Chocolate Cupcakes [gluten free]

A few weeks ago I bought some new silicone cupcake forms. They are really cute as they look like forms for tiny Bundt cakes or Polish babka: fluted and ring shaped, perfect for Easter. I couldn’t wait to use them to see how the tiny babkas would look like.

Therefore, when I came across an interesting gluten free recipe* for cupcakes, I decided to give it a go. The recipe requires quite a lot of eggs and that is why even though there is no baking agent added, the cupcakes rose beautifully. They did fall afterwards but only a tiny bit. After they were baked, we couldn’t resist and tried them while they were still hot. And together with my husband we quickly agreed they needed something to be served with, like e.g. custard, as they were very delicate in texture. But when we ate them a day later, they had a completely different texture: moist and much heavier, and in truth, I preferred them that way.

P.S. There is not a lot of sugar used in this recipe. Therefore, if you prefer your bakes to be sweet, you may want to use some melted milk chocolate as icing on your baked cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS (for 12 pieces):

100g dark chocolate,

100g soft butter,

120 g sugar,

6 eggs, yolks and whites separated,

100g ground almonds,

butter and sugar for the cupcake forms,

icing sugar for dusting.

METHOD:

1. Melt the chocolate over a pan of hot water, set aside to cool down.
2. If you are using silicone cupcake forms, you don’t have to prepare them special way, otherwise grease them and sprinkle with sugar.
3. Preheat and oven to 180C (160C for fan ovens).
4. Beat the butter with approx. half of the sugar for a few minutes until the mixture gets fluffy; one by one add the egg yolks and then the cool chocolate, beat till everything is combined.
5. Whisk the egg whites till stiff, add the rest of the sugar and whisk for 2 minutes longer.
6. Add the third of the whisked egg whites and third of the ground almonds to the bowl with chocolate mixture, gently stir with a spatula. Repeat the process twice till you have used the egg whites and almonds.
7. Divide the batter between 12 cupcake forms and put to the hot oven for 25-30 minutes until a wooden stick inserted to a cupcake comes out clean.
8. Dust with icing sugar, or - if you prefer them to be sweeter – pour melted chocolate on top.

* The recipe comes from a Polish cookbook "Ciasteczka - wyszukane smakołyki z całego świata"

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Christmas Cupcakes with Nougat Icing

A few weeks ago I read an article about nougat – a sweet made of sugar, honey and egg whites mixed with dried fruit and/or nuts, very popular in Italy and France.  It is really lovely and making it doesn’t seem to be difficult so I definitely try making it one day.

This article made me think I could use an adjusted version of the nougat to create a snow-like icing. And because of the season, I opted for using it on top of cupcakes based on an idea of a British Christmas cake – full of nuts and dried fruit. The first time I made them, the icing worked perfectly – fluffy and delicious but I felt the cupcakes were a bit too dry and there should be more fruit there. So when I made them for the second time I changed the recipe slightly. Additionally, I also soaked the raisins in rum. This time everything worked perfectly and the cupcakes with the nougat icing disappeared very quickly!

INGREDIENTS (for 12 cupcakes):

60g raisins,

3 tbsp rum,

120g butter (at room temperature),

110g light muscovado sugar,

2 eggs (at room temperature),

140g plain flour,

2 tsp baking powder,

0.5tsp cinnamon,

0.5 tsp nutmeg,

140g mixed dried fruit (cranberries, figs) and pistachios, cut into smaller pieces.

Icing:

50g + 1 tbsp sugar,

75g liquid honey,

1tbs water,

1 egg white,

extra pistachios and cranberries for decoration.

METHOD:

1. Put the raisins to a cup and pour the rum over them; leave to soak for at least 1 h.
2. Preheat an oven to 190 Celsius degrees (or 170 for fan ovens) and prepare a 12-hole muffin baking tray by either greasing it lightly or putting in paper cases (if you are using silicon forms you don’t have to do it).
3. In a food processor or with electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale; add eggs one by one beating the mixture after adding each egg; beat for a while longer.
4. In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; and sieve to the batter.
5. Stir with a spatula, add the raisins with rum, dried fruits and nuts, stir and divide the mixture into cases (approx. 1 tablespoon for each one).
6. Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes (check if baked by inserting a wooden stick).
7. Make the icing: put the honey, water and 50g of sugar to a small pan stir and heat on medium until the sugar is dissolved, then increase the heat to medium high and cook for 5 minutes.
8. Beat the egg white till stiff and add the 1 tbsp of sugar, beat for a minute longer.
9. Gently pour the hot honey-sugar mixture to the egg white while beating, whisk for 2-3 minutes longer.
10. Generously spread the icing on top of cooled down cupcakes and decorate with cranberries and pistachio nuts.

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