Probably one of the worst cookbooks you can buy a person is one that has yummy looking cupcakes in it, but also tells you how many calories, and how much fat and carbohydrates are in the recipes. Never mind. I can block that out I guess!

I had my cousins over on the weekend and they helped me bake some cupcakes for a BBQ I was attending later that day. We made a bunch of caramel mud cakes and these lamington topped cupcakes.

Whilst the recipe had steps that seemed out of order, we followed it exactly as it was written and the end result was perfect!
They are extremely light and fluffy. They came out a lot bigger than I was expecting, but because they weren’t heavy like the mud cakes, eating one or two at a time was easy.
They were a big hit at the BBQ with everyone going for the lamington ones first before the caramel mud cakes!

Lamington Top Cupcakes

3 eggs
1 cup butter, softened (not melted)
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Topping:
100g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup thickened cream
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
200g shredded coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a 12 hole muffin/cupcake pan with cases. In a medium size bowl, lightly beat the eggs, add butter and sugar, then mix until light and fluffy.

2. Add milk, flour and vanilla, and stir to combine. Add remaining ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and creamy.

3. Divide the mixture evenly between the cases. Bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and firm to touch. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack. Allow to cool fully before icing.

4. For the topping, combine the chocolate and tablespoon of butter in a medium size saucepan over a medium heat. As the mixture begins to melt, add cream slowly, the reduce heat to low, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool.

5. Combine the butter and icing sugar, mix with a wooden spoon, then beat with the spoon until light and fluffy. Add melted chocolate and combine, and spoon icing onto cupcakes. Place coconut onto a small plate and roll each cupcake on it to achieve desired effect.

Makes 12.