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.