Recipes: Weekly Cupcakes

I make these once a week to keep up a constant supply. The fussy kid loves them. The garbage-guts kid loves them. Adults love them. I don’t ice them ’cos they don’t need it, and I keep extras in the freezer so I always have some to pop into lunchboxes or – get this – the microwave, where they turn puddingy and molten and squishy and go perfectly with vanilla ice cream and fresh cream. It’s an excellent short-notice dessert.

Serves 12

Ingredients

75 g butter
125 g good-quality 75% cocoa dark chocolate
50 g (1¾ oz) cornflour (cornstarch)
¼ cup (30 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup (100 g) soft brown sugar
225 ml cold water
75 ml grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 teaspoons baking powder
125 g caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs
½ cup (125 g) plain (all-purpose) flour

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F).

2. Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with paper cases.

3. Put the butter in a large bowl and break the chocolate into the same bowl. Set aside.

4. In a small saucepan, combine the cornflour, cocoa powder, brown sugar and water. Whisk well then place over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture turns thick and glossy. Still whisking, remove from the heat, then pour into the bowl with the butter and chocolate and stir until both melt into the mixture.

5. Tip the whole lot into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Give it a couple of minutes to cool, then add the oil, vanilla, baking powder and caster sugar and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition to incorporate completely. Sift in the flour and fold in using a large metal spoon until just combined.

6. Scoop the batter into the prepared paper cases. Bake for 15 minutes. When the cupcakes are set on top (no wobble, no sink), remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Eat immediately, no icing necessary.

VARIATIONS

One big cake?

Use two 20 cm (4 inch) springform cake tins lined with baking paper and divide the batter between them. Cook for 15 minutes, being careful to check they’re cooking evenly. (I’ve had failures where the one on the lower shelf didn’t cook in the middle but I only checked the one on the higher shelf.) Allow the cakes to cool before sandwiching them together with 300 ml thick (double) cream whipped with 2 teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar.

Recipes extracted from Real World Dinner Solutions for The Exhausted by Yumi Stynes and Simon Davis, published by Murdoch Books, RRP: $45.