Fudge-Frosted Chocolate Cupcakes

Fudge-Frosted Chocolate Cupcakes (prep+cook time 1 hour 10 minutes makes 24)

Ingredients:
Cupcakes
2 cups (500ml) hot water
75g cocoa powder, sifted
250g butter, softened
440g caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
225g plain flour
150g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
silver cachous

Fudge Frosting
50g butter, softened
1/4 cup (60ml) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
25g cocoa powder
320g icing sugar

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180degC/160degC fan-forced. Line two 12-hole (1/3 cup/80ml) muffin pans with paper cases.
2. Whisk the water and cocoa powder together in medium bowl.
3. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Fold in half of the combined sifted flour and soda then half of the cocoa mixture; stir in remaining flour mixture and cocoa mixture until just combined.
4. Divide mixture among paper cases; bake about 25 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 5 minutes before turning onto wire racks to cool.
5. Meanwhile, make fudge frosting. Spread frosting over cakes; decorate with cachous.

Fudge Frosting
1. Beat butter in medium bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
2. Add milk, vanilla extract, sifted cocoa powder and half the sifted icing sugar; beat about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
3. Add remaining sifted icing sugar; beat a further 5 minutes.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

This is my first attempt with my new KitchenAid® Stand Mixer. We were invited over to Robin and Faye's new place for steamboat and I decided to make a cake for dessert.



Here's the receipe from the The Australian Women's Weekly Classic Cakes:

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake (prep + cook time 1 hour 20 minutes serves 20)
Cake
125g butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
275g caster sugar
2 eggs
200g self-raising flour
50g cocoa powder
2/3 cup (160ml) water

Chocolate Icing
90g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
30g butter, softened
160g icing sugar
2 tablespoons hot water

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180degC/160degC fan-forced. Grease deep 20-cm round cake pan; line with baking paper.
2. Beat butter, extract, sugar, eggs, sifted flour and cocoa powder, and the water in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until ingredients are combined. Increase speed to medium; beat about 3 minutes or until mixture is smooth and pale in colour.
3. Spread mixture into pan; bake about 1 hour. Stand cake in pan 5 minutes before turning, top-side up, onto wire rack to cool.
4. Meanwhile, make chocolate icing. Spread cold cake with icing.

Chocolate Icing
Melt chocolate and butter in small heatproof bowl over small saucepan of simmering water (do not allow water to touch base of bowl); gradually stir in sifted icing sugar and the water, stirring until icing is spreadable.

Truffles Au Chocolat

This is my first attempt at making chocolate truffles. I took a recipe from this book and started converting all the measurements from pounds and cups to grams. Something that I don't always do when I bake is "mise en place" which is a French phrase for "put in place" or "setup". I tend to measure only the basic ingredients that I require to do the first step in the instructions and as I go along, I measure the rest. This time round, I measured all my ingredients and prepared them before I embarked on making this. I think this is a good practice I should always remember. I read that desserts turn out best when the recipe steps are performed without interruption.