A Great Weekend

My little half-sister Katoo is the ultimate chocolate monster. She’s almost 4 now and this weekend she came to visit her two big sisters in the city. These two days were way too short and we had, as always, a wonderful time. We absolutely spoiled her to dead now we had the opportunity, we got her some little girly presents, we watched Cinderella, went out to the bakery, danced, watched some more Cinderella and of course devoured a whole lot of chocolate…

That’s why I made these cupcakes. It’s clear it can’t get more chocolaty or sweeter than this; these cupcakes contain melted chocolate, cacao powder and chocolate chunks, along with the best chocolate frosting and some Smarties on top.
And they tasted absolutely great.
Sweet, brownie-y, and perfectly between dry and moist. They are also very nice without the frosting but that first bite in a frosted one, when your teeth go through the glaze, then the dry, crumbly top and finally threw a delicious moist inside…
Well, nothing will beat that.
And I’m happy I wasn’t the only one who liked them…

A weekend with cheery Tootje is always a pleasure, but this weekend turned out to be even better when Saturday morning the bell rang and my brand new camera had finally arrived(!)

It’s the Olympus E500 and it’s without a doubt the best toy ever!
I’m now like an annoying paparazzi photographer, walking through the house going click, click, click…
And the quality of my pictures - every shot looks like it popped right out a professional photographer catalogue(!)

I love it! Can’t wait to get going and discover all it’s features…=)

Oh yes, one last thing about the cupcakes -

Make sure you buy enough Smarties if you have a specific colour in mind; my plan was to decorate them only with pink Smarties - well, every package contained about 3 pink ones…

A little Smarties fact to end with; Did you know 17 thousand Smarties are eaten every minute in the UK?
You sure can decorate a whole lot of cupcakes with that…(!)
Enjoy! ;)

Chocolaty Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 24 cupcakes)
- 150g (5,4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate
- 250g (1 cup/2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
- 350g (1 3/4 cups) sugar
- 5 eggs
- 120g (1 cup) flour
- 4 Tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 150g (5,4 ounces) chocolate chips, or bittersweet chocolate, cut into little pieces.

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepare 24 cupcake cups on a baking sheet.

2. In a large saucepan, melt chocolate and butter while stirring. Add sugar, stir until blend completely, and let cool for 10 minutes.

3. In another bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.

4. With an electric mixer, beat chocolate mixture for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and make sure each one is completely absorbed before adding the next.

5. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture and mix well. Scoop into the prepared cupcake cups - this is easy with a ladle - and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Store in an airtight container or continue with the frosting.


Chocolate frosting (enough for 24 cupcakes)
- 250g (9 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 250ml (1 cup) heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp butter, room temperature
- 300g (2 cups, packed) powdered sugar

1. In a medium saucepan, heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Reduce heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for one minute, then stir to combine. Add butter and vanilla and mix well. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

2. Sift powdered sugar into the mixture and beat with an electric mixer until combined. Continue to beat until light and creamy. This frosting can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator. Before piping on the cupcakes, let stand for a few minutes or pop it for 20 sec. in the microwave.

4. Fill pastry bag with the scoopable frosting and pipe onto the cupcakes. Decorate with smarties/m&m’s before the frosting is completely hard. Store in an airtight container.
These cupcakes will stay for an surprisingly long time good - even on the 5th day they taste heavenly…