I am truly sorry for not writing for sooo long. The past months have been super busy for me, finishing my studies, applying to a lot of jobs and finally starting an apprenticeship. All those things took up tons of time and whenever I had a few days off, I found that I wasn't in the mood to cook.
Now, being in my job for almost four months and slowly getting the hang of it, I am enjoying cooking and baking again and - most importantly - I want to share recipes I've tried and loved with you. So thanks for the patience and hopefully you'll enjoy new recipes and want to try them immediately.
Today's recipe comes from Donna Hay. She has hands-down become one of my favorites. I love the way she photographs her food and baked goods. And I have never tried a recipe that didn't work. As autumn had officially started this week, I turned to old editions of the Donna Hay magazine. I especially loved a chapter she did on caramel. Luckily, Donna decided to share the recipe for these cupcakes on her website, so you'll have easy access to it. This is the link: https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/desserts-and-baking/caramel-maple-mud-cupcakes-with-fudge-frosting
And here's my step-by-step-guide:
1) Place the maple syrup, milk, sugar, butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. This takes about 5-10 minutes. Be patient and don't turn the heat on high or you'll risk burning the chocolate. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
2) Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°C). Add both the flours and whisk until just combined. If you don't have self-raising flour, substitute with 200g of all-purpose flour in total and add a little less than 1 teaspoon baking powder. Add the egg and which until smooth.
3) Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases. Fill the cases, leaving a little room to the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
4) To make the caramel fudge frosting, place the sugar, butter and salt in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
5) Turn the heat to high, add the milk and vanilla extract and bring to the boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6) Remove from the heat. Add the icing sugar and whisk until smooth. Working quickly, spread the cupcakes with the frosting.
This is how they look:
As usual, Donna's yield is not the same as my experience. Even though I used the exact amounts as she tells you to, I had enough dough for 12 cupcakes and more than enough frosting. Everything else worked perfectly.
These cupcakes are sweet, so if you haven't got a sweet tooth, don't try them. The sweetness has different layers from using different kinds of sweeteners, sugar and maple syrup, and caramelizing the sugar. I love caramel as it symbolizes warmth and cosiness for me.
I hope, you enjoy the start of fall-time and have fun trying!
