I guess it shouldn't be a surprise to many that I had to give these cupcakes a go, there are few food bloggers that haven't!
Anyway these are my efforts, I would appreciate a grading on the swirling I would give me a C+ when compared with many of the efforts on the various foodie sites like Barbara's, Niki's, Nic's, and chichajo's.
That doesn't mean however, that we should be comparing and grading our goods, these swirls are much like the food writers who produced them and are as individual as we are all -and that is despite our wanting to bake each other's goods;)because as it is said "copying is the sincerest form of flattery".
It also reminds me of a conversation I had earlier in the week when a very good friend was being very complimentary about my food blog and encouraging me to do further things with it and I replied to her that I am not a chef and am entirely derivative so I couldn't see how my work would stand out from anyone else's, and there were people on the net doing far better than I was though I am just happy in my little corner of the net doing my thang for myself as much as anyone else.
Anyway for my own sake I will post the recipe here too though variations and hints can be found on any of the above sites should I be the one to lead you into temptation..
140 grams butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
200 grams sifted plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
~1/3 cup Nutella (or other chocolate peanut butter spread), slightly warmed
Preheat oven to 165C.
Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don't worry if the batter doesn't look smooth. Add vanilla.
Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains ( I was lazy and used my electric beater for this part). I added a splash of milk here to loosen the batter very slightly as suggested by Niki.
Fill each muffin liner with batter. They should be 3/4 full (seemed to much for my cakes as those ones overflowed so I tried half for a smaller neater looking result). Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp chocolate spread (again I used just less than a small teaspoonful).
Swirl the spread in with a toothpick or knife point ( I used a wooden skewer) making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the spread. When I made the mistake of too much chocolate I put a small dob of batter on top and blended that in, cheating probably, but alls fair..when trying to get those damn swirls on top I say.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Strangely enough I made 15 though the recipe says you should produce 12. They were enjoyed by one and all.
One last aerial shot of those swirls before you give me the grade if you please!
5 comments:
I think they look good - probably closer to my effort than, say, Barbara's, but your chocolate swirls are gooier and more appealing than mine were. I'm really tempted to try variations on this recipe - I can't stop thinking about using the Dutch appelstroop; thick, dark, sticky apple syrup.
I couldn't possibly give you a grade because it would be grading you against myself, and I couldn't possibly do that! :-)
Hi Niki, I know the grading is difficult to do,I am being cheeky I guess even suggesting it because at the end of the day,it's all in the eye of the beholder. In my mind I was aiming for them to look like chichajo's but now I think that it seems like an extremely high standard after having a go.
Grades! What's that? It's so long since (I) or my children were in school I never have to think about grades again!! I bet your children would give you an A+ for them.
I think a C grade is indicative of you bing much too hard on yorself! I think the swirls look lovely. And the taste is what matters most. Since I've had these myself, I can definately give you an "A" on that!
Thanks Nic, I think there are so many bloggers, like yourself:) setting such high standards it's hard not to be overly critical of oneself. But I think it is also very healthy and at the end of the day those closest who reap our bounty will win when we try to do our best!
I also like to thank you Barbara for your perspective - it's so true, so long as the kiddies think it is worthy of an A+ then that should be all that matters!
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