Chocolate & Raspberry cupcakes

i've not baked for a while..earlier we were visiting our friend. her mom helped look after our little one few days a week after school when i have to teach full day. little missy's wan (thats grandma for org N9) is going back to homeland tomorrow. at first i wanted to make trifle but i run out of crystal jelly (i always use Nona or Alsa brand, imported from malaya land) and waiting for next shipment. so i baked cuppies instead. got the recipe from uktv.co.uk

Ingredients

for the cake

3 tbsp cocoa powder mix with 3 tbsp boiling water

150g butter

150g caster sugar

3 eggs, beaten

150g self raising flour, sifted

50g chocolate chips

1 tbsp milk

for the choc fudge icing

50g butter

2 tbsp milk

50g cocoa powder

50g icing sugar

5 tbsp raspberry jam

Method

for the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4.
2. Put the cocoa powder in a bowl, then gradully stir in the boiling water until you have a smooth, thick paste. Leave to cool.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light, fluffy and pale.
4. Gradually mix in the beaten egg alternating with the flour and cocoa mix until everything is incorporated. Finally, stir through the chocolate chips and milk.
5. Place 12 paper cupcake cases into a muffin tin and divide the mixture between them.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

 

for the icing

1. heat the butter in a pan with the milk until melted, and then sift in the a bit of icing sugar and cocoa, stir and repeat until all the sugar and cocoa have been incorporated and the icing is thick and fudgey. Mix in the raspberry jam and then spread onto the cupcakes in thick swirls.
2. Sprinkle with your choice of decorations and allow to set for at least 30 minutes.

my notes :

1. i ran out of chocolate chips, so i used dark cbocolate bar and chop.
2. i used muffin cupcake cases - they are bigger. if you use the normal cupcake cases, you may get more than 12 cakes. only fill in up to 2/3 of the cases, you need to leave some space for the fudge icing
3. i only have strawberry jam in the fridge, so i used that to substitute the raspberry jam. not much difference, maybe raspberry jam is not as sweet but i reduce the amount to 4 tbsp.