Happy Sunflower Choc Chip Cupcakes
By OcadoLife
Published on 20 June 2022
Cake creative Liberty Mendez’s Happy Sunflower Choc Chip Cupcakes will be a big hit with the kids who’ll love smooshing on the icing and piping silly faces on top. The yellow colouring looks bright and cheerful, but you could use any colours you like. Van Gogh, eat your heart out. Time and servings
45 minsTotal time
30 minsPrep time
15 minsCooking time
Ingredients
- 270 g of unsalted butter, softened
- 120 g of caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tsp of vanilla bean paste
- 120 g of self-raising flour
- 50 g of dark chocolate, roughly chopped, or chocolate chips
- 300 g of icing sugar
- 2 drops of black food colouring
- 2 drops of yellow food colouring
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases.Step 2
To make the cakes, put 120g butter and the caster sugar into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 4 mins until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1tsp vanilla bean paste and a spoonful of flour and beat again until combined. Tip in the rest of the flour and the chocolate; mix with a wooden spoon until combined.Step 3
Spoon the cake batter into the cupcake cases – they should be three-quarters full – and bake for 15-20 mins until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave them to cool on a wire rack.Step 4
Meanwhile, make the icing. Put 150g butter, the icing sugar and 2tsp vanilla bean paste into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 5-8 mins until pale and fluffy, adding in a splash of hot water to loosen slightly. Use a spatula to scrape down the bowl midway, so everything is combined.Step 5
Put 2tbsp of the icing into a small bowl, stir in a few drops of the black food colouring and set aside. Beat a few drops of the yellow food colouring into the remaining icing, to create a bright yellow shade, and transfer to a piping bag with a plain 1cm nozzle fitted (or use a disposable piping bag and snip the end off).Step 6
When the cupcakes are cool, pipe 5 dots in a circle around the top of each cupcake. Using a small palette knife or butter knife – or even a clean finger! – drag each blob in towards the middle of the cupcake, to create petals.Step 7
Squeeze the leftover yellow icing into a bowl and add a little more yellow food colouring, to make a darker shade. Transfer back into the piping bag, then pipe one final blob in the middle of each cupcake, flattening it slightly with the butter knife.Step 8
To finish, clean your piping bag and fit with a fine nozzle (or snip off just the very tip of a disposable piping bag). Put the black icing in the bag and pipe a smiley face on the middle blob. The cakes will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.