Chocolate Daisy Cupcakes

I made these cakes for my mother-in-law's birthday, using a recipe from the Primrose Bakery's cook book. They are really light and moist and went down very well!! You can choose whatever colour and flavour buttercream you want to use. I used vanilla with pink food colouring to make them look a little more girlie!

Recipe

Makes 16

Ingredients

115g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

85g unsalted butter, at room temperature

175g soft brown sugar

2 large eggs,free range, separated

185g plain flour, sifted

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

250ml semi skimmed milk, at room temperature

1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream

110g unsalted butter, at room temperature

60ml semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature

1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

500g icing sugar, sifted

Few drops food colouring

12 icing daisies, (I made my own but you could always buy them ready made)

• Preheat the oven to 190C or gas mark 5 and line a couple of 12 hole muffin trays with 16 paper cases.
• Break the chocolate into pieces in a basin and melt over a pan of simmering water. Stir until it has completely melted and is quite smooth. Leave to cool slightly.
• In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth, which should take 3-5 minutes using an electric mixer. In a separate bowl and with clean beaters, beat the egg yolks for several minutes. Slowly add the egg yolks to the creamed mixture and beat well. Add the melted chocolate and again beat well.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a separate bowl. Put the milk in a jug with the vanilla extract. Add one third of the flour to the chocolate mixture and beat well. Pour in one third of the milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter using metal spoon. Do not beat or you will take all the air out of the mixture.
• Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two-thirds full. This is a fairly liquid batter, so take care when spooning out as it can end up being very messy. Alternatively, pour the batter into a jug to make it easier.
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. To check they are cooked , insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes-it should come out clean. Leave the cakes in the tins for about 10 minutes before carefully placing on a wire rack to cool. Once they are completely cool, ice the cakes.
• In a large mixing bowl (I used a food processor) beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half the icing sugar until smooth. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat again until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.
• If you want to add colour to your buttercream, always start with one drop of colouring and beat thoroughly. Add carefully drop by drop until you build up your desired shade.
• Pipe an icing swirl on top of each of the cakes and decorate with an icing daisy. I then used decorative cupcake wrappers for an attractive finish.