Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes

*Note - as you can tell if you read the introduction, this post is from the very beginning of summer. I just found it in my list of posts, and decided that as I am away, I would post it! This is again a scheduled post as I am still in America.

The weather has finally started getting warmer here (at last!), and we had the first barbecue of the year with my best friend and her family, and my friend and I decided to make cupcakes.

My all time favourite flavour combination is berries with any type of chocolate - especially raspberries or strawberries <3 hence the dark chocolate and raspberry cupcakes, and why the last post was also a type of chocolate and raspberry cupcake! 

The frosting is two-tone raspberry and chocolate frosting, and there's a raspberry in the middle of the cupcakes for a little surprise. These are so easy to make and they taste so good, I had at least three that day.

Sponge:

115g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

85g butter, softened

175g soft brown sugar

2 large eggs, separated

185g plain flour, sifted

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

250ml milk, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

In the middle: 24 raspberries

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C Fan/ 190 C/ 375 F/ Gas Mark 5 and line two 12-hole muffin trays with cases.
2. Melt the chocolate by breaking the chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl. Place on top of a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water, or the chocolate will burn. Stir occasionally. Leave to cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale, smooth and light. In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks for several minutes. Slowly add the egg yolks to the creamed mixture and beat well.
4. Add the melted chocolate and beta well.
5. Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a separate bowl. 
6. Mix the milk and vanilla extract in a jug.
7. Add one third of the flour to the chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated. Then add one half of the milk, and beat well. Repeat until all of the flour and milk is used, ending on the flour. 
8. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter, using a metal spoon. Do not beat or all the air you've added by whisking will be lost.
9. Carefully scoop the mixture into cupcake cases, filling them to about two thirds full - this is a fairly liquid batter, so be careful not to be messy. place one raspberry in the middle of the batter, and do not push down, as it ill sink into the batter itself. 
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes. To check they are cooked, insert a skewer into the middle, and when it comes out clean they are cooked. Leave in the tins to cool for 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the cupcakes I made, I used two different frostings to make two-toned icing, but you can just do, one or the other if you prefer.

Raspberry Frosting:

55g butter, softened

30ml milk, room temperature

250g icing sugar, sifted

2 1/2 tbsp seedless raspberry jam

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter, milk and half the icing sugar until smooth. 
2. Add the raspberry jam and start beating, whilst gradually adding the remaining icing sugar.
3. Once incorporated, beat for another minute, and leave it.

Chocolate Frosting:

55g butter, softened

30ml milk, room temperature

15g cocoa powder

235g icing sugar, sifted

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter, milk, cocoa powder and half the icing sugar until smooth.
2. Gradually add the remaining icing sugar, whilst beating.
3. Once incorporated, beat for another 2 minutes, and leave it.

To decorated the cupcakes, I laid a piping bag on it's side, and put the raspberry frosting on the bottom. I then turned it upright and put the chocolate frosting on the other side, so that when you pipe, the two colours come out at the same time, creating a two-toned swirl.

If you try these, tell me how they go, I hope you like them!

Thanks for reading :) 

Profiteroles

Profiteroles are one of my favourite patisserie things to eat, because they are so light and fluffy, and then filled with chantilly cream + covered with chocolate sauce = heaven!

I always thought they would be really hard to make, because they look so professional, but after watching the Great British Bake Off week when they used choux pastry, I thought 'What the hell, I might as well try!' and they turned out really well.

Recently, we had some friends round, and so I decided to treat them to homemade profiteroles, and they were even better than the first time!

The recipe I used is the GBBO one, and it is so good!

Makes about 48 profiteroles, depending on how big you pipe them. (I think I made mine a bit too big...)

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp salt

75g butter, diced

175ml water

100g flour, sifted

3 eggs, room temperature, beaten

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius (400 fahrenheit.)
2. Put the salt, butter and water in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has completely melted, but don't let the water boil or some of it will evaporate.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil quickly, and add all the flour in one go.
4. Remove the pan from the heat straight away, and beat furiously with a wooden spoon. (It will look a mess at first, but soon it will turn into a smooth, heavy dough.)
5. Put the pan back on the heat, and beat for another two minutes, until the dough comes away from the edges of the pan in a smooth, glossy ball.
6. Tip the dough into a large mixing bowl, and leave to cool until barely warm.
7. Using an electric mixer, gradually beat in the eggs. Add enough egg to make a shiny, paste-like dough - to check it's ready, gently shake the a spoon with dough on it, and if the dough falls off easily, it's ready. If the dough is too wet it will spread out, rather than puff up, in the oven.
8. Spoon the dough into a piping bag, and pipe mounds about 3cm wide and 2cm high - make sure they are spaced well apart. 
9.  Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees celsius (350 fahrenheit.) Quickly open and close the oven door (to get rid of steam, then bake for a further 5 minutes.
10. Remove the profiteroles from the oven, make a small hole in the side of them (to let out steam) and return to the oven for 3 or 4 more minutes. 
11. Cool on a wire rack.

You need to fill the profiteroles with Chantilly cream, which is just vanilla flavoured whipped cream (use 250ml of whipping cream, 2 tbsp of icing sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract to make the right amount for this many profiteroles.) Whisk that all up in a chill mixing bowl, with a chilled whisk for the best results.

Fill a piping bag with the Chantilly cream, and pipe it into the profiteroles immediately - you will have to widen the hole you made in them for the steam, and pipe through that.

Now the best part - the hot chocolate sauce! The key to making this sauce really good is using good quality 70% cocoa solids, dark chocolate.

Ingredients:
100g dark chocolate, broken up
25g unsalted butter
2 tbsp icing sugar

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan, preferably non-stick, and heat gently.
2. Stir  frequently until melted and smooth. 
3. Keep the sauce warm until needed.

Hope you find this useful, and if you try it out, I'd like to know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

:)