Precious Art By Precious People

Sure to be a hit with the children when they come home from school

Chocolate Orange cupcakes

Ingredients – Cakes

½ cup butter, softened

Generous ½ cup superfine sugar

Finely grated rind and juice of ½ orange

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Generous ¾ cup self-raising flour

1 oz. /25g semisweet chocolate, grated

Thin strips candied orange peel, to decorate

Ingredients – Topping

4 oz./115g semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tbsp. dark corn syrup

Method

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.  Line muffin pans with 16 paper liners or put 16 double layer paper liners on a baking sheet.

Put the butter, sugar, and orange rind in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in the eggs.  Sift in the flour and, using a metal spoon, fold gently into to mixture with the orange juice and grated chocolate.  Spoon the cake batter into the paper liners.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until well risen and springy to the touch.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

For the frosting, put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and add the butter and syrup.  Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until smooth.  Cool until the frosting is thick enough to spread.  Spread over the cupcakes and decorate each cupcake with a few strips of candied peel.  Let set.

Makes 16

Tried and tested in the THASC kitchen