A treasured family recipe: spiced chocolate and gingerbread cupcakes, iced and decorated to resemble a sprig of holly.
Ingredients List
Icing and Decoration
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC fan forced.
- In a large stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice and salt.
- Then beat in a third of the flour mixture followed by a tablespoon of the sour cream, repeating till all is used up.
- While you are alternating adding the flour and sour cream, boil the kettle and place 170 ml of boiling water, chocolate and instant coffee into a large mug or heatproof container and stir until chocolate is melted and coffee is dissolved.
- Fold this into the cake batter, but don’t overbeat.
- The mixture should be a little thick and fluffy: pour carefully into the waiting muffin cases and put in the oven for about 20 minutes, until each little cake is cooked through but still dense and damp.
- Slip out the cakes in their papers and sit on a wire rack until completely cold.
- To ice them, combine egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Add icing sugar a bit at a time and beat with an electric mixer until icing forms soft peaks – add a little bit of water at a time if it’s too thick until you reach your desired consistency.
- Cover the tops of the cupcakes thickly. Using spearmint leaves, sit one or two on each cake, and then press on your m&ms, putting as many on as you feel is right.
