Chocolate Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cream Icing

I made these cupcakes for my Mum for Mother's Day.  They are a quicker cupcake version of this amazing red velvet cake I made for her 60th birthday last year.  On several occasions Mum has told me she was disappointed that she only got to enjoy one small piece on the night so I thought these would be perfect for our Mother's Day afternoon tea.

I did intend for them to be red velvet cupcakes but I didn't have any red food colouring/gel so they became plain chocolate instead.  The icing is incredible, it is definitely one of my favourites. The mix of mascarpone, cream cheese, icing sugar and cream is indulgent without being 'too much'.  I had quite a bit of icing left over so you could easily half the ingredients below.  I ended up serving the cupcake with a raspberry on top; raspberries would work well cooked in the cupcakes as well.

Now I just need to get a decent icing tip to help make my icing look more professional and appealing.  My cousin who decorates incredible cakes says great icing technique is all about using a big fat icing tip, not the smaller versions that come with standard icing kits.  I'll have to keep an eye out. 

Chocolate cupcakes with Mascarpone Cream Icing 

adapted from the food dept.

Ingredients

·                     125 g butter, room temperature

·                     1½ cups caster sugar

·                     2 eggs

·                     1½ cups plain flour

·                     2 tbsp cornflour

·                     2 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder

·                     1 cup buttermilk

·                     1 tsp vanilla extract

·                     1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

·                     1 tsp white vinegar

·                     250g cream cheese, at room temperature

·                     1 cup icing sugar

·                     1 tsp vanilla extract

·                     250g mascarpone

·                     200ml thickened cream

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (360ºF). Grease and line a 12 cup muffin tray.    

Combine the butter, caster sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Sift together the flour, cornflour and Dutch cocoa and set aside.

In a jug combine the buttermilk and vanilla, whisk well.

Add half of the sifted flour mixture and half of the buttermilk mixture to the creamed butter mixture, and stir well.

Add the remaining flour and buttermilk mixtures and mix through.

Combine the bicarbonate of soda and vinegar together and add to the cake mixture, mix well.

Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked when tested.

Remove from the oven and allow to stand in the muffin pan for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Combine the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the mascarpone and beat until smooth. Add the thickened cream and beat until smooth and creamy.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm the icing before icing the cupcakes. 

Happy baking!

Cheers

Dani