as possible.

If you’re really craving brownies but are trying you’re hardest to cut the calories – may I suggest you avoid a dessert? – then you could also cut out the chocolate chunks. You’ll end up with the same fudge-like texture with less of the fat and sugar. I wouldn’t recommend reducing the sugar in the recipe, though; these brownies are perfect – not too sweet at all.

If you’re feeling good about all the calories you’ve saved from not adding any butter into the mix, then treat yourself and top these brownies with a deliciously tempting Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. =D

Healthy Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Makes 12 small brownies

Inspiration from In Sock Monkey Slippers

Ingredients

150g dark chocolate

1/3 cup milk chocolate chunks

1 cup Greek yogurt

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup flour

2 eggs

½ teaspoon baking soda

Pinch salt

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C and line an 8”x8” baking tray with parchment paper. If you don’t have any parchment paper, you’ll have to generously grease the dish so your brownies don’t stick.

2. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave. Remove every 30 sections and stir to make sure it doesn’t burn.

3. Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until you have stiff peaks – this is best done with an electric mixer.

4. Stir together the yoghurt, melted chocolate, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract.

5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt. Gently fold this into the chocolate mixture until just combined.

6. Carefully fold in the egg whites and chocolate chunks. Folding is the best method here – if you over-mix the batter at this point, you’ll end up with flat brownies.

7. Bake for around 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it.

8. Using the parchment paper as a handle, remove the brownies from the baking dish and allow to slightly cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares and serve warm.

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Chocolate Easter Nests

These Chocolate Easter Nests are perfect for baking with children. They only require a few basic ingredients and don’t need any complicated cooking skills to turn out fantastic.

The recipe below makes enough for 6 Easter nests, but the ingredients can easily be adapted to make as many as you like.

 I’ve seen various recipes for Chocolate Easter Nests which use noodles, but this recipe calls for All-Bran cereal. I know some people aren't keen on the flavour of this cereal, but you won’t notice it at all once it’s coated in thick milk chocolate!

Chocolate Easter Nests

Ingredients

200g milk chocolate

20g butter

60g All-Bran cereal

18 small chocolate eggs

Recipe

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave or in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir frequently to avoid burning.

2. Pour the cereal into the chocolate and stir well until all the sticks are well-coated.

3. Shape into 6 nests with a spoon and create a little well in the middle of each nest.

4. Place 3 small chocolate eggs in the centre of each nest and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour to set.

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Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes are a great treat for St Patrick’s Day – or any other day for that matter! Usually frosted with gloriously thick and rich cream cheese frosting, my cupcakes are lacking somewhat in the white frothy head department. Want to know why?

I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh, okay? Promise? I can’t make frosting. At all. Does this look like a beautiful, thick and creamy frosting to you?

No. 

I’ve tried using full-fat and light cream cheese, cheap margarine and expensive butter, full-fat cream and skimmed milk. I've tried chilling everything and having everything at room temperature, whisking by hand and with an electric whisk. I've tried so many recipes for the "perfect cream cheese frosting" that I've lost count. None of it works – none of it. It just doesn’t get thick! The more I whisk, the thinner it gets. For as long as I can remember, I've blamed it on the warm Canarian temperatures, but I don't think that excuse is going to stick any longer.

It’s not just cream cheese frosting I can’t make – I can’t do buttercream either! So I’ve decided – I’m not going to bother with frostings anymore. Drizzles, toppings, fillings, coatings and icings are all you are going to see decorating the cupcakes on Pink Recipe Box from now on.

Well, at least for a few weeks until I need to fulfil my nagging desire to make sweet, fluffy frosting like the pros and this whole disaster rises it's ugly head once again.

Anyway! This recipe makes 12 dense, incredibly chocolatey Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

½ cup Guinness

½ cup butter

45g cocoa

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/4tbsp baking soda

Pinch salt

1 egg

75ml natural yoghurt

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven 170C/350f and line 2 cupcake moulds with cupcake liners. Simmer Guinness and butter together in a saucepan over a medium heat for about 5 minutes.

2. Add cocoa and stir. Leave to one side to cool.

3. Separately, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.

4. In another bowl, beat the egg and yoghurt together for about 1 minute.

5. Add the Guinness and butter mix to the egg and yoghurt mix and stir well.

Add the flour mix and beat until just combined.

6. Divide equally into the cupcake cases and bake for around 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. 


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Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Smooth, velvety and rich - this triple chocolate mousse cake is the perfect way to end an indulgent Valentine's Day meal. Made up for three sumptuous mousse layers, this dessert not only tastes amazing, but also looks stunning. 

Pink Recipe Box hasn't been very active this week because I got taken to Rome for my birthday and Valentine's present! There has been a huge number of hurdles to jump over since we got here: flights delayed, sudden on-set of a throat infection, make up bag lost, heavy snow forcing ALL major tourist attractions to close... I still can't get my head around the fact that they actually close huge things like the Colosseum and the Pantheon because snow was forecast. 

But anyway, back to the dessert... 

Each layer is made in the exact same way, just using a different kind of chocolate. This recipe makes quite a lot of mousse - I'd say around 6 portions - but they freeze really well so you can just keep them frozen until your next chocolate craving hits.

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate Mousse

1/2tsp gelatine

1tbsp water

60ml milk

70g finely chopped dark chocolate

140ml double cream

Milk Chocolate Mousse

1/2tsp gelatine

1tbsp water

60ml milk

70g finely chopped milk chocolate

140ml double cream

White Chocolate Mousse

1/2tsp gelatine

1tbsp water

60ml milk

70g finely chopped white chocolate

140ml double cream

Recipe

1. Pour 1tbsp of water into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine on top. Leave the gelatine for about 5 minutes - until it has soaked up the water.

2. Heat up the milk in a saucepan over a medium-high heat until it begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine mix to the saucepan. Stir really well until the gelatine is completely dissolved then pour over the chopped dark chocolate. Leave to sit for 2 minutes and whisk until the chocolate is melted.

3. Separately, whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks. Mix a small amount of cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it up, then gently fold the rest of the cream in. Pour into a cylindrical mould and place in the freezer.

4. Repeat the above steps with the white chocolate and pour on top of the dark chocolate in the mould and leave to set in the freezer. Do the same again for the milk chocolate and freeze until set. Remove the mousse from the freezer at least 2 hours before you're ready to enjoy it.

Death by Oreo Cupcakes

This has to be one of my all-time favourite cupcake flavours. I love Oreos and anything that incorporates them cannot be anything less than fantastic!

I always seem to struggle when piping the icing - even when I refrigerate it before piping onto the fully-cooled cupcakes, it always seems to melt. I assume this is because I live in a warm climate. If you have any tips, please let me know in the comments section!

This recipe yields 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

12 Oreo cookies

115g self-raising flour

115g sugar

11g cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

60ml milk

1 egg

30g chocolate

55ml boiling water

45ml oil

Tsp of vanilla essence

Frosting

70g unsalted butter

100g cream cheese

125g icing sugar

1tbp milk

½ tsp vanilla extract

Oreo halves (crushed)

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a muffin pan with large paper cases.

2. Take an Oreo and carefully twist it open. Place the cookies with the icing to one side and keep the other half of the Oreos for the frosting. 

3. Melt the chocolate and leave to cool. In a  bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.

4. In another bowl, whisk the egg until it thickens slightly and turns pale in colour. To the egg mix, add in the milk, vanilla and oil and whisk well. Add in the cooled chocolate and whisk again.

5. Add the wet mix to the dry mix and combine. Stir in the hot water.

6. Scoop a small amount of the cake mixture into each case and place the iced Oreo half on top. Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full.

7. Bake in the oven for around 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

8. Take the Oreo halves reserved for the frosting and crush them until they resemble coarse crumbs.

9. Whisk together the butter and icing sugar, adding the milk and vanilla extract until the mixture is light and fluffy. 

10. Separately, whisk the cream cheese until it is smooth, then fold into the icing with the Oreo crumbs.

11. Once the cupcakes are cooled, pipe on the frosting.

Coffee Kisses

I can’t think of a better way to wake up in the morning than with coffee cookies topped with chocolate coffee icing. You probably drink coffee at breakfast every day, so why not turn it up a notch and turn your ordinary morning breakfast into something worth getting out of bed for?

This recipe makes 24 coffee kisses.

Ingredients

Cookies

175g flour

75g caster sugar

75g butter

1 egg

4 tsp coffee in 2 tbsp water

Icing

100g dark chocolate

10g butter

2tsp coffee in 1tbsp water

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Combine the flour and sugar together in a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

3. In a small bowl, lightly beat an egg and add to the flour mix.

4. Add 4tsp of instant coffee granules to 2 tbsp of boiling water and stir well until the coffee has dissolved.

5. Pour the coffee mix into the dough and mix well.

6. Shape the dough into 24 small balls and place them on the baking tray. With the back of a spoon, slightly flatten each ball into a round disk.

7. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for around 20 minutes, or until the cookies begin to turn golden. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool.

8. Once cooled, it’s time to ice the cookies. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

9. Separately, dissolve 2tsp of instant coffee in 1tbsp of water and add to the melted chocolate.

10. Mix well and smooth about a teaspoon of the icing on top of each cookie.