Chocolate or Toffee Muffins

This is a great Muffin recipe because with most muffin recipes you have to be very careful not to overmix the ingredients but this one is very forgiving.

Ingredients
2 Eggs
200g caster sugar
130g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
160ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
160g melted unsalted butter
120g of dark chocolate roughly chopped or same weight of dr Oetker fudge pieces


Preheat oven to 170C/gas 3

Beat together eggs and sugar until well combined.

 In a separate bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In a jug combine the milk and vanilla.

When egg mix is smooth slowly add the dry ingredients mix and milk mix to it a little at a time beating slowly as you do. Beat until all ingredients well incorporated.

Stir in the melted butter with a wooden spoon then add half of the chopped chocolate or fudge chunks and mix.

Use an ice cream scoop to ladle into the muffin cases - I find i use 1 and a half scoops to each case. when all  batter is used sprinkle some of the remaining chocolate or fudge chunks on top before putting in the oven to bake, this ensures you have the choc/fudge all through the cake as if you just put in the mix they tend to sink to the bottom.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until sponge bounces back when touched or a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean

You can add additional toppings if you wish, today I made a toffee frosting and then topped with chopped up chocolate bars :)

Then enjoy!

Mississippi Mud Cake

I made this "Thank You" cake today using a recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Home sweet Home book. This Cake would be great if you need an absolutely MASSIVE cake!! I have to say that the picture of theirs in the book must have been taken from a long, long, way away because it definitely was not as big as mine! If you were looking for a smaller cake I would suggest halving the ingredients and having two layers rather than the three I did.

Ingredients (serves 10-12): For the sponge: 250g unsalted butter, softened ♦ 600g caster sugar ♦ 3 large eggs ♦ 470g plain flour ♦ 140g cocoa powder ♦ 2tsp bicarbonate of soda ♦ ½tsp salt ♦ 375ml buttermilk ♦ 1tsp vanilla extract ♦ 375ml boiling water For the frosting: 800g icing sugar, sifted ♦ 120g cocoa powder, sifted ♦ 150g unsalted butter, cubed ♦ 600g full-fat cream cheese For the decoration: 40g dark chocolate, shaved with a vegetable peeler

Method: Step 1: Preheat the oven to 170C. Line three 20cm loose-bottomed cake tins with baking parchment. Using a hand-held electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix the buttermilk and vanilla extract in a jug. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture. Mix well on a medium speed. Slowly add the boiling water, mixing until combined. Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared cake tins. Bake for 35-45min. Remove from the tins and let cool before frosting.

Step 2: Whisk the icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter together on a low speed until there are no large lumps. Add a little cream cheese to loosen the mixture and beat until smooth, then add the remainder and mix on a slow speed. Turn the speed to high and beat the frosting until light and fluffy.

Step 3: Once the sponge layers feel cool, assemble the cake. Place the first layer on a plate and top with 3-4tbsp of frosting. Smooth out the frosting using a palette knife. Sandwich the second layer on top, then add more frosting, followed by the third cake layer. Next, frost the sides and top. I have also used chocolate transfer sheets to make the lettering for the top of the cake and sprinkled chocolate shavings around the base.

Recipe from Home Sweet Home by Tarek Malouf and The Hummingbird Bakers (Collins, £20).