Candy Cane Cupcakes
Candy canes always look so appealing, but does anyone actually enjoy eating them? Not me, that is, at least, until I tried them in this recipe! A teaspoon of peppermint essence in the frosting gives a subtle, but not overpowering level of mintiness, but feel to go stronger if that’s your thing!
Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
125g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs
125g self-raising flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk
Frosting
250g unsalted butter, softened
500g icing sugar
200g white chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon peppermint essence
Crushed candy canes to decorate
Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C (180˚C fan).
Line a 12-bun muffin tin with 12 muffin papers.
Put all the ingredients, except for the milk, into a food processor and blend until smooth. Gradually add enough of the milk so that you have a batter of a smooth, dropping consistency.
Spoon the batter into your muffin cases and bake for about 15 minutes, until golden. Transfer the cakes onto a wire cooling rack.
To make the frosting, beat the butter in an electric mixer until pale. Gradually add the icing sugar and milk in alternating batches until all is well combined. Finally beat in the melted chocolate and peppermint essence until you have a smooth, creamy icing. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe onto the cakes.
To finish, sprinkle crushed candy canes over the top of the cakes.