Neenish Cupcakes
Nothing makes me happier than to see people get all excited and smile when you give them cake. Of course, the compliments that follow it don’t hurt the ego either. This was certainly the case today at work when I brought in neenish cupcakes!
There were a few Michael Jackson jokes about it being black or white, but all around joy with the taste. Some lucky people even got seconds!
I’m not too sure about the chocolate half, I had to add extra milk as it was just too try to mix in the cocoa. If you make these, I’m sure you will see what I mean. But they look good, and taste pretty good too, so what more could you want?
Neenish Cupcakes
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
White Icing
1 1/2 ups icing sugar, sifted
10g unsalted butter
Chocolate Topping
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan-forced. Line 16 standard muffin holes with paper cases.
2. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together with electric beaters until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flours alternately with the milk. Divide the mixture in half and stir the cocoa through one half of the mixture until well combined. Divide the chocolate mixture evenly into half of the cases. Then divide the plain mixture into the other half, so that each case is filled with half chocolate and half plain mixtures. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.
3. To make the white icing, place the icing sugar and butter in a small heatproof bowl. Stir in enough warm water to form a smooth paste. Sit the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and stir until smooth and glossy. Remove from the heat. Spread the icing over the white side of each cake.
4. To make the chocolate topping, place the chocolate in a small bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted. Spread the chocolate over the other half of the cake.
Makes 16.
Rilsta
Why are they called 'neenish'? LOL abt the MJ references! You should have tried making the yin & yang sign with the icing!
Iron Chef Shellie
Hi Rilsta,
In regards to "neenish" I wasn't too sure myself so here we go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neenish_tart
Yin Yang is a great idea!! Maybe next time =)
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
That's a stroke of genius Shellie! I love your idea of doing a Neenish cupcake! 😀
Ellie
How did you manage to make the line between the black & white so straight!! Nice cupcake!
Iron Chef Shellie
Hi Lorraine – I'd love to take all the credit, but it was in a recipe book! It's a very cute idea though! There is an iced vovo one I want to do next!
Hi Ellie – I have NO idea how they got so straight. Mind you, these 3 were the best of the 16, some had not so straight lines!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Hehe I love the idea of an Iced Vovo one! Yes please do it-and please send me one if you can (hehe kidding, well not really but I know it would be hard to send it but I'd love to taste it) 😀
Kiranjeet Kaur
Oh Gosh Iron Chef Extraordinaire. Its been quite a while since me viewed your blog but my have you made some wonderful dishes. Neenish tarts have been one of my favorites but because of this darn wheat issue!!! Bravo Shell, they look like neenish tarts one would hope to see in a first class patisserie. xx
Maria@TheGourmetChallenge
how awesome are those cupcakes! You get the best of both world, chocolate and vanilla!
Iron Chef Shellie
Hi Maria,
Thank you! Best of both worlds is always good isn't it!?
Grace
Ooooooh my, I have the same cookbook 😀
Have you tried the almond chocolate ones yet? They're the next on my list after these neenish ones. I'm making them tomorrow; I can't wait.
What other ones have you tried? =O
Iron Chef Shellie
Hi Grace,
I haven't tried those ones yet, let me know how they go!
I have tried the orange ones, they are somewhere else on this blog, along with the green tea ones.
x