Cold Days and Cappuccino Cupcakes

Brrrr! It has become cold here again in the South East and I am missing the warmth and sunshine. I realised this was the case when what I wanted to eat had taken a more ‘comforting’ turn; rather than light, bright citrus flavours which are spring like to me, I found myself looking at recipes with chocolate, sponge and luxurious sauces.

I have settled on something in the middle, which on reflection, I guess springtime is; its between the definiteness of summer and winter. I have chosen a light coffee sponge with a creamy white chocolate buttercream topping in a cupcake form. Coffee definitely ticks the comforting box for me.

Capuccino Cupcakes in the making - Sky Meadow Bakery blog

Cappuccino Cupcakes

125g self raising flour

125g unsalted butter, soft

125g golden caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp instant espresso coffee powder

2 large free ranged eggs

2-3 tbsp milk

White chocolate buttercream

80g good quality white chocolate, roughy chopped

30g unsalted butter, soft

60ml sour cream

150g icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 180ºC and line a muffin pan with 9 paper cases.
Place all the ingredients, apart from the milk, into a food processor and whizz together. Slowly add the milk and whizz again; the mixture should have a smooth dropping consistency.
Evenly dollop the mixture into the 9 paper cases and place into the oven to bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the butter cream, melt the butter and white chocolate in a heatproof bowl, suspended over a pan of simmering water (don’t allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water or the chocolate might seize)
Once melted allow to cool before folding in the sour cream followed by the sifted icing sugar. If you feel that the icing is still a little runny, then add more icing sugar until you are happy with the consistency.
Spoon or pipe the icing onto the tops of your cooled cupcakes and finish with a light sprinkling of cocoa powder.