It's been a hectic past month with Ramadan, the annual month where all Muslims around the world engage in fasting from sunrise to sunset, so I barely had time to accommodate for my blogging. However with the conclusion of Ramadan comes Eid Al-Fitr, another annual celebration that marks the end of Ramadan and festive treats are consumed and everyone dresses in their best suits to greet family and friends. It is tradition to make sweets pertaining to your cultural heritage however I decided to sway from tradition and opted to bake moist chocolate cupcakes with strawberry jam buttercream. Let's just leave it at that there were no crumbs leftover and smiles left, right and centre once everyone had consumed these petite treats.
Notes:
- In order to substitute buttermilk you can simply add tsp of white vinegar to 1 cup of normal everyday use milk and let it sit for 5 minutes so that it slightly froths from the top.
- To make the coffee as required by the recipe, simply add 1 tbsp of Nestle instant coffee granules to 1 cup of hot boiling water and stir.
Ingredients:
Makes 12 cupcakes
(Moist Chocolate Cupcakes)
75 grams butter
½ tsp vanilla powder
3dl flour
1dl cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 ½ dl white sugar
1 large egg
1 dl hot strong coffee
1 ½ dl buttermilk
(Strawberry Jam Buttercream)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Strawberry jam
Method (Cupcakes)
1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners.
2. Melt the butter, add the vanilla essence and let it cool.
3. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder and sugar into a large bowl.
4. Light whip the egg together with the buttermilk.
5. Mix the coffee with the butter.
6. Add all liquid ingredients to dry ingredients until a smooth, liquid-like batter forms.
7. Divide mixture between the cupcake liners and make sure to fill only up to 2/3 in each liner.
8. Bake for 18-20 minute or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of any cupcake. Let the cupcakes cool for a good 2-3 hours before frosting.
Method (Icing)
- Place butter and jam in a mixing bowl or an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream until well incorporated, about 2 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until you reach desired consistency. If frosting gets too thick you can add a little milk to thin it out. Pipe onto cupcake using a Wilton 1M piping tip.
