Exploding Cupcakes

I am a self confessed cupcake lover. Give me a chocolate, blueberry, oreo cupcake, well actually any cupcake flavour and thats it. You've won me over. 

Whilst I was in New York I was lucky enough to have some of the tastiest and scrummiest cupcakes in the whole wide world. Red Velvet cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, Cotton Candy cupcakes from Crumbs, a bijillion different flavours from the bite-sized delights of Baked By Mellisa and even Birthday Cake Cupcake Pop's from Momofuko Milk Bar. Yes, I was absolutely spoilt for choice and the fact that I didn't come back to London 100lbs heavier still astounds me. 

Wondering round my the one shop that never fails to put a huge smile on my face, Waitrose, I picked up all the ingredients so I could cook my own scrumdiddlyumptious cupcakes (with the help of Betty Crocker again of course).

So here is what you need to make your exploding cupcakes;

Preheat you're oven to 180°C or 350°F.

Caramel Cupcake Mix

Splash of Olive Oil

2 Eggs

Butter Cream Icing

Popping Candy

Follow all the instruction on the back of the box, mixing the mixture, eggs, water and oil together in a bowl until it's silky smooth.

Pour the mixture evenly into the cupcake cups and bake for 15-17 minutes.

Place all the cupcakes on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes until they are cool enough to ice.

Swirl, spread and peak away with the buttercream icing, decorating the the cupcakes in whatever style you fancy.

Now for the explosion. Sprinkle the popping candy over the cupcakes and hear them snap, pop and crackle away.

I topped mine off with some gold edible glitter to make them look even more tantalising.

So simple and easy to make yet absolutely delicious. And the surprise of the popping candy when you take your first bite is a taste explosion in your mouth.

 

Ps. If you dont manage to finish them all in one serving, cover and place in a cool place away from sunlight. 

Bon Appétit!

Forbidden Brownies

I don't know what it is about The Great British Bake Off, but it always, without fail, gives me a massive yearning to bake. It's hard for me to admit it, but I am really not much of a natural baker, no Mary Berry, no Nigella Lawson and so I resort back to my old pal Betty Crocker to help me out from time to time.

She really has outdone her self this time as I have created the best brownies in the entire world!

I really do not want to blow my own trumpet or anything but these are really too good to be true. 

Gooey chewy melty chocolatey pieces of heaven. A trifecta of all things delicious, and usually banned from the kitchen when you're meant to be "on a diet". But how can you resist a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough, followed by a layer of malteaser's, topped off with another layer of chocolate fudge browne? 

The honest answer is - you can't!

I was desperate to try this amazing cookie/brownie combo after seeing the Slutty Brownie's on The Londoner - only issue is that I do not like Oreo's one little bit, therefore I wanted to recreate them with my own little twist.

So here's how you make them.

Here's what you need:

400g Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix
400g Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
250g Malteaser's
1 egg
Butter for greasing the baking tray
Splash of oil to add to the mixture

Preheat you're oven to 180°C or 350°F.

Grease up the baking tray to stop the brownies from sticking.

Follow the instructions on the back of the cookie dough box adding a bit of extra oil to make sure the dough is nicely bound together.

Spread the mixture evenly over the base of the baking tray.

Pour out all the malteaser's over the cookie dough and press them into the dough.

Now onto the brownie layer.
Add 70ml of water to the mixture.

Splash of oil.

Crack in the egg.

Now mix it all together till it becomes a silky smooth texture.
I almost stopped at this point, the bowl of liquid chocolate brownie mixture looked like part of Willy Wonka's chocolate river. I felt like Augustus Gloop unable to resist myself, but I knew the result in the end would be so worth it.

Spread the brownie mixture over the top of the malteaser's, and put into the pre-heated over for 25-30 minutes.

Now look what you've created!

Look at those layers.

Cooked malteaser's turn into these chewy gooey bites of heaven. 

Let it cool for about 10 minutes and with a sharp knife cut it up into smaller pieces unless you just can't resist so just grab a spoon and a glass of milk and dig straight in.

Enjoy warm from the oven and with a huge glass of milk. 

(If you don't manage them all in one serving, wait till they're cool, cover, and put in the fridge. And to reheat put back into a warm over for 5 - 7 minutes.)

Now if you'd excuse me I'm going back to my brownies which are just so good that they should really be forbidden!

Bon appétit!