jeudi 24 septembre 2009

NIGELLA’S CHOCOLATE CHERRY CUPCAKES





Nigella's chocolate cherry cupcakes

Here is another recipe of Nigella which I discovered thanks to Mr.C who proposed to make this recipe for “Nigella Cookalong September”.

These cupcakes are moist, tender and tasty: they melt in the mouth.

What surprised me is that the cupcakes smelled chocolate but when you eat them, they have a cherry taste. It was quiet unusual as they really smelled chocolate but in the mouth it was definitely a taste of cherry.

I didn’t make an icing as I always prefer cupcakes and muffins without any icing. Without icing they can be easily stored in a fridge for 1 week. But if you prefer them with icing, give them a try !

My batter made 12 muffins.
I’ll certainly keep this recipe in my “everyday” or “weekend’ recipes as this recipe was easy to make and the result was really good.

FOR THE CUPCAKES:
125g soft unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
300g morello cherry jam
150g caster sugar (I used only half of it)
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, beaten
150g self-raising flour
12-bun muffin tin and papers
FOR THE ICING:
100g dark chocolate
100ml double cream
12 natural-coloured glacé cherries

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.
2. Put the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan on the heat to melt. When nearly completely melted, stir in the chocolate. Leave for a moment to begin softening, then take the pan off the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and chocolate are smooth and melted. Now add the cherry jam, sugar, salt and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon and when all is pretty well amalgamated stir in the flour.
3. Scrape and pour into the muffin papers in their tin and bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out.
4. When the cupcakes are cool, break the chocolate for the icing into little pieces and add them to the cream in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and then whisk – by hand or electrically – till thick and smooth. Ice the cupcakes, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon, and stand a cherry in the centre of each.