Brightly topped tiny cupcakes are fun to bake and decorate.
They are very easy and very good - densely chocolatey and smoothly sharp.
Quickly and easily assembled, a dozen or two can be whipped up in double-quick time.
Whenever I serve these they become a conversation piece.
Everyone enthuses over these gaily decorated little cakes.
I have served them in place of a dessert to accompany coffee at a very casual dinner.
Children, of course, adore them and all our grandchildren, aged 6 to 15, have enjoyed making them.
Without a doubt the decorating is the major attraction.
I buy a selection of lollies from the supermarket bins.
Buy more than you think you will need to allow for artistic freedom and a certain amount of consumption along the way.
We all prefer tiny cupcakes but it's a matter of personal choice.
Most supermarkets have paper cases either small or muffin size which fit into mini or regular-size muffin tins.
You can use the paper cases by themselves if muffin tins are not available to put them in.
Use two paper cases, one inside the other, to make for a more rigid case.
While the decorating is kiddie-inspired, the cake beneath tempts grown ups too.
Light, moist and intensely flavoured with chocolate and black currant, these are truly delicious little mouthfuls.
For a sophisticated adult version, ice with liqueur- flavoured icing and top with a chocolate coated coffee bean.
Lolly-scramble cupcakes
Makes about 26-28 small cupcakes.
100g dark cane sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
2 large eggs (size 7)
1/4 cup blackcurrant or boysenberry jam
130g self-raising flour
4 Tbsp cocoa (20g)
2-3 Tbsp milk
Icing: 250g icing sugar
4 Tbsp or more orange or lime juice
Selection of lollies to decorate
To make: Place about 30 small baking cases into mini-muffin tins or 12 muffin-sized baking cases into regular-size tins.
Put all the ingredients except for the milk into a food processor.
Process until the mixture is smooth, about 10sec.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and process again very briefly.
Add the milk a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until you have a dough with a soft dropping consistency.
To make without using a food processor: beat the sugar, oil, yoghurt, eggs and jam together until thick and creamy.
Fold in the combined flour and cocoa powder and add the milk.
To bake: Spoon the mixture into the paper cases, filling each one two-thirds full.
Bake for 12-14 minutes in an oven preheated to 190degC until the cakes are springy to the touch.
Let cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then slip out the cakes in their papers and sit on a wire rack until completely cool.
To ice: Sift icing sugar into a bowl.
Add the juice and combine until smooth.
Ice cup cakes leaving each one to dry only slightly before sticking on the lolly, cut to size if need be.
- Joan Bishop
