Rolo Cupcakes

Looks good, no?

So, today I went back to my old school for a little visit and thought it'd be cute to bring in a batch of Rolo cupcakes for some of my lovely teachers!

If you were with me during my last year of school, you'd know that this is pretty much a standard "Jenny" thing to do.. My philosopy; why bother arguing with teachers about over-due economics and politics homeworks when I'm holding a box of 12 cupcakes?

Exactly - there's no need.. And my method is win-win (not for my exam technique, however).

Ingredients

170g unsalted butter, softened

120g caster sugar

35g brown sugar

little bit of vanilla extract

3 eggs, plus 1 extra egg yolk

170g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

lots and lots of Rolos

Preheat oven to 180C, and line a 12 hole cupcake pan with muffin liners.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla and carry on beating.

Next, fold in the flour, baking powder and salt.

You can mix the Rolos into the batter and then spoon into the cases, or cut them in half etc.

I fancied putting a whole one in the centre of the cupcake - this didn't really go too well..

I use an ice cream scoop to fill my cupcake cases, so I scooped up the batter and then placed a Rolo in the centre and covered it with more mixture, hoping that it would stay in place whilst baking.

However, it sank right down and created a sticky, caramel related mess at the bottom of each case.

Whatever.. the cupcake was still yummy :D

Bake for 20-25 mins, or until the cupcake is firm and springy to the touch - a sharp knife will also come out clean when inserted into the centre.

Mmmmmmmm.. this cupcake recipe goes amazingly with any mix-in.. It's just so light and fluffy and easy.

Set them aside to cool, and then transfer onto a wire rack.

Frosting! I love this bit!!!!!

Ingredients

100g cream cheese, softened

75g unsalted butter, softened

300g icing sugar (don't bother sifting - it's too messy)

little bit vanilla extract

ROLOS!

caramel drizzle sauce (totally optional)

Beat the butter and cheese, and then add in the sugar on extremely low speed until incorporated, also adding in the vanilla.

Spread onto cupcakes or pipe - but, piping does look much cooler.

Now, splodge a little bit of the caramel onto the centre of the cupcake, and stick the Rolo on top. Caramel isn't truly necessary, but it looks nice.

It drizzled down the sides a little, but that didn't really bother me.

I had leftover Rolos, so why not add another?

Caution; these are extremely mouth-watering so don't dribble all over your keyboard.

Needless to say, these were a massive hit!!!

I saved one, and it might actually still be in the fridge... Fingers crossed that no one's eaten it yet!!!!

Jenny x

Twix Brownies

Yay! More brownies!!

This time, with chunks of Twix!

I've been experimenting with lots of different brownie recipes lately, but I always seem to go back to Lorraine Pascale's Brownie Recipe..

I altered the recipe ever so slightly, but all credits go to her!

I've already eaten 3 of these (as well as around 4 from the last batch of Mars brownies - someone please stop me!)

Ingredients

165g butter

220g dark chocolate

3 large eggs

2 extra egg yolks

little bit of vanilla

165 light brown sugar

2tbsp plain flour

1tbsp cocoa powder

pinch of salt

3 normal sized Twix bars, cut into chunks..

Preheat oven to 180C, and line a baking tin etc..

Melt the butter and chocolate either in the microwave or on top of a saucepan, and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Cut up the Twix bars!!

In another bowl, beat the eggs, yolks and vanilla until light and fluffy. Next, add in the sugar in two batches and continue to mix.

Then, fold in the chocolate mixture, and then the flour, cocoa powder and salt until just combined..

Fold in the Twix chunks, and then pour into the prepared tin!

Bake at 180 for 25-30 mins..

You know what, just click this link - Lorraine explains it all much better.

Too Good For Words!!!

This is my staple brownie recipe, and there is no doubt that I'll be coming back to this for years to come..

It's a little bit fussy (i.e. hand-mixer, melting chocolate and using up 5 eggs) but definitely worth it!!

Any type of mix-in work with this! I've used Oreos and Maltesers before and they matched up perfectly with the brownie's texture and sweetness!

Mars Bar Brownies

I was having a little mooch around the supermarket thinking 'what would taste nice in a chocolate brownie?'. 

I narrowed my list down to Mars, Twix, Rolo, and M&Ms. 

For some bizarre reason, Sainsburys DIDN'T sell regular M&Ms, only peanut! Not amused..

So, that plan fell through.

I couldn't be bothered for Rolos either, but I'll attempt that at some point in the very near future (maybe even inside a cupcake?)

Mars and Twix it is...

I thought I'd test out a couple of different brownie recipes for each of the chocolates, so the Twix one is to follow in another post.

For the Mars Bar Brownies..

Ingredients

6oz butter, softened

4oz dark chocolate

1/2 cup caster sugar

3 large eggs

tsp vanilla

pinch salt

1/2cup plain flour + 1 teaspoon

5 snack size Mars bars, cut into chunks.

Preheat your oven to 180C, and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper, or just use a disposable foil dish (these are SO much easier)..

Melt the chocolate and butter over a saucepan on a low heat, and leave to cool.

While it's cooling, grab a cutting board and knife and dice the Mars bars into small pieces..

Next, stir in the sugar, vanilla, salt and eggs into the chocolate mixture, and then gradually add the flour in until just combined.

Spread half of the batter into the baking tin and then create an even layer of Mars, before pouring the rest of the brownie mix on top so that all the chocolate chunks are covered.

Before the second layer of batter..

Bake for 30-35 minutes depending on your oven, but I took mine out after exactly 30. If a toothpick comes out clean, it's overcooked! You want moist crumbs, and the brownie should be firm-ish to the touch!!!! 

I love how some of the Mars chunks have risen to the top of the batter! Leave the brownie in a cool, dry place until ready to cut and serve.

I find that, with a gooey brownie, they can be a tad difficult to cut unless they've been chilled for a bit. I made these in the evening and was planning on serving them the next morning, so I wrapped the entire brownie up and put it in the fridge overnight. Then, in the morning, they were much easier to cut and retained their texture after sitting at room temperature for half an hour or so.

I was just being silly here - and yes, they did all topple over!

Good recipe..

Could definitely work with other chocolates too, but the caramel and nougat from the Mars works so well with the actual brownie.

Next project, Twix!!

Stay posted, it's coming up next!

J x