This evening’s post was prompted by a request. And I’m so happy that I made them! I’m a solo worker; I choose my own recipes and prefer to make them in a kitchen with as few people around as possible. I love company, just not when I’m bustling about in my own world in the kitchen. My baking is for sharing, always, but the process is a personal one.
So when it was suggested that I make Smarties cupcakes I wondered whether I should acquiesce or not. I hadn’t had a Smarties cupcake since my childhood.
And therein lies their brilliance.
The colouring of Smarties may be less intense than it used to be, but their flavour is still the same. Complemented by a soft vanilla buttercream and chocolatey cupcake, these concoctions just work.
They taste of childhood and nostalgia. I half wished I’d made up lolly bags to go along with these cupcakes, it felt wrong to serve such festive cupcakes without a lolly bag for people to take home!
Some teddy bears joined me for the photo shoot because it had been a while since they’d been played with. They enjoyed the trip back to childhood and what appeared to be a child’s birthday party.
Cook them for their colour, their easy charm and the memories they’ll bring back for you.
Just make sure you buy extra Smarties.
Chocolate cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups self raising flour
- ½ cup cocoa
- 100g butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ tsp vanilla
Vanilla butter cream
- 1 ½ cups icing sugar
- 100g butter
- 3 tpsb milk
Preheat your oven to 190°C. Grease your muffin tins, or use cardboard cupcake cases like me if you’re feeling lazy.
Cream your butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add your eggs and vanilla, mixing them well.
Fold in the cocoa and half of the flour flour, adding your milk when it gets too hard to mix. Fold in the next half of the flour and make sure everything is combined.
Scrape the sides of the bowl down regularly so that the cocoa reaches every part of the mixture, nobody likes streaky cupcakes!
Fill your cupcake cases or muffin tins about 3/4 full and try some of the mixture, it’s delish!
Pop them on a baking tray (or not, if you’re using a muffin tin) and bake for 16 minutes or until you can insert a skewer into the cupcake and it comes out cleanly.
While the cupcakes cool, beat the butter until it’s pale and soft. Add the icing sugar and milk and mix until it is smooth. Wait until the cupcakes are completely cook to ice them, you don’t want the icing sliding off.
Toss a handful of Smarties over the cupcakes and feed the waiting children (or sentimental adults.) The Smarties packet had a chef on it – I appreciated the appropriateness of the character on the box!
These little gems are perfect for a child’s party – no child is going to turn down a smarties covered cupcake! Add some bunting for decoration if you’re feeling especially fun – mine was made by stringing coloured triangles in between a skewer cut into halves. A little bunting makes a big difference to presentation!
* I doubled this recipe to make a cake – results are here.
This cake doesn’t shy away from attention. The amazingly vibrant (and naturally-coloured) icing draws people to it. I brought it into work today to share with work mates and was overwhelmed with kind words. It’s amazing how cake brings people together.
Milo isn’t a very pretty food, but it is delicious, which is why I love it. The very fact that Milo is kind of bumpy and ugly means that it is perfectly suited to a dinosaur-y landscape. It also makes the cupcakes extra delicious. 
