Easter Chocolate cupcakes

What a busy few weeks! Just getting over the birthday baking bonanza then I acquired a brand new Russell Hobbs Creations kitchen machine to play with (lucky me!!!) which has kept me quite busy and then suddenly Easter was upon me! 

Having *just* finished getting things ready for the Easter egg hunt in the morning I thought I'd get around to writing my post about my Easter baking so far.

My first batch of Easter baking was some Chocolate Cupcakes, made using Stork spread, which is a bit of a break from the norm for me as I tend to go for own brand unsalted purely to keep costs down. Stork spread has long been synonymous with baking, so much so that they now make Stork in an easy to mix baking liquid!

The recipe is a basic cupcake recipe, with a chocolate frosting and mini egg decoration. Perfect for Easter baking with the kids!

Recipe:

115g (4 oz) Stork 

115g (4 oz) castor sugar

2 eggs, large

115g (4 oz) self-raising flour, sieved together with

1 tablespoon cocoa, and

½ teaspoon baking powder

I did not have any baking powder so made my own using 1/3 Baking Soda and 2/3 Cream of Tartar and used it immediately.

For the chocolate icing:

1-2 tablespoons milk
1 heaped tablespoon cocoa
85g (3 oz) Stork 

225g (8 oz) icing sugar, sieved

To decorate: mini chocolate Easter eggs

Method:

Beat the eggs and sugar together until fluffy and creamy, then gradually beat in the eggs and flour until the mix is smooth and all of the flour is incorporated. 
Spoon the mix into cupcake cases in a 12 hole muffin tin, I use an ice cream scoop and use one scoop per case to ensure all cakes are an even size.
Place in a pre heated oven at 190 degrees for 15-20 minutes until risen and a cake tester or skewer comes out clean with no wet mix on it.
Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Whilst the cakes are cooling make the chocolate icing by mixing all of the icing ingredients together until smooth.
Use a piping bag to pipe the icing onto the cakes in a nest effect, or use a spreader to spread icing on if you're not so good with piping (like me!) and decorate with mini eggs. 

Happy Easter everyone!